Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. It's location is high in elevation. Despite it's importance as a global city, Nairobi is barely a century old.
Here is central Nairobi. The Kenyatta International Conference Center is named for the founder of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta. At the time of this writing, his son Uhuru is president. Another familiar name from Kenya is that of it's second president, Daniel Arap Moi. The first scene is the helipad, on the roof.There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.2887573,36.8231644,3a,75y,25.53h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMwpp0Q_P9san2fsvzgIpmDExIqlfLtIDzOD9H6!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMwpp0Q_P9san2fsvzgIpmDExIqlfLtIDzOD9H6%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya278.52518-ro0-fo100!7i9216!8i3618
This is the area around Uhuru Park, across the street from the Kenyan Parliament Buildings. Uhuru means "freedom" in Swahili.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.29026,36.8181381,3a,75y,136.62h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOhefoCehA8eGAEMXzs7XOSEeMOpmrz-hWtCDmR!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOhefoCehA8eGAEMXzs7XOSEeMOpmrz-hWtCDmR%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya60.629055-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096
This is the northern part of Nairobi.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.2624519,36.801971,3a,75y,97.5h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOjHOX1FOw5hIKRgbW-EBaMf8tXLe5dgMJWrjiz!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOjHOX1FOw5hIKRgbW-EBaMf8tXLe5dgMJWrjiz%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya36.5-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096
Kampala, the capital city of neighboring Uganda, is known as an exceptionally nice place to live. This is central Kampala.
https://www.google.com/maps/@0.3151313,32.5817941,3a,75y,210.57h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1svO1XPbQhjMxM_ddirAB-YQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DvO1XPbQhjMxM_ddirAB-YQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D210.5731%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
There is actually a semi-autonomous kingdom that exists within Uganda. It was once abolished, after Ugandan independence, but later allowed to be reinstated. The kingdom is known as Buganda, and it has a king and queen. The following scenes begin at the entrance way to the Kabaka Palace of Buganda. It is within the city of Kampala.
https://www.google.com/maps/@0.3027364,32.5655315,3a,75y,138.01h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s9u2I7ZLc5BinF819wPCiTg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D9u2I7ZLc5BinF819wPCiTg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D138.01517%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
This is a residential area of Kampala.
https://www.google.com/maps/@0.3408899,32.603091,3a,75y,175.5h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sX22NB7zC-i4uutFFVzL6PQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DX22NB7zC-i4uutFFVzL6PQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D175.5%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
For a small and pleasant country, Uganda used to be in the news all the time. The news usually revolved around some very colorful characters.
Milton Obote was president of Uganda until he was overthrown, in 1971, by an army officer named Idi Amin, who may have been the world's most colorful character of the 1970s. In 1972, Amin expelled tens of thousands of Asian residents who were not citizens of Uganda, almost all Indians. Most observers now say that this was very detrimental to the country, as the Asian settlers had run a lot of businesses.
In late June, 1976, an Air France jet was hijacked by the Popular Front For The Liberation of Palestine. The passengers and crew would be freed in exchange for a list of prisoners being held in Israeli jails. Idi Amin, who had previously been a supporter of Israel, surprised everyone by welcoming the plane to Entebbe Airport, just south of Kampala. Entebbe would soon become probably the most famous airport in the world.
The majority of the hostages were freed but more than a hundred, who had a connection to Israel or who declined to be released, were held in a building at the airport. The hijackers included two German leftists, and Idi Amin personally visited them.
In a sudden operation, on July 4 while America was celebrating it's bicentennial, Israel dispatched about 100 commandos aboard planes which landed at the airport at night. Two of the hostages were killed in error, being mistaken for hijackers, but the rescue operation was a success. Part of the operation included a man that resembled Idi Amin in a Mercedes.
The only Israeli commando killed in the mission happened to be the brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister of Israel.
There were a lot of repercussions to the raid. The president of neighboring Kenya had allowed the Israeli planes to refuel at Nairobi. Idi Amin retaliated by having more than two hundred Kenyans who were living in Uganda killed. That is the side of Entebbe that is not well-known.
South of Kampala, on a peninsula extending into Lake Victoria, this is the area around Entebbe Airport. All looks peaceful and quiet today.
https://www.google.com/maps/@0.0391051,32.4491766,3a,75y,238.1h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1scfnw3vTwqo6_68xPy_Hf6g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dcfnw3vTwqo6_68xPy_Hf6g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D238.0984%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
The colorful era of Idi Amin could not last forever. Ugandans who were opposed to his rule, including Milton Obote who Amin had overthrown, had sought sanctuary in neighboring Tanzania. The government of Idi Amin retaliated by seizing a border area of Tanzania. The government of Tanzania responded by sending it's army, along with the Ugandan exiles, into Uganda. I remember watching the news that they had captured Kampala and Idi Amin left the country by helicopter.
Milton Obote regained his presidency, but was ultimately overthrown again by Yoweri Museveni, the current president. He would not allow Idi Amin to return without facing justice. Uganda is much quieter now, and is hardly ever in the news except as a nice place to visit.
Idi Amin, after time in Libya, spent the rest of his life in exile in Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. He died in 2003.
The first lady of Uganda, who Idi Amin had married when she was a teenager in a widely-publicized wedding, eventually settled into running a restaurant in London.
Another colorful character of Uganda is Joseph Kony, of the Lord's Resistance Army. He claimed to be a prophet of God and wanted to make Uganda into a Christian fundamentalist state, but his era seems to now be over.
Uganda's southern neighbor, Rwanda, is another beautiful country that has unfortunately been in the news. In 1994, there was a deadly conflict between the two primary ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. The conflict began when a plane carrying both the presidents of Rwanda and neighboring Burundi was shot down upon approach in Rwanda, killing both presidents.
The Hutu, the majority of the population, thought that the Tutsi wanted to revive their former monarchy under which the Hutu would be serfs while the Tutsi would be the nobility and royalty. The conflict continued until the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front managed to suppress the violence.
This is the central area of Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.9444291,30.0621675,3a,75y,171.47h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNtt6pgrZlBZGatEPoRbRcfUIa_qVYraqLHU2vB!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNtt6pgrZlBZGatEPoRbRcfUIa_qVYraqLHU2vB%3Dw900-h600-k-no-pi0-ya117.9723630718909-ro0-fo100!7i7680!8i3840?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTEyNC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
Here is more of the central part of Kigali.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.9511833,30.0613823,3a,75y,91.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPitl3PR2nmk1I3mQW3IWKIEsSSo8CL2x9ONzea!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPitl3PR2nmk1I3mQW3IWKIEsSSo8CL2x9ONzea%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya11.500011-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096
No comments:
Post a Comment