Travel Guide Nyeri

To get to the Aberdares from Nairobi, Nyeri is a must. This lively town is the administrative capital of the central province. There is a bustling market, a few cheap hotels and, above all, the grave of Baden-Powell, the founder of scouting, who spent the end of his life in Kenya. Fans can visit the small museum dedicated to him in the gardens of the Outspan Hotel or visit his grave in St Peter's Church Cemetery. It is surprising that a town like Nyeri, a stronghold of the independence struggle, should pay such honours to a former colonial English general, while the Mau Mau leader, D. Kimathi, is given a simple tombstone without any inscription at all, at the other end of the town. But that's another story.The charming little town of Kiganjo, a few kilometres from Nyeri on the A2 road, is home to a Kenyan police training centre that is renowned in the country, not for the quality of the police officers who come out of it but for the quality of the athletes. Many world-class runners have come out of these training camps.If you are coming from Nanyuki and want to go to Nyeri, it is worthwhile to turn off at Kiganjo, which will save you some time and take a nice little road that winds through the hills. Nyeri is well served by public transport. Matatus and buses are parked not far from the city market on Gakare Road. There are numerous departures to and from Nairobi (2 hours), Nanyuki (45 minutes), Nakuru (2 hours), Nyahururu (1 hour)