Nairobi Museum Multi #2: Fine Art & Forest
This is one of three multi-caches now available at this fine location. They are privileged to join Carbon Hunter’s excellent Earth Cache, Nairobi’s Earliest Residents GC278EH, which is so far easily the most popular/found cache in Kenya. So now you also have four caching reasons to visit the museum!
The Nairobi Museum was built in 1929 and is the flagship museum for the National Museums of Kenya, housing celebrated collections of Kenya's History, Nature, Culture and Contemporary Art. Amongst the numerous attractions there is a notable gallery of artwork by Joy Adamson featuring various Kenyan communities in traditional attire and Kenyan plants & flowers, a comprehensive collection of over 900 stuffed birds and animals, fascinating exhibits on hominids & dinosaurs and some great dioramas. See here for more historical background and other information. It is open daily throughout the year from 08h30-17h30. See the gallery photo for info on entry fees.
Whilst most visitors quite rightly spend their time admiring the wonderful exhibits inside, many do not take the opportunity to explore the museum environs which are well worth the extra hour or so required. The museum is set in beautiful botanical gardens which offer a serene, shady environment with some fine tree specimens and some great art-works.
To Reach the Museum:
This is not as straightforward as in the past as there is now a new dual-carriageway flyover which continues past the Museum entrance. So if coming from the city you will need to filter left as you approach the flyover junction, follow the loop around and across the highway (ie. effectively making a right turn) and then along Museum Hill passing the Museum entrance on the other side of the dual carriageway.
Continue down to the next roundabout then go around this and come back the same way but now on the other side of the dual carriageway where you can access the Museum entrance on your left.
To Find the Cache:
1. After parking your car, head for the wonderful large glass wall installation on the south wall of the main museum block near S01 16.454 E36 48.883 – probably the most spectacular single artwork at this location and created by the local company Kitengela Glass from recycled glass. The number of arrows depicted in the 3rd glass pane from the bottom on the right side = A [Update 13/10/22: the arrows seem to have gone?? so use A=2]
2. Move a little to your right to S01 16.454 E36 48.896 which is the original old museum entrance. Above the door is a plaque in memory of Sir Robert Coryndon, Governor of Kenya from 1922-1925, who was one of the most powerful colonial administrators of his day, and responsible for ensuring allocation of land for the original museum in 1929. See here for more info on this member of the ‘12 Apostles of Cecil Rhodes’. The number of the month of 1930 when this plaque was placed = B
3. Now proceed to @ S01 16.470 E36 48.883 where you will find a special representation of Kenya. The total number of faces on this piece of art = C
4. Now pass down into the next different, beautiful and extensive work of art and botany – a mosaic and medicinal plants garden created by a partnership of 7 organisations. It has representations of the tree of life and various African creatures. One of these is found at S01 16.473 E36 48.871 in the North arm of the garden which is labelled accordingly. The number of round mosaic shapes are found in between the curves of this creature = D
5. Move a short distance to the Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH) information board at S01 16.473 E36 48.863 which gives some interesting background information about the project and the medicinal plants growing there. (See here for more info on this body and its fascinating work). The bed number where the Aloaceae family may be found = E
6. From here head down into the forest following the twisting path which crosses over a footbridge at S01 16.493 E36 48.866 which has F wooden slats
7. Carry on along the path which passes by G large stone face columns at S01 16.503 E36 48.878
8. Follow the path which runs parallel to the river where at S01 16.503 E36 48.916 you will pass a gate in the fence (Update 23 July 2013 - gate now missing) with a wooden bench just inside the latter. The bench has H slats – the same number of vertical poles within the frame of the gate. On the way back, you may pass through this gate to access the succulents garden with some 180 species, and make an interesting alternative route back to the museum entrance.
[Update 13/10/22: the bench has gone so use H=5]
9. Continue to the plaque at at S01 16.506 E36 48.936 which commemorates the date of commissioning of the New Nairobi Forest Display Theme Enrichment Project by Shri KS Sudashanji in 200J.
. The cache may be found at the following coordinates:
S 01 16.H(B-E-1)(G-A) E 36 48.(J+A)(D+3)(F-C-1)
Note: although this is often a secluded spot, be on the lookout for muggles as you retrieve and replace the cache. A (friendly) security guard suddenly appeared out of the woodland beyond the cache area and passed me along the path - but a quick grab of the binoculars and I was instantly just a bird-watcher again - it is worth keeping the bins handy anyway as there are plenty of forest birds to spot along the way.
You may check your solution by using the following link . . .
