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The Outspan Hotel is in Nyeri, Kenya. It was built up from an old farm by Eric Sherbrooke Walker in the 1920s.
Walker had purchased 28 hectares (69 acres) of Crown Land in Nyeri and in 1928, opened the Outspan Hotel, overlooking the gorge of a river in the Aberdare Range. [1] [ page needed ]
The hotel now has 45 rooms on 8.1 ha (20 acres) of gardens. [2]
In 1939, Baden-Powell and his wife Olave moved to a cottage he had commissioned on the grounds of the hotel. [3] The Paxtu cottage is integrated into the hotel buildings and serves as a small Scouting museum. [4]
The hunter Jim Corbett also lived there. [5] [ page needed ]
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth social movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, and sports. Another widely recognized movement characteristic is the Scout uniform, by intent hiding all differences of social standing in a country and encouraging equality, with neckerchief and campaign hat or comparable headwear. Distinctive uniform insignia include the fleur-de-lis and the trefoil, as well as merit badges and other patches.
Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the world-wide Scout Movement, and founder, with his sister Agnes, of the world-wide Girl Guide/Girl Scout Movement. Baden-Powell wrote the seminal work Scouting for Boys, which, with his previous 1899 book Aids to Scouting for N.-C.Os and Men captured the imagination of the boys of Britain and led to the creation of the Scout Movement.
Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell was the first Chief Guide for Britain and the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell. She outlived her husband, who was 32 years her senior, by over 35 years.
Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County and was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former provinces by Kenya's new constitution on 26 August 2010, the city is situated about 150 km north of Kenya's capital Nairobi, in the country's densely populated and fertile Central Highlands, lying between the eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Range, which forms part of the eastern end of the Great Rift Valley, and the western slopes of Mount Kenya.
Treetops Hotel is a hotel in Aberdare National Park in Kenya ten miles (16 km) from the township of Nyeri, 1,966 metres (6,450 ft) above sea level on the Aberdare Range and in sight of Mount Kenya. First opened in November 1932 by Eric Sherbrooke Walker, it was built into the tops of the trees of Aberdare National Park as a treehouse, offering the guests a close view of the local wildlife. The idea was to provide a machan experience in relative safety and comfort. From the original modest two-room tree house built into the top of a tree, it grew into a 35-room hotel. The original structure was replaced by a larger structure, also in the tree, but additionally supported on legs; this was burnt down by the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA) during the 1954 Mau Mau Uprising. The hotel was rebuilt near the same waterhole and became fashionable for wealthy clientele. It includes observation lounges and ground-level photographic hides from which guests can observe the local wildlife at the nearby waterholes. The hotel closed in October 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but reopened in 2024.
The Kenya Scouts Association is the national Scouting association of Kenya. Scouting was founded in British East Africa in 1910 and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1964. It has 323,929 members.
Scouts' Day or Guides' Day is a generic term for special days observed by members of the Scouting movement throughout the year. Some of these days have religious significance, while others may be a simple celebration of Scouting. Typically, it is a day when all members of Scouting will re-affirm the Scout Promise.
The Wolf Cub's Handbook is an instructional handbook on Wolf Cubs training, published in various editions since December 1916. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being extensively rewritten by others. The book has a theme based on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book jungle setting and characters.
The Brownsea Island Scout camp was the site of a boys' camping event on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, southern England, organised by Lieutenant-General Baden-Powell to test his ideas for the book Scouting for Boys. Boys from different social backgrounds participated from 1 to 8 August 1907 in activities around camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism. The event is regarded as the origin of the worldwide Scout movement.
Throughout the world there are many museums related to Scouting dedicated to preserving, communicating, and exhibiting the heritage of the Scouting movement for purposes of study, education, and enjoyment of society. A downloadable world directory of Scouting museums is available from the US Scouting Service Project.
The Happy Valley set was a group of mostly British and Anglo-Irish aristocrats and adventurers who settled in the "Happy Valley" region of the Wanjohi Valley, near the Aberdare mountain range, in colonial Kenya between the 1920s and the 1940s. During the 1930s, the group became infamous for its hedonistic, decadent lifestyles and exploits amid reports of drug use and sexual promiscuity.
Pax Lodge is the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) World Centres in Hampstead, London, England. It was opened on 15 March 1991, preceded by Olave House (1959–1988), named after Olave Baden-Powell which was preceded by Our Ark (1939–1959).
The Kenya Girl Guides Association (KGGA) is the national Guiding organization of Kenya. It serves 120,805 members. Founded in 1920, the girls-only organization became a full member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1963. The patron is First Lady Lucy Kibaki.
Major Eric George Sherbrooke Walker, MC (1887–1976) was a hotelier and founder of the Outspan Hotel and Treetops Hotel in Kenya, as well as a decorated military officer. He is remembered as the host of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip when they visited Treetops in 1952, shortly before receiving news of the death of King George VI and Elizabeth's accession to the throne.
Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being extensively rewritten by others. The book was originally a manual for self-instruction in observation, tracking and woodcraft skills as well as self-discipline and self-improvement, about the British Empire and duty as citizens with an eclectic mix of anecdotes and unabashed personal observations and recollections. It is pervaded by a degree of moral proselytizing and references to the author's own exploits. It is based on his boyhood experiences, his experience with the Mafeking Cadet Corps during the Second Boer War at the siege of Mafeking, and on his experimental camp on Brownsea Island, England.
David Gordon Hines was a chartered accountant who as a British colonial administrator developed farming co-operatives in Tanganyika and later in Uganda. This radically improved the living standards of farmers in their transition from subsistence farming to cash crops. When he was responsible for development throughout Uganda, some 500,000 farmers joined co-operatives.
Brigadier-General Sir Godfrey Dean Rhodes was a Canadian-born and -educated soldier who served with the British Army in Canada, Turkey, Bulgaria, Kenya, Uganda, Persia-Iraq and India.
The graves of Lieutenant-General The 1st Baron Baden-Powell and his wife, Olave, Baroness Baden-Powell, G.B.E., are in Nyeri, Nyeri County, Kenya, near Mount Kenya. Lord Baden-Powell died on 8 January 1941, and is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in the Wajee Nature Park. When his wife Olave, Lady Baden-Powell, died, her ashes were sent to Kenya and interred beside her husband. Kenya has declared Baden-Powell's grave a national monument. Scouts consider the grave, "one of the most revered shrines and pilgrimage sites in the world."
Endarasha is a small town in Kenya's former Central Province. It is located in Nyeri County, a county created with Kenya's new (2010) constitution. Endarasha Boy's High School is located there as is a local government clinic. Endarasha lies 2416m above sea level and . It is situated in the continent of Africa in Kenya, Central Province, Nyeri North District, Kieni West division and 35 km North west of Nyeri town. It lies on the foot of the Aberdare ranges and adjacent to the Aberdares National Park. Cool, temperate climate most of the year is experienced. Endarasha is surrounded by land ideal for agriculture. Amongst the products from the region are Irish potatoes, cabbage, maize, beans, wheat, bulb onions etc.. Dairy products are also produced. The school is constructed next to the Endarasha township, along the Mweiga-Watuka road. Its also surrounded by fairly densely populated villages on all sides.