I found a place to hang out or have a picnic smack in the middle of the city. OK, middle-ish. And no, it’s not a secret garden; it’s hiding in plain sight.
Jeevanjee Gardens.
Yes, Jeevanjee, home of preachers and beloved of banana sellers. It’s free, belongs to the people of Nairobi and is an island of quiet and coolness that is accessible to all. Here are a few things that make me like it:
Trees: Because the city can be a huge concrete mass, heaving with all the things the city is, this is a feature I relish. The trees cast a lovely shade over the area but there are enough gaps in the trees to get some sun if that’s your thing. This makes it a perfect place for a picnic even in the middle of the week without having to carry your picnic things across the city.
Its legacy: The garden was donated by AM Jeevanjee in 1906 to the poor of the city so they could have a resting place. This bit of history is something I find intriguing because there is still a sense among members of some classes that only poor people (that is to say, people who cannot afford to go to a cafe) spend time at the free green spaces (think Uhuru Park, Central Park, Jeevanjee). Maybe these things feed into each other and I wonder how to draw all the city’s dwellers to these places without making them inaccessible to the people Jeevanjee set out to bequeth the space.
The people there: There are all sorts of characters with the most prominent being Bunge la Wananchi and preachers. If you half know me, you know which camp I like better but those two enliven the place. Then the banana sellers who walk around selling bananas even as there is a shop that sells all manner of things at the Moi Avenue/Moktar Daddah Street junction. The poor of the city still have a place here, it’s always great to note, as they can sleep away lunch hour and the smells that waft your broke way at that time.
The public art: There are sculptures and installations on the grounds that double up as seats and are a pleasure to see. I wish there were more of those (alongside traditional County benches) because someone at City Hall had the brilliant idea to build up little walls masquerading as seating areas that are not as beautiful as the sculptures. But go, if you haven’t been in the recent past, and let me know what you think of the development in the comment section.
All of it, really: That’s what I love about Jeevanjee Gardens. I love that as you walk from Moi Avenue to Muindi Mbingu Street, you can stroll through a place that is beautiful and is the closest thing to forest therapy you can experience in the city.
Go when next you are in the Nairobi CBD 🙂
As always, the cold hard facts:
Getting there: Walk to the garden; it’s bound by Moi Avenue, Moktar Daddah Street, Muindi Mbingu Street & Monrovia Street.
It’s free to enter and one of the things that I love best is the blissful absence of body searches here and at other such green spaces.
Note: This post is part of #CuminWrites366, my year-long attempt to write a post a day. Find the rest over at readability.com/cuminwrites/
Questions, comments, suggestions or green spaces you like in the city? Send them to cuminwrites@gmail.com
~The Kenyan Nomad~ 