!!!Great Migration

by Sergey Semenov and Stas Sedov,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

16 October 2015

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Does Nairobi have anything in common with Saint-Petersburg or
Rio-de-Janeiro? Three large and famous cities, having diverse climate
and history and being situated on different continents, seem to be
totally different from each other.

But still it is not so. As well as Saint-Petersburg, Nairobi was founded
on a rather swampy area not so long ago. And as Rio-de-Janeiro, Nairobi
has many slum districts which are so large that the overall number of
citizens vary from three to four million people as it is impossible to
count the inhabitants of these areas.

[{Image src='01_Uhuru Park, Nairobi, Kenya.jpg' caption='Uhuru Park, Nairobi, Kenya' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='504'}]

The history of Nairobi is a kind of a chapter called the 'Battle for
Africa'. It was the period of fierce competition between imperial
European countries for the ownership of African territories. The present
location of Kenya's capital grants the city a geographic advantage,
which was noticed by the British when they were building the Uganda
railway in 1899. The spot situated at the altitude of 1,661 meters above
sea level later became the Nairobi Railway station with its location
between Kampala, the capital of Uganda, and Mombasa, that was the
capital of the British protectorate. The climate at such an altitude is
rather comfortable for a human and pernicious for malaria mosquitos. The
word ‘nairobi' is translated from the language of the local tribe of
Maasai as ‘cool waters', and there is a reason for it: the network of
provides the area with pure drinking water.

All of this enabled a small station to quickly grow into an independent
town. However, in 1900 due to the bubonic plague epidemic, the town was
burnt to the ground. It was rebuilt anew in 1905 and even managed to
take the status of the Capital from Mombasa.

[{Image src='02_Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya.jpg' caption='Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='621'}]

The growth of Nairobi continued, but the local tribes, who used to herd
the cattle near remote mountain swamps, were disturbed. They established
a movement called "For Land and Freedom" rebelling against the British
occupation and local authorities. The peak of the resistance occurred in
the middle of the 20th century, leaving lots of people dead. Then,
finally, in 1963 Kenya became an independent state with the same capital
— Nairobi. At that time the population of the city was around 380,000
people and by the 1980ies it has reached a million.

[{Image src='03_Local kids.jpg' caption='Local kids' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='725'}]

The present city of Nairobi is a medley of different quarters, varying
from wealthy suburbs, which were the home to European colonists long
ago, to the areas of slums. One of these districts called Kibera is
famous for being the largest slum area in Africa. According to different
sources, the number of inhabitants of this district varies from 200
thousand to one million people.

[{Image src='04_Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya.jpg' caption='Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='588'}]

We cannot tell you the exact number as well, but we can suggest flying
over this district by means of our panoramas so you can imagine it
yourself. It is not only fast and convenient, but also safe, because
Nairobi is a city with one of the highest crime rates in the world. But
it would be unfair to say that there is nothing to attract the tourists.
The capital of Kenya possesses several theatres, galleries and museums,
including one museum of the legendary railway's history and of the whole
country itself.

The genuine pride of the city is the largest skating rink in Africa —
Solar Ice Rink, but the most famous sight of Nairobi is the National
Park bearing the same name. About 400 species of birds and animals,
including lions, giraffes and rhinoceroses, inhabit this Park. A rare
city can boast of a large natural reserve situated within its
administrative territory.

[{Image src='05_All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi, Kenya.jpg' caption='All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi, Kenya' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='611'}]

Nairobi is a rather green city, not sparing any lands for parks. In one
of them you can find the monument dedicated to Jomo Kenyatta, the first
President of Kenya. We hope that a trip over such an unusual city will
bring you lots of pleasure.

\\ \\
[12 Panoramas of Great Migration|Geography/Africa/Kenya/Pictures/Panoramas_of_The_Great_Migration]










[{SET customtitle='Great Migration 2 (AP)'}]


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