Photos of places : Travel photos : Nairobi, Kenya || Site map

Nairobi, Kenya

April 2005 - Trip to a UN meeting in Kenya.

Way there | Nairobi | Kibera | Gigiri | Return

Being an NGO active means sometimes travelling. At spring, 2005, I took part in the governing council of United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN-Habitat in Nairobi. I was member of the Finnish delegation and representing an environmental NGO called Dodo. Urban planning and the environmental issues with it is one of the main concerns of Dodo.

The way there

I flied from Helsinki via Amsterdam to Nairobi on Thursday, March 31st and arrived the on Friday morning, April 1st. Before the council I had a couple of days time to look around the city. There was not enough time to go elsewhere in Kenya.

klik KLM jet (Boeing 737) at Helsinki-Vantaa airport
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik Southern Finland from the air
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

Nairobi

After my arrival to Nairobi I stayed few hours in the hotel before visiting Nairobi city centre. It did not seem the most comfortable city in the world. The traffic was awful, the city wasn't very clean and I felt insecure there. That's probably what you can expect from a big city in the Thirld World.

klik View from my window in Hotel Jacaranda
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik Nairobi city centre
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik Another photo from the centre
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

On my second day (Saturday, April 2nd) I had basically two options: either to have a small safari in nearby Nairobi National Park or to go visit the Kibera slum. I chose the slum as it did fit better to the themes of UN-Habitat - the very reason why I was in Kenya. I called to Wilfred who lives in Kibera and is a friend of a fellow geographer from the University of Helsinki. I met Wilfred at the gate of Uhuru Park.

klik Uhuru Park
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik Skyscrapers of Nairobi as seen from the park
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik 'Freedom Corner' in the Uhuru Park dedicated to the Green Belt Movement
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

More photos from Uhuru Park.

Wilfred and I, we went first to the city centre. There we met Saleh who took me to Kibera.

klik A street in Nairobi city centre
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik Cars in the street
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

More photos from Nairobi City Centre.

Kibera

Kibera is the best known slum in Nairobi and it is located in the southwest corner of the city relatively close to the centre. Compared to the centre being in Kibera was actually quite nice: the atmosphere was not so oppressive and unlike in the centre, I did not encounter people who were trying to cadge something from me. Anyway, Kibera is probably not a very comfortable place to actually live in.

klik Karanja Road in the upper part of Kibera is the most organized part of the slum
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik Lower part of Kibera
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik View from the railway over Kibera
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik The railway going through Kibera
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik Roofs of Kibera
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

klik Kibera market
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

More photos from Kibera.

From Kibera I went with Saleh to the other edge of the city to some place which name I have forgotten. There I bought some canvas for my girlfriend. It was already too darkish to take any good photos.

Gigiri

UN office at Nairobi is located in Gigiri on the northern side of the city. It's about half an hour by car from the centre and a little bit less from the hotel where we were staying. The meetings began on Sunday with the actual governing council meetings beginning on Monday, April 4th.

klik Welcome to UN-Habitat
Photo by: NL | License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa