Nairobi National Museum

It has been said that you can judge a country based on its museums. If its history is openly and proudly displayed, even the darkest days, then the museum (and country) is of high quality. Upon discovery that my apartment is located a mere block away, visiting was inevitable. There is a great exhibit on early history of man, much of the collection made up of items from Louis and Mary Leakey’s expeditions as well as their son Richard. Natural history of Kenya’s wildlife loomed large in the main hall. Kenyan history was also on display including homemade guns from the Mau-Mau rebellions and numerous artifacts from local culture. Art from school children to professional pieces complete with asking prices was also on display. Just down the hill, there was a tiny snake and reptile zoo with complete with Africa’s most dangerous snakes, crocodiles and an American alligator. Large and slightly overwhelming? Indeed but that is exactly why it ranks high on the quality list.

Natural history has always been a fascinating topic and I have been to two of the world’s best natural history museums, the American Museum of Natural History in New York and National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Last week, I was disappointed that Karen Blixon’s house lacked artifacts because either it could not afford to buy them new or existing ones disappeared. But this museum made up for it in every way. The great hall contained numerous artifacts with various meanings such a large exhibit of pots representing every part of Kenya united together, complete with pots made of camel stomachs.

All animals which have ever set foot in Kenya were on display. Looming large was Ahmed with his enormous tusks. While a favorite of Jomo Kenyatta, it did not save him from dying of starvation because he outlasted his teeth. There was also the usual crowd of lions, cheetahs, giraffes and zebras along with about 50 of their closest friends.

The early human exhibit did its best to sell Kenya as the cradle of civilization, the origin of mankind and the beginning of homo sapiens. Early man is a topic which has always fascinated me and there was a whole room dedicated to early humanoid skulls! Louis and Mary Leakey as well as their son Richard spent much of their time in Nairobi at this museum and thankfully, many of their finds remain on display, having been saved from better financed Western museums gobbling them up. There were all kinds of artifacts such as early tools beginning with mere rocks used to crack nuts to crude arrows to slightly less crude arrows with barbs.

The Kenya history section was all too brief but more thorough than I expected. The role of the railroad in developing British colonial interests, creating an Indian diaspora and suppressing the Mau-Mau rebellion was systematically spelled out, complete with a set of railroad tracks in the floor. Unfortunately, it was light on the post-colonial history. Things seemed to stop at 1963 but I suppose an exhibit on election violence might just prompt more violence.

Outside, there was a small café with decently priced food including black forest cake (not bad for Kenya), all overlooking a small botanic garden and a snake zoo. Yes, I bought the combined ticket package to gain access to a tiny zoo dedicated to snakes. I wanted to make sure that whatever snake bites me, I will know if I will survive or not. Should I survive snakes, they had two Nile crocodiles on display as well as an American alligator.

Overall, I was impressed with how well Kenya has maintained its museum, well at least until I read that the European Union had funded a complete restoration in 2006!