On Valentine's Day 2015 my friend Kirstin and I met George out the front of the Hilton Hotel in downtown Nairobi. It wasn't some kinky Valentines arrangement, but rather a very informative and entertaining walking tour of Nairobi's CBD.
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From the Hilton, we walked to Kimathi Street where a statue of the war hero General Kimathi stands. When this statue was being erected, there was significant controversy about whether Kimathi was worthy of a statue or not. After one year of deliberation he got his place. Kimathi was a leader of the Mau Mau rebellion which has been viewed by some Kenyans as the great rebellion that gave Kenya its independence and by other Kenyans as a group of rogues who caused needless trouble while more formal efforts were taking place.
Next we headed up to Kenyatta Avenue where the impressive Sarova Stanley Hotel dominates. Inside the hotel is the Thorn Tree Cafe where an acacia tree used to stand. The acacia tree held a message board where colonial settlers left messages for one another. Nowadays, you may have heard of Lonely Planet's online travel forum dubbed "Thorn Tree" - that's where the name comes from!
Also at this intersection, a THC destilados de amplio espectro statue of Lord Delamere used to stand. It marked the division of Nairobi - to the west of Delamere was the side of the city for the white colonialists and to the east was the rough and tumble of Indian merchants and Kenyan vendors. Still today you can see the
