Nyeri Museum

Nyeri Museum

 

Historical Background  

Nyeri Museum is housed in a National monument which was once used as a “Native law court”. It was built in 1924 and started functioning in 1925. Its main objective was to deal with customary law cases, previously dealt with by clan elders in the villages. As these cases increased, one courtroom could not handle the volume and thus another hall was built.

Thus, the cases were divided among the two courts, with court one dealing with civil cases like pregnancy and debtor cases, and court two dealing with criminal cases like theft and murder. The first law court is unique in the sense that the seats are inbuilt and concrete, with those on which the judges used to sit on being slightly raised, giving a sense of authority.

Tambach Museum

Tambach Museum

 

Geographical Location and Historical Background

Tambach Museum is located in Tambach Town, Elgeiyo/Marakwet County, approximately 42 kilometres from Eldoret Town.
Tambach lies at an altitude of 6,500 feet at the top of the Elgeiyo Escarpment. It has a spectacular view of the Kerio Valley, the Tugen Hills, and the Kerio River.
HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM
Tambach is one of the oldest towns in Kenya. It was established in 1920s as a British colonial center of administering Elgeiyo and Marakwet people For much of the colonial period, the town grew from a tiny village to a busy urban center.By the end of 1950s, Tambach developed into a very pretty little town.
British colonialists constructed a number of buildings that included; administrative offices, the prestigious Government African School, A church, detention camp and hospital. Today, the historical buildings and the cultural landscape are treasured monuments and form part of the heritage of the Elgeiyo/Marakwet County. Currently, Tambach and Iten form Iten-Tambach Town Council, a local authority in greater Elgeiyo/Marakwet County.
The idea of establishing a museum at Tambach was conceived by the National Museums of Kenya in 2002. The museum was established to safeguard the Tambach heritage site and the culture of the Keiyo and Marakwet people.Tambach has a rich cultural heritage. It is famous for the Sirikwa Holes constructed by the Sirikwa people in the 17th & 18th centuries.
It also has a rich colonial history.In 2003, NMK renovated the former District Commissioner’s residence, a seven roomed bungalow to create an exhibition space for ethnographic and archaeological collections of the Elgeiyo/Marakwet County.Tambach Heritage Town Exhibition is the premier exhibition for this Museum and was funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kenya through the efforts by AFRICOM (International Council of African Museums).
It is the first museum exhibition in the entire county and is anticipated to promote heritage activities and form part of the North Rift Circuit as a major tourist attraction in this area.This exhibition highlights the development of Tambach town during the colonial and independence period and factors which influenced its growth and decline and now renewed growth.The exhibition also explores the culture (past and present) of its inhabitants-the Keiyo and the Marakwet.
It looks at their lifestyle, livelihoods and traditions in the context of the surrounding- the Keiyo Valley.The museum plans to engage in the collection, documentation, research, education and exhibition of the cultural heritage of the local community.The museum was officially opened on 31st March, 2012.

Wajir Museum

Wajir Museum

 

Geographical Location and Historical Background  

The Wajir Museum was officially open on 19th April, 2011.

The main objective of this museum is to give you a glimpse of the rich cultural, historical and natural heritage of Northern Kenya and its interaction with the world.
The Wajir Museum houses an exhibition that reflects traditions and the customs of communities living in this Northern part of Kenya.The theme of the exhibition is "A Window to Northern Kenya".
It is a part of initiatives to open up Northern Kenya to the tourism industry forming a part of the tourist attractions that will offer distinctive products in the region.
History of Wajir
Wajir was occupied in 1912, to prevent the Boranas from being driven away from the Wells which originally belonged to them by other tribes. British Officers arrived at Wajir in 1913.
In 1921 the military took over the administration of the district until September 1925, when it reverted to civil administration in 1928, the boundary was shifted North of Modo Gashe to the line of Uaso Nyiro and Lake Dera. unitl 1917, Bulsesa was a sub-district of Wajir but in 1918, Wajir became a district of its own.
The headquaters of Wajir was evacuated in 1940 during the Italian invasion. save for that period, Wajir has remained a full district since 1918.
Communities of Northern Kenya
The following nine communities form the northern part of kenya: Borana, Rendile, Turkana, Elmolo, Pokot, Samburu, Somali, Dasanach and Gabbra.
They live a nomadic way of life in a semi arid environment which supports camel, cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys.The Elmolo are fishermen while the Dasanach prectice agro-pastrolism.
Attractions
Wajir town is a host to several other Sites and Monuments among them the Wagalla Massacre Site, Yahut dam, Shaletey wells, monumental buildings, the british bunkers and Orpahey wells.
Historical Sites:

• Old homes build by Italian Prisoners 
• Old court house 
• British/ Italian War Bunkers
• Orahey wells

Rabai Museum

Rabai Museum

 

Historical Background and Geographical Location 

Rabai is well known in the annals of history as the place where Christianity and modern learning in Kenya started well over 150 years ago.  In 1994 the Krapf Memorial Museum was founded to give formal and a perpetual reminder to monumental events during the advent of early missionaries. Stories about the first missionaries were passed on by word of mouth and are still told today.

Built in 1846 as the first Church edifice in Kenya, Rabai is situated about 25 km north-west of Mombasa, off the Nairobi-Mombasa highway on Mazeras-Kaloleni road, about half an hour?s drive from Mombasa. 

Narok museum

Narok museum

 

Historical Background 

The National Museums of Kenya has setup a Museum in Narok with exhibitions of pictures and artifacts to preserve the beauty and strength of the rich traditional culture of the Maasai and other speakers of the Maa language.

The Maa speakers in Kenya comprise the Maasai (Narok and Kajiado district), Samburu (Samburu, Laikipia district), Njemps (Baringo district) and groups of Ndorobo neighboring the Maasai.

The Maasai are believed to have originated from North Africa and entered Kenya near L. Turkana, spreading south through the Rift Valley, which provided extensive grazing grounds for their cattle. Today they occupy parts of Kenya and Tanzania.

The Maasai are noble, aristocratic people with an impressive physical appearance and a technology appropriate to the harsh environmental conditions of tropical savannah.

The Maasai live in a cycle constituted by a chain of ceremonies that involve the community as a whole. After childhood (inkera), initiation into adulthood (emorata), and adulthood. Girls marry and boys become warriors (ilmoran). Elders look forward to an age of responsibility and continuous involvement.

Gallery exhibitions include 24 reproductions of Joy Adamson?s paintings, depicting the traditional lifestyle of Maa speakers. This collection is selected from vibrant ethnographical portraits, taken from her legacy of over 6,000 painted between 1949 and 1955.

Inside the gallery, 8 black and white photographs taken by Joy Adamson in 1951 in Maasailand (Narok, Loita and Amboseli) add to the historical value of the exhibits. The collection of cultural artifacts forms the heart of the exhibition. The Museum of Maa culture will also be a living museum, a place where contemporary issues receive as much attention as well. Where todays art is exhibited alongside yesterdays artifacts, where the education of young Maasai students is as important as the state-of-the art research and conservation.

Geographical Location

The Maa Museum was formerly a Community hall, which was transformed into a museum comprising an office, collection room and exhibition gallery. The Maa Museum is located in a West-North-West direction 141 km from Nairobi at the entrance of Narok town.

Kabarnet

Kabarnet

 

Historical Background 

Kabarnet museum opened its doors to the public in 1996 in the former District Commissioner Residence. It has four main public galleries featuring the Rift Valley people, their culture, its environment, indigenous knowledge and science for education.

The main attraction include, the exhibits especially on the culture of the Keiyo / Marakwet, Samburu, Pokot, Nandi and Kipsigis. In addition an overview of the history of the district, from pre-colonial, colonial and post-independence era are on display. While the playground, homesteads and park provides visitors with attractive outdoor scenes.

Kabarnet's location is in close proximity to various attractive scenes, which include Lake Bogoria, Baringo and the Tugen hills.

Other attractions include Paleontological, archaeological and ethnographic sites in the district,

Kabarnet

such as the Chesowanja, Tabarin, Kipsaraman and Sirikwa holes near Moiben. Kerio Game Reserve Park and Flourspar Mining Company, which are not far from Kabarnet, are some of the beautiful sceneries one would not wish to miss while in Kabarnet.

Geographical Location

Kabarnet museum is located in Kabarnet town, Baringo District in Rift Valley province some 265-km northwest of Nairobi. Kabarnet Museum falls within Grid Reference 056 547 on the 1:50,000 sheet 104/1 Kipkabus.

Hyrax Hill

Hyrax Hill

 

Historical Background 

Located within Nakuru town, Hyrax Hill Museum depicts the lifestyle of seasonal settlement by prehistoric people at least 3,000 years old. The Museum is a former farmhouse ceded to the  monument in 1965, by the Late Mr. A. Selfe. A small museum was opened here where artifacts from the Hyrax Hill site and other sites in the Central Rift Valley are displayed.

Numerous sites around the hill belong to different time periods with the earliest finds dating back to the Neolithic period. There is evidence in the form beach sands that a fresh water Lake once extended right to the base of the hill; turning the hill into a peninsular or even an island. The mighty prehistoric lake is believed to have covered the valley from Nakuru to Lake Elementaita about 8,500 years ago. Traces of it have been found at Hyrax Hill, the Wakumi Burial Site, Gambles cave and amongst other places.

Hyrax Hill Museum Gallery

The hill was named after hyraxes which are found in abundance, living in cracks within rocks found in this area.As a region of archaeological interest, the East African Archaeological Expedition of 1926, led by L.S.B. Leakey, first noted Hyrax Hill. In 1937, Mary Leakey undertook some archaeological surveys on the hill. Since then, research has been intermittent with major undertakings in 1965 by Ron Clarke.
The Kenya Government gazetted Hyrax hill as a National Monument in 1943, four years after the first archeological excavation on the hill. Since then Hyrax hill has been a renowned archaeological research area and a reference point for investigations of the prehistory of East Africa. Some sites have been excavated and left open for public viewing. 

 Other attractions within the site include:

• Picnic Site
• Camping Site
• Nature Trail
• Picturesque View of Lake Nakuru
• Tortoise Pit

Geographical Location

Hyrax hill lies in the middle of Kenya's Rift valley, about 4 km from Nakuru town. The site is close to the Nairobi-Nakuru highway. It is about 150 km away from Nairobi. From Lake Nakuru, the hill is about 4.5 km with its base about 100m above the Lake.