Nyeri travel guide

Nyeri, 154 km from Nairobi, is the administrative capital of the Central Province. The town was founded by Richard Meinertzhagen in 1902 (who, despite his name, was British), as he camped at Nyeri Hill during a revolt against the Tetu (a sub-group of the Kikuyu) who had ambushed an Arab caravan. He was a man with an astonishingly accurate foresight and in 1904 wrote in his diary, “I am sorry to leave the Kikuyu, for I like them. They are the most intelligent of the African tribes that I have met; therefore they will be the most progressive under European guidance and will be the most susceptible to subversive activities. They will be one of the first tribes to demand freedom from European influence and in the end cause a lot of trouble. And if white settlement really takes hold in this country it is bound to do so at the expense of the Kikuyu, who own the best land, and I can foresee much trouble”.

During the British colonial period the land around Nyeri was taken from the Kikuyu and given to white settlers and the town developed as an army base and important trading centre for farmers. It was here that General Dedan Kimathi, the last Mau Mau leader, was captured in 1956 along with 13 other Mau Mau rebels and subsequently executed by the British in 1957, which effectively ended the Mau Mau campaign. After Independence most of the fertile land was returned to the Kikuyu and as you drive into Nyeri you will see the many shambas (farms) growing maize, bananas and coffee, as well as many varieties of vegetables. A few famous people have hailed from Nyeri including President Mwai Kibaki, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai , and acclaimed runner Catherine Ndereba (known as Catherine the Great in Kenya), who broke the women’s marathon world record in 2001 and picked up the silver medal for the marathon at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.