Attraction · Nairobi
The Karen Blixen Museum
The farmhouse where <em>Out of Africa</em> was lived rather than written, kept as it was, at the foot of the hills the suburb around it is named after her for.
Time needed45 – 60 minutes
Best timeLate morning or afternoon
WhereKaren, west of the park
House built1912
She lived here1917 – 1931
Museum since1986
About
The Karen Blixen Museum
Karen Blixen came to Kenya in 1914 and ran a coffee farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills until it failed and she went home to Denmark in 1931; she published <em>Out of Africa</em> as Isak Dinesen a few years later. The farmhouse, built in 1912 and bought by her and her husband in 1917, was given to Kenya by the Danish government at independence and opened as a museum in 1986, after the film had made it famous. What it is now is a small, quiet, well-kept colonial house with its original and period furniture, its verandah, its garden and the hills behind it — and a guided tour of about half an hour that is included in the entry and is delivered by guides who are usually very good indeed. It is not a large or a demanding visit. What it is is the only place in Nairobi where the city’s early-twentieth-century history is presented as a place rather than as a display case.
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What to See
What to see
A house, a garden and a view. The guided tour is the visit and it is included.
The house
- The rooms kept as they were, with some of her own furniture and much of the rest of the period, including the pieces used in the 1985 film.
- The verandah looking toward the Ngong Hills, which is where the famous opening line of the book is pointing.
- The kitchen and outbuildings behind, which say more about how the farm actually ran than the drawing room does.
The grounds
- The garden and lawn, which are large, well kept and shaded, and which most visitors sit in for longer than they spend inside.
- The agricultural machinery from the coffee farm, displayed where it was used.
- The view to the Ngong Hills, which is unobstructed and is the reason the house is sited where it is.
The context
- The guides, who handle the colonial history of the farm directly rather than sentimentally, and who are worth asking difficult questions.
- The relationship between the house, the coffee farm that failed and the suburb of Karen that grew on the land afterwards.
- The gift shop, which stocks a proper selection of the books rather than souvenirs.
Getting There
Getting there
In the Karen suburb, ten minutes from the Giraffe Centre and part of the same morning.
From Nairobi
- Thirty to sixty minutes by car from the centre depending on traffic, and a few minutes from a Karen or Lang’ata hotel.
- Ride-hailing reaches it easily. A car with a driver for the morning is the usual arrangement since it is one of three stops.
- It is on the western side of the national park, which is the far side from the international airport.
Combining it
- With the Giraffe Centre ten minutes away and the elephant orphanage nearby, as one Karen morning.
- With lunch in Karen afterwards, which is the natural end of that morning and where the restaurants are.
- With an early game drive in Nairobi National Park before all of it, if the day starts at dawn.
Practicalities
- Tickets at the gate, with a guided tour included and running continuously.
- Open daily including public holidays, with the last tour some time before closing.
- There is parking, a shop and a café, and the grounds are open to sit in.
Best Time
When to visit
A house museum with a garden. It works at any hour and it is nicest when the light is on the hills.
Time of day
- Late morning or afternoon, when the guides are less rushed and the garden is at its best.
- It is the natural third stop after the elephant orphanage’s fixed viewing hour and the Giraffe Centre.
- Late afternoon light on the Ngong Hills from the verandah is the best version of the view.
Time of year
- It works in every season, being largely indoors and under trees.
- June to October is cool and bright and the garden is dry.
- The long rains in April and May make the lawn soft, and the house is unaffected.
How long
- Forty-five minutes to an hour, of which about half is the guided tour.
- Longer if you sit in the garden, which many people do and which is a reasonable use of a Nairobi afternoon.
- It is a short visit by design; anyone expecting a large museum will be surprised.
Visitor Intelligence
Visitor intelligence
A small site, a good tour and a history worth engaging with rather than glossing.
The tour
- It is included and it is the visit — the house is not labelled for self-guiding and makes much less sense without it.
- The guides are well informed and used to real questions about the colonial period, the farm’s labour and the land.
- Ask about what happened to the farm and the land after 1931; the answer is the suburb you drove through to get here.
The book and the film
- The house is furnished partly with her things and partly with pieces used in the 1985 film, and the guides distinguish between the two.
- The film was shot partly here and partly elsewhere, and the guides are clear about which is which.
- Reading even the first chapter of the book beforehand changes the visit considerably.
Photography
- Photography inside the house is restricted; ask at the ticket desk rather than assuming.
- The house from the lawn with the Ngong Hills behind it is the frame, and it is best in the afternoon.
- The garden and the outbuildings are unrestricted and are the more interesting subjects anyway.
Access and families
- The ground floor and the garden are level and largely step-free; there are a few thresholds.
- It is a quiet, adult sort of visit and it works better with older children than with young ones.
- The garden is a good place to let everyone stop, which after a morning of animals is often what is needed.
Nearby
Nearby
The rest of the Karen morning, all within ten minutes.
The Giraffe Centre
Ten minutes away, and the stop that usually comes before this one.
Nairobi
The city — the national park, the museums, and both airports.
The Ngong Hills
The ridge the verandah looks at, walkable along its length. No page of its own.
The elephant orphanage
A few minutes away, with a short fixed public viewing hour. No page of its own.
Good to Know
Frequently asked
No, but reading even the first chapter beforehand changes the visit a great deal — the house, the verandah and the view to the Ngong Hills are what the book’s opening is describing, and standing in it without that is standing in a pleasant colonial farmhouse. The guided tour supplies the necessary context either way. The film is a different matter: some of the furniture is from the 1985 production rather than from her, and the guides are careful to say which is which.
Forty-five minutes to an hour, of which roughly half is the included guided tour of the house. Many visitors then sit in the garden for a while, which is a perfectly good use of a Nairobi afternoon. It is a small site by design — anyone expecting a large museum will be surprised — and it fits naturally as the third stop of a Karen morning after the elephant orphanage and the Giraffe Centre.
Broadly yes, and the guides are used to being asked. The house is presented as what it was — the home of a European settler running a coffee farm on land in the Kenyan highlands — and the guides will discuss the farm’s labour, the land question and what happened after 1931 if you raise it. The suburb you drive through to reach the house is built on that farm. It is worth asking rather than leaving it as scenery.
In the Karen suburb on the western side of Nairobi National Park, ten minutes from the Giraffe Centre and a few minutes from the elephant orphanage. From the city centre it is thirty to sixty minutes depending entirely on traffic; from a Karen or Lang’ata hotel it is a few minutes. Ride-hailing reaches it easily, though most visitors have a car and driver for the morning because it is one of several stops.
With older children, yes — the story is comprehensible and the grounds are pleasant. With young children it is the least engaging stop of a Karen morning, being a quiet house tour with things that must not be touched. The garden, however, is large and shaded and is a good place to let everyone stop after a morning of giraffe and elephants, which is often what a family day actually needs at that point.
Photography inside is restricted and the rules are set at the desk rather than in a guidebook, so ask when you buy the ticket. The garden, the outbuildings and the agricultural machinery are unrestricted, and the frame most people want anyway is the house from the lawn with the Ngong Hills behind it, which is at its best in the afternoon light.
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