Nairobi National Museum Tour – 3 hours
During your Tour of the Nairobi National Museum, you will appreciate that it is a flagship museum housing some of the most celebrated collections of history, culture and art from Kenya and East Africa.
The museum interprets Kenyan heritage for stimulating learning and appreciation. The Nairobi Museum is a huge facility with many educating sections ensuring that you take some nice time here learning.
Upstairs are displays of the cultures of various tribes in Kenya and dinosaur fossils found in Kenya.
Within the museum there is a cafe /restaurant with a large balcony that offers a great and breathtaking jungle view. It also has touristy shops selling local handmade jewelry, African artifacts and souvenir items.
There is an enormous statue of a dinosaur just at the entrance to the museum which is always a hit with children.
The Museum was initiated in 1910 by the then East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society [currently the East African Natural History Society (EANHS)].
The group consisted mainly of colonial settlers and naturalists who needed a place to keep and preserve their collections of various specimens. Its first site was at the present Nyayo House in the Nairobi city centre. The site soon became small, and a larger building was put up in 1922 where the Nairobi Serena Hotel now stands.
In 1929, the government set aside land at the Museum Hill and construction work started at the current site. It was officially opened on Sept. 22, 1930, and named Coryndon Museum in honour of Sir Robert Coryndon, one time Governor of Kenya and a staunch supporter of Uganda Natural History Society.
Upon the attainment of independence in 1963, the Museum was re-named the National Museum of Kenya. The current Nairobi Museum has been transformed into a magnificent piece of architecture that puts it in competition with other world class museums.
The artworks, the materials used in the fabrication of outdoor sculptures, the landscaping and the botanic gardens, link to the three pillars of Kenya’s national heritage i.e. nature, culture and history.
A welcoming ambience of harmony between the galleries, the non-gallery spaces, the museum landscape and its entrances, make museum visits more exciting. The galleries have been reorganized to interpret the heritage of Kenya to stimulate appreciation and learning.
To capture the feel of diversity and interactivity, there are mixed galleries to show the personality of the new museum. Under the nature pillar, there are 5 exhibitions.
These are Human origins, Mammalian Radiation, Ecology of Kenya, Natural Diversity and Geology. Under Culture, the exhibitions include Cycles of Life, Cultural Dynamism and Creativity.