I enjoy visiting museums, especially smaller museums with well-curated exhibits that allow visitors to learn a lot in a concentrated area and short period of time. The Nairobi National Museum has a stunning entrance with beautiful stained-glass artwork depicting a large tree and wild animals with a big blue footprint on the side. We were approached by a young guide who offered his services and we eagerly accepted. He shepherded us around the main areas of the museum and shared his knowledge and pride in the culture, heritage and history of his country. The main areas of the museum that we visited included:
– The Mammals Gallery which has a collection of taxidermy of native wildlife. It also has exhibits on evolution, defense mechanisms and means of locomotion. A highlight of this gallery was the evolution exhibit where we learned about convergent and divergent evolution. Convergence describes when unrelated species develop similar characteristics over time, for example bat and insect wings. Divergence describes when a species changes to become increasingly different over time, for example the wooly mammoth and the elephant. We also learned about the symbiotic relationships that exist on the African plains. Examples include the zebra, rhino, giraffe and the oxpecker, the wildebeest and the zebra, and the warthog and the mongoose.
– The Cradle of Humankind Gallery has some actual and some replica skeletal remains of early man. There are fascinating exhibits depicting the differences between homo habilis, homo erectus and homo sapiens. We also have plans to visit the Cradle of Humankind, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, in South Africa near Johannesburg so this was a great introduction.
– The History of Kenya Gallery walks the visitor through Kenya’s pre-colonial history, colonial history, the struggle for independence and finally Kenya’s arrival as an independent nation. This was my favorite part of the museum because it gives context and background to what we know about Kenya as a country that only gained its independence from Britain in 1963.
– The Currency and Banking System Gallery was interesting to walk through but we did not have enough time to look through the exhibits carefully. Similarly, we had to rush through the Native Birds Gallery because my kids were becoming impatient.
Behind the Nairobi National Museum is the Nairobi Snake Park. A visit to the Snake Park was only a few dollars more when purchased together with a ticket to the National Museum. Although the museum was not large, my kids really enjoyed seeing all the different kinds of snakes. They were very interested in the venomous snakes and got to see a Black Mamba, Spitting Rattlesnake, Gaboon Viper and many others.
