Amazing Kenya Like You Have Never Seen It (In Pictures)

Kenya is famous for its wildlife and stunning landscapes. It is easy to understand why the wandering lions and elephants steal the spotlight. But they are not all there is to this African country.
Here is the other side of Kenya, in pictures. If you have not seen it before, you are in for a treat.

Aerial view of a city with many buildings.
Nairobi is Kenya’s capital and its largest city. (Photo: Nina R/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
View of an ample street. It has one big building on the left and another big brick building on the right.
Nairobi. The following pictures are of Nairobi as well. (Photo: Gabby Canonizado/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)
Aerial view of Nairobi. There is a very large park with a lake and trees in the foreground.
More than 4 million people live in Nairobi, 9 million if one counts the surrounding areas. (Photo: Nina R/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
Street view. In the center, a street with many cars. The street is flanked by tall, modern, white buildings.
Nairobi. (Photo: Callewise/CCBYSA4.0)
Inside a sushi restaurant. Clients sit at the bar eating while the chefs serve them the food.
Sushi bar in Nairobi. (Photo: meaduva/CCBYND2.0)
A train station with a pretty and clean train. Looks like a subway train, but it is outdoors.
Kenya’s railway at the Nairobi station. (Photo: Erasmus Kamugisha/Wikimedia/CCBYSA4.0)
Inside a big train station. It is full of light with a wall of glass and white shiny floors. Outside, two trains wait for the passengers.
Inside Nairobi’s station. (Photo: Macabe5387/Wikimedia/CCBYSA4.0)
Black and white picture. Artistic shot. A couple chats on the street while holding hands.
Nairobi. (Photo: Xiaojun Deng/CCBY2.0)
Two women rollerskating on the street.
Nairobi. (Photo: Stuart Price/Public domain)
Picture of a big two-storey neoclassical building made of brown stone. A sign on the front reads: The Judiciary.
Nairobi (Photo: K.Gituma/CCBYSA3.0)

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A building. The entrance says: Nairobi National Museum.
(Photo: Rachel Strohm/Flickr/CCBYND2.0)
A cone-shaped unusual building.
Auditorium of the Kenyatta International Conference Center in Nairobi. (Photo: Jorge Lascar/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
A white, big, neoclassical two-story building.
Nairobi City Hall. (Photo: Jorge Lascar/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
Close up of another building's entrance. Above it, there is a sign which reads "The Nairobi Gallery."
(Photo: Nina R/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
Big yellow European building with magenta columns. It is the Kenya National Archives.
Nairobi. (Photo: Jorge Lascar/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
A couple of ballet dancers performing on stage.
(Photo: Dance Centre Kenya/Facebook)
Courtyard of a big white house. A gallery envelops the green-grassed courtyard. A man and a woman walk on a red carpet, towards the camera, on one side of the gallery.
State House in Nairobi, where the Kenyan president lives. Kenyan Foreign Secretary Amina Mohamed walks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in 2016. They are on their way to see Kenya’s president. (Photo: US Department of State/Public domain)
Inside an elegant office with a great view. A man sits on a couch while two interviewers sit on another.
The man on the left is Bob Collymore, the CEO of Safaricom. The company is Kenya’s largest telecommunications provider and one of East Africa’s most profitable companies. (Photo: Stuart Price/Make it Kenya)

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Inside a laboratory. A young man wearing a lab coat and gloves does some experiments.
A master’s student at Kenyatta University. (Photo: Swathi Sridharan (ICRISAT)/CCBYSA2.0)

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Inside a casino. Picture of several machines and electronic games.
Casino at the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi. (Photo: Xiaojun Deng/CCBY2.0)
The front desk of the BBC's office. A woman, perhaps a reporter, stands next to the receptionist's desk.
The offices of the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) in Nairobi. (Photo: Abiodun1994/CCBYSA4.0)
Indoors. Three twenty-year-olds -two men and a woman- sit around a table laughing. They all have laptops in front of them.
Hackers bonding at Nairobi’s Science Hack Day. (Photo: Matt Biddulph/CCBYSA2.0)

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Picture of a park. There is a big old tree in the foreground, and the ground is covered with grass.
Nairobi has many green spaces. This is the Arboretum, a forest. (Photo: Ninara/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
A park with a lake. A couple strolls along the lake, and Nairobi's skyline can be seen in the back.
Uhuru Park. (Photo: Jennifer Wu/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
Picture of a park with trees and grass.
Central Park, not in New York, in Nairobi. (Photo: Onchester454/Wikimedia/CCBYSA4.0)
A forest with very tall trees. Two women jog on a dirt path.
Karura Forest, Nairobi. (Photo: Ninaras/Wikimedia/CCBY4.0)
A golf course.
Nairobi is a golfers’ paradise. It has 12 golf courses, among them the Muthiaga Golf Club (pictured). (Photo: Jeff Turner/CCBY2.0)
A one-story house. It has a porch and red tiles on the roof. It has a green lawn in front.
If you are a fan of the movie Out of Africa, you will recognize this house. It belonged to Baroness Karen von Blixen. The movie is based on von Blixen’s life in Kenya. Meryl Streep portrayed her. (Photo: Rod Waddington/Flickr/CCBYSA2.0)
A view from the porch towards the big green lawn.
A view from the house’s porch. The house was bought by Kenya’s government and is now the Karen Blixen Museum. (Photo: Ninara/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
Two women walk on a road towards the same house. The house seats on large grounds. There is only nature around.
The house is located in one of Nairobi’s wealthiest suburbs. (Photo: Karl Ragnar Gjertsen/Wikimedia/CCBYSA3.0)
A tombstone that reads: Denys Finch Hutton.
The tomb of Denys Finch Hatton, who was Karen’s beau. Robert Redford portrayed him in the movie. (Photo: Stuart Price/Flickr/Public domain)
Black and white picture of Meryl Streep driving a jeep. Next to her, on the passenger seat, is Robert Redford.
Meryl and Robert in Out of Africa. (Photo: Stuart Price/Flickr/Public domain)
A giraffe strolls in the foreground walking on tall grass. In the background is Nairobi's skyline.
One of Kenya’s famous inhabitants. In the background is Nairobi’ss skyline. (Photo: Mkimemia/CCBYSA3.0)

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Picture of a European-style stone church with two tall towers.
Mombasa is Kenya’s second-largest city. Here is Mombasa’s Catholic Cathedral. (Photo: Zahra Abdulmajid/CCBYSA3.0)

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Aerial view of a beach. There are houses, buildings, and lots of trees on the left and the ocean on the right.
Mombasa is surrounded by water and by beautiful beaches. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A group of white beach houses with red roofs and green lawns.
Private homes built by My Space Properties in Mombasa. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A man smiles while talking. He is sitting in front of the model building.
Mwenda Thuranira, the CEO of the real estate company My Space Properties. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A sunny clear-skied beach. There is an infinity pool, and the ocean can be seen in the background.
Nyali is one of Mombasa’s beaches. Voyager Beach Resort. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
The pool area of a resort. Some people play in the pool.
Voyager Beach Resort. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A resort's front lawn next to the beach. It is a wide stretch of grass with palm trees and beach chairs.
Serena Beach Resort. (Photo: John Hickey-Fry/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
Another resort next to the ocean.
WaterLovers Resort in Diani Beach, Mombasa. (Photo: John Hickey-Fry/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
Cozy white houses and trees.
Pinewood Beach Resort. (Photo: John Hickey-Fry/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
A man wearing an orange vest stands in the foreground, in a port. In the background are the modern cranes and stacked containers.
Mombasa has the biggest port in East Africa. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Stacked containers in the port.
(Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Artistic shot of the blue cranes.
(Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Two ships at the port.
(Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A brand new train station seen from the outside. The facade is modern with lots of glass.
Ngong’s railway station. Ngong is a town near Nairobi. (Photo: MarkDenver Karubiu/CCBYSA4.0)
Inside a large auditorium. Several dignitaries sit on a long table on stage, facing a large audience.
The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Ministerial Conference held in Nairobi in 2015. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Ceremony outdoors. Dignitaries wearing suits or dresses stand on a red carpet.
Another moment of the WTO conference. From left to right: (half seen) Kenya’s cabinet secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Amina Mohamed; Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta; Roberto Azevedo from Brazil, director-general of the WTO; far-right another dignitary. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A suited man gives a speech from a podium.
Africa Travel Association’s (ATA) Congress held in Nairobi. Kenyan deputy president William Ruto addresses the delegates. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Rows of long tables. Men and women dressed formally sit listening to the speaker.
Some of the attendees during the same ATA congress. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Inside an auditorium. On the left is a suited man who stands behind a podium giving a speech. On the right are the representatives of the UAE sitting down, listening.
United Arab Emirates-Kenya Trade and Investment Forum. Kempinski Hotel, Nairobi. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Two men dressed in Middle-Eastern robes talk to a man wearing a suit.
Representatives of the UAE and Nigeria talk at the same trade forum. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A man in a suit gives a speech from a podium.
Pre-Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) Expo. Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta giving a speech at the expo in Nairobi. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Two women and two men laugh in a formal setting.
Kenya-Norway Partnership in Business Seminar. Nigerian and Norwegian attendees mingle at the InterContinental Hotel in Nairobi. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Two men sit inside a room. One is interviewing the other.
Moses Ikiara (right) giving an interview. Moses is the managing director of the Kenyan Investment Authority KenInvest. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A woman holding a microphone speaks on stage.
Nanjira Sambuli is a Kenyan researcher and writer. In 2019 she appeared on BBC’s 100 Women list. (Photo: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung/Flickr/CCBYSA2.0)
A man dressed in traditional African clothes signs a book.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o is a famed Kenyan writer. He writes novels, short stories, and plays, usually in Gikuyu, his native language. Ngugi has taught at the University of Nairobi, Yale, and NYU. (Photo: Lesekreis/Wikimedia/Public domain)
A woman speaks on stage.
Nanjala Nyabola giving a talk in Berlin. Nanjala is also a Kenyan writer. Her focus is on African politics and society. (Photo: Jan Michalko/Wikimedia/CCBYSA2.0)
A woman shakes hand with a man on stage behind a podium. On the podium, it reads "Fortune."
Kenyan Catherine Nyambala receiving Fortune’s Global Women Leaders Award. Catherine is the founder and executive director of STEMAfrica. The group promotes science, technology, engineering, and math in Africa. (Photo: Fortune Live Media/Flickr/CCBYND2.0)
A woman, dressed in traditional African clothes, sings on stage. She holds a microphone, and the stage is bathed in blue light.
Ghanaian singer Jojo Abot at the Africa Nouveau festival in Nairobi. (Photo: Elizabeth Farida/Wikimedia/CCBYSA4.0)
Spectators dance to the music and smile.
The crowd having fun listening to Mambo Tribe during the Safaricom Jazz Lounge festival. (Photo: Gallery Khately/Wikimedia//CCBYSA4.0)
A woman claps in happiness with her eyes clothes.
Another member of the crowd enjoys the music at the Jazz festival. She is listening to Senegalese musician Alune Wade. (Photo: Gallery Khately/CCBYSA4.0)
A race car on a dirt road. It has just turned sharply, creating a cloud of dust.
The Safari Rally takes place once a year. This international race is for the tough. It is divided into stages, and the total time the drivers spend behind the wheel is 8 hours. That is unusually long for a rally. (Photo: Jared-G-Maina/CCBYSA4.0)
Rock climbers wearing helmets and using climbing ropes. They are almost on top of a big mountain.
Italian rock climbers make their way up Mount Kenya. The peak is the second tallest mountain in Africa. (Photo: Franco Pecchio/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
A man practices an arm balance while other yogis watch him.
Yogis practicing at the Yoga Treehouse in Watamu, a coastal town near Mombasa. (Photo: Make It Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Two men strapped to a parachute land on the beach.
Skydivers landing safely on Watamu’s beach. (Photo: Make It Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A group of professional athletes riding their bikes on the road.
Mt. Kenya Epik cycling challenge takes place every year. It attracts both professional and amateur cyclists from around the world. (Photo: Make It Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)

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Bright clear, sunny day in the ocean. A woman is kiteboarding (riding a board on the sea while holding a kite that pulls her)
Watamu Beach. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A man making a high jump while kitesurfing.
(Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
A group of scuba divers plunging into the sea.
Watamu. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Another shot in the ocean. This time a group of dolphins plays in the foreground. A man on a paddleboard watches them from a few meters/feet away.
Watamu. Don’t fret, those are friendly dolphins. (Photo: Make it Kenya/Stuart Price/Public domain)
Aerial shot of an island with white houses along the shore. The sea is deep blue.
The rich and famous own vacation homes on Lamu Island. (Photo: Cessna/Wikimedia/CC BY 2.0)
The rooftop of a fort, somewhat like the top of a castle with a defense tower.
A fort built on the island. (Photo: SebastianKippe/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
Inside an airy living room with views to the garden.
Inside the fort. (Photo: SebastianKippe/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
A shot of the island from the sea. The sea is in the foreground, and farther back, there are white big houses and a yacht.
Some of the houses belong to Europeans that vacation in Lamu. (Photo: Weldon Kennedy/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
A sailboat sailing.
Lamu. (Photo: Justin Clements/Flickr/CCBY2.0)
A smiling man feeds a friendly giraffe who eats from his hand.
We were going to skip the wildlife pictures Kenya is so famous for, but we could not help ourselves with this one. (Photo: Jorge Lascar/CCBY2.0)

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2020-08-24
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