The
Karen Blixen museum is one of a number of very interesting regional museums and
archeological and prehistoric sites of the National museums of Kenya.
Karen
Blixen Museum is open to the Public every
day (9.30 am to 6pm) including weekends
and public holidays. Located 10km from
the city centre, the Museum belongs to
a different time period in the history
of Kenya. The farm house gained international
fame with the release of the movie ‘Out
of Africa' an Oscar winning film based
on Karen's an autobiography by the same
title.Visitors are encouraged to be at
the Museum by 8.00 am - 5.30 pm. Guided
tours are offered continuously. A museum
shop offers handicrafts, posters and postcards,
the Movie ‘Out of Africa', books
and other Kenyan souvenirs. The grounds
may be rented for wedding receptions,
corporate functions and other events.
Karen Blixen Museum was once the centre
piece of a farm at the foot of the Ngong
Hills owned by Danish Author Karen and
her Swedish Husband, Baron Bror von Blixen
Fincke.
The
Museum was built in 1912 by Swedish Engineer Ake Sjogren. Karen and her husband
bought the Museum house in 1917 and it become the farm house for their 4500 acre
farm, of which 600 acres was used for coffee farming. Their marriage failed after
eight years and in 1921 the Baron moved on and left the running of the farm to
Karen. Karen lived at the house until her return to Denmark in 1931. The house
farm was bought by Remy Marin, who broke the land into 20 acre parcels for development.
Subsequent development created the present suburb of Karen. Records indicate that
a Lt. Col.G. Lloyd, an officer of the British Army bought the house in 1935 and
lived there until his death in 1954, when it passed to his daughters, Mrs. G.
Robersts and Lavender Llyod. A transfer of title to Mrs. J.P Robson and Mrs L.B.
Hyde is in City Hall records in 1956. The house was sporadically occupied until
purchased in 1964 by the Danish government and given to the Kenyan government
as an independence gift. The government set up a college of nutrition and the
Museum was initially used as the principal's house. In 1985 the shooting of a
movie based on Karen's autobiography began and the National Museums of Kenya expressed
acquired the house for the purpose of establishing a Museum. The Museum was opened
in 1986.
This
museum was originally the home of Karen
Blixen, who came to Kenya from Denmark
in the early part of this century; the
present museum site is at the heart of
the larger coffee plantation run by Blixen
between 1914 and 1931. The house and surrounding
land was donated by the Danish government
to Kenya at independence; the house was
restored by the Danish government and
was used during the filming of Out of
Africa, which immortalized Karen Blixen's
book by the same name. The Museum was
opened to the public in 1986.
Much of the original furniture is
on display in the house, and combined with the beautifully landscaped gardens
and encompassing view of the Ngong Hills, the Museum has continued to a be very
popular destination for international and local visitors.
The original kitchen
has been restored and is now open for viewing. A Dove Stove similar to the one
used by Blixen is on display, as are other period kitchen utensils. Reconstruction
of the coffee factory as an additional attraction is underway and other early
farm machinery is also on display, depicting the early settler life in Kenya.
Later
proceed to the giraffe centre to see and feed the famous rothschild giraffe.
The
giraffe center was started by Jock Leslie-Melville,
the Kenyan grandson of a Scottish Earl,
when he and his wife Betty captured a
baby giraffe to start a programme of breeding
giraffe in captivity at their home in
Langata - home of the present centre.
Since then the programme has had huge
success, resulting in the introduction
of several breeding pairs of Rothschild
Giraffe into Kenyan national parks.
The
giraffe centre is located Langata, approximately 5 km from the centre of Nairobi,
Kenya. It was established in order to protect the endangered Rothschild giraffe,
giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi, that is found only in the grasslands of Africa.
In 1979, Leslie-Melville added an education centre to his (then still private)
giraffe sanctuary. By 1983 he had raised enough money to establish the Giraffe
Visitor's Centre as a tourist destination in Nairobi. The center is also home
to several warthogs which freely roam the area along with the giraffes. The main
attraction for visitors is feeding giraffes from a raised observation platform.
Giraffe
Center: 12 - 1.30pm
Karen
Blixen Museum: 1.30 - 3 pm
Rate
Includes:
Transportation and driver's allowance.
All entrance fees
to the areas as shown in the itinerary.
Not
Included:
All items of personal nature.
Time
in Nairobi 
