Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Family

We then visited the Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Family, a Roman Catholic cathedral church and the seat of the Archbishop of Nairobi. The original church on the site was built in 1904 and was the first stone building in the city. It was replaced in the early sixties by the rather ugly (in my opinion) building we see today. It was designed by Dorothy Hughes and constructed by British company, Mowlem. It is a modernist design and features abstract stained glass in stainless steel frames. The cathedral can seat up to 4000 people. It was officially blessed and opened on 6 July 1963. Pope John Paul II visited in 1980, and the church was designated a basilica on 15 February 1982.

Our last stop was at the Galton-Fenzi Memorial. Lionel Douglas Galton-Fenzi founded the Nairobi branch of the Royal East Africa Automobile Association in 1919. He was the first motorist to drive from Nairobi to Mombasa in 1926 when all that existed was a dirt track. The monument stands on the point from which all distances to and from Nairobi were measured. Some of the towns whose distances from the monument are marked here include Mombasa, Khartoum, Cairo, Alexandria, Dar es Salaam, and Mombasa.

The memorial was erected in 1939 after Galton-Fenzi’s death on May 15th 1937.

Back at our hotel, we said our goodbyes to Susan and tipped her. She had been a friendly and knowledgeable guide, if a little softly spoken for Mark to be able to hear her!

We then went to an ATM before going back to the hotel for our welcome meeting with Omondi, our guide from Bon Voyages. Once we had wifi, I saw that he’d messaged to change the time of our meeting from 3pm to 1pm. This suited us as it meant we wouldn’t have to wait so long for lunch! As it turned out, Omondi was late. We were waiting for him in reception for 30 minutes or so. When he showed up, we had several issues regarding the itinerary for our forthcoming tour and the payment of our park fees. We sorted it all out but were not filled with confidence, especially when he put back our start time for tomorrow from 7.30am to 9.45am!! We will see!

When Omondi left, we went for lunch at a restaurant we had spotted on our walk yesterday. It was called ‘Beirut’ and served, obviously, Middle Eastern cuisine. It was OK, but we won’t be rushing back! After lunch, we went to Bata because Omondi had advised that I would need closed shoes for the walking safari. I had thrown my split walking shoes away at the last campsite before we got to Nairobi. I managed to buy some khaki-coloured trainer-type shoes for about £25. Best of all, they are immediately comfortable!

Back at the hotel, we sorted out our bags so that we could leave the bulk of our luggage here at the hotel while we are away.Read more