Nairobi Panorama, 1981
Having travelled up overnight by train from Mombasa, I took this two-frame panorama before heading off to the Rift Valley and the Karen area and then flew back to Mombasa in the late evening. Quite a trip... I was accompanying a colleague who had relatives we visited in Karen.
The site of Nairobi was originally part of an uninhabited swamp. The name Nairobi itself comes from the Maasai expression meaning "cool waters", referring to the cold water stream which flowed through the area. With the arrival of the Uganda Railway in 1899, the site was identified by Sir George Whitehouse for a store depot, shunting ground and camping ground for the Indian labourers working on the railway.
Between 1902 and 1910, the town's population rose from 5,000 to 16,000 and grew around administration and tourism, initially in the form of big game hunting. In 1907, Nairobi replaced Mombasa as the capital of the East Africa Protectorate.
By the time I took this photo in February 1981 the population was closing in on the one-million mark; today it is somewhere between four and five million. I think the location from which I took this shot was Uhuru Park, a 12.9 ha recreational park adjacent to the central business district. It was opened to the general public by the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta on 23 May 1969. It contains an artificial lake, several national monuments, and an assembly ground.
Not the best panorama merge in the world, but I thought the perspective of Nairobi then as opposed to what it looks like today might interest a few of you...
Nairobi Panorama, 1981
Having travelled up overnight by train from Mombasa, I took this two-frame panorama before heading off to the Rift Valley and the Karen area and then flew back to Mombasa in the late evening. Quite a trip... I was accompanying a colleague who had relatives we visited in Karen.
The site of Nairobi was originally part of an uninhabited swamp. The name Nairobi itself comes from the Maasai expression meaning "cool waters", referring to the cold water stream which flowed through the area. With the arrival of the Uganda Railway in 1899, the site was identified by Sir George Whitehouse for a store depot, shunting ground and camping ground for the Indian labourers working on the railway.
Between 1902 and 1910, the town's population rose from 5,000 to 16,000 and grew around administration and tourism, initially in the form of big game hunting. In 1907, Nairobi replaced Mombasa as the capital of the East Africa Protectorate.
By the time I took this photo in February 1981 the population was closing in on the one-million mark; today it is somewhere between four and five million. I think the location from which I took this shot was Uhuru Park, a 12.9 ha recreational park adjacent to the central business district. It was opened to the general public by the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta on 23 May 1969. It contains an artificial lake, several national monuments, and an assembly ground.
Not the best panorama merge in the world, but I thought the perspective of Nairobi then as opposed to what it looks like today might interest a few of you...