10 most stunning Kenya museums to visit in Kenya

10 most stunning Kenya museums to visit in Kenya: Kenya is a great safari destination famous for wildlife including the big five and the great wildebeest migration, Kenya comprises of over 40 protected areas (national parks and reserve) habiting wildlife and visited for wildlife viewing safaris, birding safaris and many more.

Apart from wildlife, Kenya is a paradise for heritage, culture, traditions, scientific artistic and amazing history. Kenya’s history, heritage and culture has made it a grand destination for cultural safaris with many tourists visiting to learn more about them in Kenya.

Kenya comprises of many museums visited for historical, scientific, artistic and cultural safaris, this article lists and highlights 10 most stunning museums in Kenya every tourist should visit while on a Kenya safari.

Bomas of Kenya

Bomas of Kenya are a tourist village found in Lang’ata in Nairobi, the Bomas of Kenya depict the traditional villages of several tribes of Kenya. This village was established by the Kenyan government so as to preserve, maintain and promote rich and diverse cultural values of various tribal groups of Kenya such as Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin, Kamba, Kisii, Meru, Mijikenda and many more.

In Bomas of Kenya, various living style, crafts, music and dancing are exhibited in this village.

Fort Jesus Museum

Fort Jesus Museum is a world heritage site located in Mombasa in the coastal region of Kenya, the fort where the museum is found was built by the Portuguese between 1593 and 1596 for purposes of safety and security during their stay on the coast. Fort Jesus Museum is one of the most outstanding and well preserved 16th-century Portuguese military fortification in the work, the fort in a shape of a man with its architecture representing a rough outline of a person lying on their back with a head facing towards the sea.

The port where Fort Jesus Museum is found was captured by the Portuguese, Arabs and British through different times on the coast, the fort consists of the Oman house which was a house for the Sultan who governed the East African Coast. Other amazing structures found in the fort include an open water cistern which was built by the Portuguese for harvesting rain water and a 76-foot deep well sunk built by the Arabs.

Nairobi national Museum

Nairobi national Museum in Kenya is located in Nairobi city in a few minutes’ drive from Nairobi Central District, Nairobi national Museum exhibits and showcases Kenya’s rich heritage and has a collection of Kenya’s history, nature, culture and contemporary art. Nairobi National Museum also has outdoor sculptures, landscaping and botanic gardens linked to the four pillars of Kenya national heritage that are nature, culture, history and temporary art.

Nairobi national Museum sitting on the Museum Hill was built in 1929 is a flagship museum for the national Museums of Kenya, thee museums consists of Art Gallery, temporary Exhibitions, botanical gardens with a nature trail, shopping and dining facilities. The museum’s botanical gardens, host workshops, cocktails, conferences and other functions

Lamu Fort

Lamu fort is located in Lamu Town in northeastern Kenya, Lamu fort is a two-storey stone building featuring contracts of elegant Swahili architecture of the other buildings in town. Lamu fort has a theme for environmental conservation and it is a community center for the people of Lamu old town, the fort houses a library comprising of excellent collection of Swahili poetry and materials referring to Lamu.

Lamu Fort also features fort ramparts offering panoramic views of the Lamu and a courtyard, the courtyard is used for weddings, meetings and frequently used for theatre productions. Lamu Fort’s structure comprises of a large exhibition space on the ground floor, the exhibition space recently once hosted the first environmental museum in Africa. On the second floor of the fort, there are administrative offices, laboratories and a workshop. Lamu Fort also has an excellent conference facility which is available for hire.

Malindi Museum

Malindi Museum is located in Malindi, this museum’s structure is a charming old double storey structure with a roof terrace covered with beautiful glistering roof tiles situated along the seafront and in a few meters from Malindi jetty and the fish market. Malindi Museum is of 19th century style in a rectangular shape and a long veranda and accessed through 4 main entrances

2 entrances are on the east façade accessed through a colonnade of 5 rounded pillars on a square pedestal one of these entrances is fitted with a Gujerati 9 and the other with a Swahili carved door.
3rd entrance is on the northern façade at the North-West quadrant and accessed using a flight of masonry stairway, it has a small trap door of the Indian style which serves as the ground and first floor of the building.
The 4th entrance is exclusive for the 1st floor and reached through exterior wooden staircase, the door to this entrance is simple and opens onto a balcony supported by rounded columns covered with roof resting on dressed wooden supports.

Malindi museum houses temporary exhibitions and it is an information centre for visitors focused on Malindi.

Nairobi Snake Park

Nairobi Snake Park in Kenya is located in Nairobi city just adjacent to National Museum, the snake park was started purposely to create a unique and popular attraction while providing a research facility with a focus on reptiles and breeding of snakes. Nairobi Snake Park exhibits various kinds of live snakes and has various programmes such as an octopus exhibition, interactive sessions with harmless reptiles and amphibians, an exhibition of the birds in the snake park and a session of feeding crocodiles with live fish.

Karen Blixen

Karen Blixen museum in Kenya is located in the upscale Nairobi suburb of Karen at the foot of Ngong and in a distance of 10 kilometers from Nairobi the capital of Kenya, Karen Blixen museum is in architectural style of a bungalow and was once a centre piece of a farm and a home to Danish author Karen and her Swedish husband Baron Bror Von Blixen Fincle.

The farm became internationally famous after the release of the movie “out of Africa” an Oscar winning film based on Karen’s an autobiography by the same time. Karen museum features rooms designed in both the original décor and props from the 1985 movie, a gift shop and grounds open for corporate functions, weddings and many more.

Visit to Karen Blixen museum offers guided tours of the house and a coffee plantations.

Kisumu Museum

Kisumu Museum in Kenya is located in Kisumu along Kisumu – Kericho highway, exhibiting natural and cultural history of the western Kenya people. Kisumu Museum was opened to the public in 1980, this museum features a diverse collection of flora and fauna species, a traditional homestead of the Luo and other traditional Luo artifacts.

Kisumu Museum is a gravity point for seminars and workshops for both local and international students and travellers in Kenya, Kisumu Museum is also attached to a number of historical significant sites and monuments such as Fort Tenan, Songhor, Thimlich, Ohinga and Rusinga islands.

Kitale Museum

Kitale Museum is a renowned first domestic museum to be opened in Kenya in 1924, originally this museum was known as Stoneham Museum named after Colonel Hugh Stoneham who was a large contributor and collector of artifacts displayed in this museum. After his death in 1966, the museum was renamed to Kitale Museum as it was established by the National Museums of Kenya in 1974.

Kitale Museum is located in western Kenya in Trans-Nzoia County and about 380 kilometers southwest of Nairobi the capital of Nairobi and 1 kilometers from the town center of Kitale, Kitale Museum is the first regional museum to become part of the Kenya Museum society siting on 5 acres of land.

Kitale museum exhibits various artifacts collection with items gathered from Kenya tribes such as Luyha, Maasai and the Turkana, items displayed include items from traditional Kenya home such as utensils, native musical instruments and weaponry. Kitale Museum also holds various animal species such as Nile crocodiles, leopard, tortoises and poisonous snakes such as puff adder, rock python, Gaboon viper and rhinoceros viper.

Narok Museum

Narok Museum is located in Narok county of Kenya which is a home county for the local Masai people, this Museum greatly focus and exhibits the Masai cultural heritage. Narok Museum also exhibits cultural heritage of other Maa speaking tribes such as the Samburu, Njemps and Ndorobo tribal people. Exhibitions in the gallery of Narok Museum include 24 reproductions of Joy Adamson’s paintings depicting the traditional lifestyle of the Maa speaking people, these paintings’ collection was selected from vibrant ethnographical portraits taken from her extensive collection.

Among Joy Adamson’s collection displayed in the gallery of Narok Museum there are 8 black and white photograph taken in Masai Land in Narok, Loita and Amboseli. Narok Museum also exhibits a collection of cultural artifacts which are the heart of the exhibition.

The Masai people exhibited in Narok Museum are believed to have migrated from North Africa entering Kenya near Lake Turkana, when they entered Kenya they spread south through the Rift Valley because of the green pastures which are feeds to their livestock.