The streets were sparkling clean back then, not the case today.

It is interesting to note that Nairobi was bustling with a beehive of activity in the 60s as it is today in 2022. I have noticed that most of these clips were captured in the modern-day Nairobi CBD. Most of those old structures still exist, but nowadays the city has expanded and there are new districts with remarkable modern skyscrappers including Westlands, Upperhill, Kilimani etc.

@hopanyow

Жыл бұрын

I lived in a house along Lower Kabete Road for four years and left Nairobi in 1967. I was in the EAMSC club and took many films of motor racing in Nakuru - very happy memories!

@RB3565

11 ай бұрын

Kirûngii~Westland's, was always there and provided the first mordernised residential shopping center for those that initially worked and lived at Mûthangari Loreto parish but the center grew and expanded faster to accomodate the then latest residential areas of Parklands, Highridge, and the entire upper Kavete, Rûreesho (cable & wireless) Lower Kavete Gitathuro which was all stolen lands migûnda ya mbari ya Thairû which extended all the way from lower Gokambura extending further to the east Mûcatha then south east present Muthaiga and Vanga-ini.

@florencekimotho887

Ай бұрын

Created with Predatory loans!

Brought back so many happy memories. I first visited the Thorn Tree in 1973 and will be returning from Scotland to sit there again in September 41 years to the day after I firts flew into Nairobi with East African Airways. Thank you so much for posting.

@marvinlibale9685

5 жыл бұрын

senbailiedee welcome back precious friend

@hopanyow

Жыл бұрын

Hope you enjoyed your return trip to Kenya and the Thorn Tree. So glad you enjoyed the post - many thanks.

sad to note, that those days Nairobi was Nairobi I would enjoy every visit today there is nothing celebrate.

@annabelleolum1568

6 жыл бұрын

john njuru really sad - i miss the Nairobi I grew up in.

So our city was once this decent, I can now relate why my mum enjoyed her campus days at the city but now she can barely walk from one street to another

What fond memories of my childhood!! The early '70s pretty much looked the same. Only KICC was complete then. Thanks for ride down memory lane!

Thank you for the upload! I was living in Nairobi 1970 - 1972. Wonderful time in my life. We went all the time to Thorn Three. There was also a place called Pop In, where the locals met. I liked both those places. So many memories.

@hopanyow

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for reminding me of the Pop In, which I think was our other meeting place - Saturday was always the Thorn Tree and Long Bar. Thanks for the memories (1967-1971)

@larswirmark4359

2 жыл бұрын

@@hopanyow There were also some discos. Was one called Topaz? Now remember that it was also sometimes a disco at Wilson airport.

Brought back memories I was around Nairobi in the 1980s in my childhood and see buildings that are in the clip.Thanks for sharing.

I was in Nairobi during those times.

So Nairobi was organized and clean, today it's like hell...poor leadership

@afriqiyyya

Жыл бұрын

Yeah with a GDP per capita income of a whooping 99 dollars in 1960, Colonial Kenya must have been paradise!

@rederatv

11 ай бұрын

Uhuru Kenyatta was president for 10 years and did absolutely nothing for Kenya. He has nothing to show for.

@Buddhavibez

4 күн бұрын

Islam

@Buddhavibez

4 күн бұрын

@@rederatv10 yrs wasn’t enough time. It takes time to build an economy

At this time Nairobi should be greatest city in africa

@anselmgachukia6809

3 жыл бұрын

Jo'burg at this time had trums Nairobi didn't ,but yer probably number one by this time, but look at the current leadership Nairobi went to the dogs

I was the guy chatting up the blond girl one minute in the film!

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

Nice to chat to you Robin after all this time. Dick C.

As a child growing up in Nairobi was so much fun back in the 60s. My family emigrated away to U.K. in 1966 and I haven’t been back since. I fear that those wonderful locked in childhood memories may be totally shattered by what I dread to think has happened to this once beautiful city. It was also so very safe back then.

@tafari988

3 жыл бұрын

Its safer more than American Cities, such as New York..🤷‍♂️

@ksligh4893

2 жыл бұрын

@@tafari988 yup. My cousin was stabbed in a busy south london street while the worst that has happened to me in Nairobi is being pick pocketed.

@ksgrmdsdl2383

2 жыл бұрын

You do not need to come back to Nairobi. Just live and die there in the UK because if you come back, you will quickly realize that Kenya ceased to be a colony as soon as you left the country in the 60s. And that Africans have since been ruling themselves here. Lol! No white privilegdes of white settlers anymore!!

@jayokal5137

2 жыл бұрын

and only white, the natives required to show identification to enter the city.

@afriqiyyya

Жыл бұрын

You are not free to come back.

Ha yes those were the day's ,lived in Nairobi as a child my father worked for the EAR&H.I went back to Nairobi to show my wife the way of life we had back then and do you know ,it was not the same.

@happyh1751

3 жыл бұрын

Snap! Ex EAR&H child too. Many a happy day by the pool at the Railway Club. Shame to see it on Google Earth today.

@westmax8491

3 жыл бұрын

@@happyh1751 you mean it is terrible?

@beautifulkenya1039

2 жыл бұрын

But all cities grow. U can't Also compare new York in 1960s and today

Why I'm I seing this right now..and I prefer the old kenya than right now ..so clean and vintage look

Amazing to see how things functioned and brilliant weather...

@m.goodengumman3941

3 жыл бұрын

My father was in Kenya then, sadly passed away few years ago, but I was born in 1960 Nairobi and left Kenya in 1974 I remember how good it was then, paradise on earth.

Fantastic footage! Thanks for sharing.

Nairobi was good those days... Traffic was flowing freely no pedestrian interaption.someone give us our city back

@lilac8794

Жыл бұрын

It means white people must be involved again

@beingwambui729

10 ай бұрын

Its not called the Central Business District/CBD for nothing, that hustle and bustle it shows growth, so Nairobi has just not grown in terms of more people but also the structure, buildings etc

Wow so this is what Nairobi was like. goosshhh! ever since i was a kid i couldn't get around the dirt surrounding Nairobi. i now realise that we really do need to change how we live.

Brought my old memories back.

i wish i was a time traveler and just o back to those days

@kelvinmwanza7674

3 жыл бұрын

Same here. I wish I’d go back in time

@reubenomwenga8039

3 жыл бұрын

You would enjoy if you went back as white skinned

Yes, had a few sodas, watching the girls go by, at the Thorn tree around '68. - Good days!

@lisakibathi6434

2 жыл бұрын

Wow! My dad was born in ‘68 😅… I long for the Nairobi I never got to experience…

Very glad to see Nairobi B4 KICC was complete. Wonderful and continue uploading more.

Ah yes.. the 'Thorn Tree Cafe' in the New Stanley.. possibly the coolest watering hole in Nairobi in the mid 60s for us young ones.. I recall walking over from the Norfolk Hotel were we used to stay one Saturday morning in early Jan 1966.. it was the day before I had to return to the prison that was the Duke of York school for boys after the Christmas holidays... I was 14 and meet a couple of Kenya's finest young ladies.. :-) we sat a sipped iced cold Sprites and Cokes through straws like the sophisticated cool teenagers we knew ourselves to be.. I wonder what became of the girls :-)

@laisa158

6 жыл бұрын

the big tree with notes of people around East Africa...Best time in my life !

@COA319

4 жыл бұрын

Cool🔥

@hilarrytarus1200

3 жыл бұрын

They became gengetone musicians

@larswirmark4359

2 жыл бұрын

Was one of the young ladies called Maria...?

@mwangiirungu3670

2 жыл бұрын

One is my granny 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Wonderful footage

I wish I was at THE THORN TREE that day! Greetings the Time Traveler!

Loved it! I was ages 6-17

The colonisers were really enjoying our land back then 😆😆

@mwangiirungu3670

2 жыл бұрын

Aki ...see their comments mazee .....

VERY nice footage, man.

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

Thanks

Brilliant! Very enjoyable, and rare to find this kind of "slice of life" of times gone by :-)

@FidelMaithya

8 жыл бұрын

i know right it seemed like a much simpler time...

@m.goodengumman3941

3 жыл бұрын

@@FidelMaithya peaceful, friendly and safe, paradise on earth it felt like, mazuri sana. Rafiki.

@mwanikimwaniki6801

Жыл бұрын

@@m.goodengumman3941 When were you last here?

@m.goodengumman3941

Жыл бұрын

@@mwanikimwaniki6801 1974

@mwanikimwaniki6801

Жыл бұрын

@@m.goodengumman3941 Boy oh boy. Nairobi is a booming metropolis rynow. With all the good and bad that comes with it

I remember this Nairobi very well. I was here in my twenties oblivious of the beauty that was about to get extinct. Nairobi today is a " no go" area, crowded, congested, crime ridden and empty of tourists and foreigners, a dying city. So sad.

@hopanyow

2 жыл бұрын

We both enjoyed the best times. I was also there in my twenties. Happy safari days H

@chrisgitaka2553

2 жыл бұрын

Oh shut up, with that nonsense your white god is gone and gone for good. Good riddance, now its us blacks and us alone.

@chrisgitaka2553

2 жыл бұрын

Oh shut up, with that nonsense your white god is gone and gone for good. Good riddance, now its us blacks and us alone.

@chrisgitaka2553

2 жыл бұрын

Oh shut up, with that nonsense your white god is gone and gone for good. Good riddance, now its us blacks and us alone.

@Ab-mm5yf

2 жыл бұрын

Nairobi a dying City? You must be mistaking it with another ☻

Wonderful. Brings back so many happy memories.

@adrianlarkins7259

8 жыл бұрын

Jambo memshab, I'm now 72. Lived in Nairobi from 1952 to 1968. Memories, memories. Did you live there?

@SusieKelly

8 жыл бұрын

Jambo Bwana, Habari gani? You are a couple of years older than me, and we both lived in Nairobi around about the same time - we were there from 1953 to 1972. I wrote a book about my life there, some of the happiest days of my life. goo.gl/1t7qgj.

@SusieKelly

8 жыл бұрын

Did you know there is a Facebook group called Kenyan Friends Reunited? Lots of wonderful Kenya memories there.

@adrianlarkins7259

8 жыл бұрын

***** I went to St Mary's and later the POW. Were you at the Boma? I bet you hung around Woolworths on Sat mornings. We may well have gone to the same parties and have mutual friends. Just checked, Your YOUNG face is familiar.

@SusieKelly

8 жыл бұрын

I didn't go to the Boma - went to Delamere after expulsion from Loreto Convent Valley Road. Had a lovely boyfriend, I think his name was David Parry, or it may have been John Parry. His father was a judge. Boyfriend got done for 'borrowing' a car and load of cigarettes and driving to Mombasa. Never saw him again. Mostly I spent my time at the stables at Riverside Drive, where I kept my pony. Used to go to Saturday morning cinema in Nairobi.

I lost my dad and such videos are therapeutic to watch

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

So sorry to hear that, glad I could help.

I wasn't even born and my dad was probably 10 or 11 years old but I feel a strange nostalgia haha!

@hopanyow

4 жыл бұрын

Pleasure to bring it to you. Happy New Year

@nicholasomolo7881

4 жыл бұрын

@@hopanyow Thank you, happy new year!

@frankolwenda5128

4 жыл бұрын

Interesting. My father was probably in his teens during that time period. He was still in the village though, So I doubt he was able to experience Nairobi until at least the 1970s.

@fegow-farmland8399

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly bro! My dad too

@lisakibathi6434

2 жыл бұрын

I feel the same way!

Amazing shots of Nairobi during my grandparents time. The lady at 4:06 though...haha. Thanks for the upload.

So clean and orderly

Great Footage

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

Thanks

It must have been a paradise before the came. I mean imagine Nairobi as this vast green land with all this rivers running through them. And at a close proximity. Like a fairytale garden. But whoever filmed this, did a good job. I can imagine the next century people being shown Nairobi as it is now.

I miss my mother land mama Kenya

It is only fair for the current Governor to see the ''city in the sun'' in her former glory! Everything was in perfect order

@surambaya

7 жыл бұрын

We will have to elect another... This one is clueless, lazy and thieving.

Remember watching such quality movies at school,when we had to cover the class windows with blankets, watching Safari rallies or some movie

Looks prosperous.

Amazing Video! Many of these structures are still up today. The biggest difference is how clean the city was back then. Nowadays the city is super congested and the streets aren't as clean as they used to appear in this video. Must've been nice to be alive around that time period.

@hopanyow

4 жыл бұрын

We used to drive up to Nakuru for the motor racing, stopping at Lake Naivasha for refreshments. First time I went to Mombasa there was still 60 miles of murram and it was raining. If we had stopped, we would not have been able to get going again - great days!

@hopanyow

Жыл бұрын

It was a brilliant time to be alive and to be able to drive a Triumph TR3A around in Nairobi and Nakuru with the sun shining was a bonus!

Wow this is beautiful, Nairobi was do classic posh n beautiful..haha I was not even born yet ..I see some really posh cars .. Anyways people must know that nothing stays forever, those who r staying Nairobi has changed r sounding a bit naive coz everywhere in the world has changed n not the same way they were in 80s or all those many years ..Even I hear people saying how UK has changed alot..

What a brilliant old is gold

Wow. Amazing clips. Brings back golden memories. I visited Nairobi back in 2016 after 46 years. I was very sad to see Nairobi is not the same. Heart broken 💔

@MercyMazmida

3 жыл бұрын

Everything changes even abroad has changed alot n nothing stays forever...

@themadfarmer5207

Жыл бұрын

The native population will insist... Even if it is dirtier, it is nicer with an acceptable level of dirt

@baroznoma2056

Жыл бұрын

@@themadfarmer5207 We natives are not dumb, we know what we're saying. Cities like Chicago and newyork are more dangerous than Nairobi

@GingerBreadMan76

11 ай бұрын

​@@baroznoma2056issue isnt is Chicago or NYC safer. The topic os NAIROBI ISNT AS SAFE AS IT WAS. Why do people get so emotional about the truth. Wacheni umama

Been to the thorn tree a few times havingacool glass of lion and castle with my husband we lived in zambia in 1973 and got married at the unitedchurch of zambia we will be married 50 yrs april 7 2023 my how time flies lovly memories and lovely people 💞

Yes I was there 60,s 70,s father shop on River road, name was NEW KENYA FRUIT STORE, corner of Halie Salese road. 👍

@hopanyow

4 жыл бұрын

Some of the best days of my life!

@m.goodengumman3941

3 жыл бұрын

@pm yes River road was clean, safe for shopping, till 1972, then few bars opened, some Taxi rank offices, and lots of people started moving into Nairobi so the lack of jobs and housing pushed lots of youngsters into drink and crime rates started to rise. This was the stage when population growth rising at a fast rate. The roads got into disrepair big craters started to form and were left for time. The original properties around River road were built by many Indian and muslims who had been living in Kenya since early 1920s. We lost 2 fruit and veg shops by 1973 forcefully acquired by high ranking politicians. Our shop was on the corner of Halie slasie road, next to the butcher's belonging to mr Khan he was first to lose his shop and us next. We left Kenya regretfully with tears as we were Kenyan in our hearts and souls. We terrible miss the great country, people and the weather. I would love to visit as I'm nearly 60 .😄🙏🇬🇧

@westmax8491

3 жыл бұрын

@@m.goodengumman3941 don't do it. It's messy. Matatus make Nairobi unpleasant. Then there are so many con artists and extreme poverty everywhere

@mohabatkhanmalak1161

3 жыл бұрын

We visited our aunty I think once or twice from Uganda in the mid, late 1960's, this was on the EAR trains. It was a copy of London, Birmingham, Manchester or any city in the UK. The climate was also pleasant and cool. Eldoret, another town in Kenya, was established by Boer farmers from South Africa who started the very popular KCC dairy and their milk and butter was exported to Uganda. Happy memories.

Its those cars for me 😍

Damn..My city looked nice..

It was so vibrant. Stanley hotel is dead now

I wonder where all these classic cars went to😮

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

I sold my Triumph TR3A to a guy in Mombasa before I left in 1971

I acknowledge that the past had its share of good stuff, but let us not succumb to the illusion of NOSTALGIC PREFERENCE. For the majority of Nairobians, life today is better than it was (or could have been) in the past.

na wazungu walikua wanakaa ni ka ni kwao🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

@GladysMungai

Жыл бұрын

Exactly. 😢 Wako hapa posting "memories" zao

The cars were so beautiful

@onyangojoel7220

3 жыл бұрын

Manze

@Fellazora

3 жыл бұрын

@@onyangojoel7220 umecheki 💯💯😄

@onyangojoel7220

3 жыл бұрын

@@Fellazora noma sana

@westmax8491

3 жыл бұрын

Unlike today where you wonder why cars like probox exist?

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

I paid £265 for my TR3A back in 1967, when I arrived in Nairobi.

Those saying the city was clean, well it should be considering that the entire population of the country, I mean the "whole country" was around 8 million at the time. so I can guess the city held less than 1 million people unlike today where it holds population almost equal to the country's back then. At this time my mom was around 5 years, but her dad, my grandpa used to sell scrap metal "Wandefe" here in Nairobi. Wow, loved the video

@mwanikimwaniki6801

Жыл бұрын

You're right. It had only a handful of inhabitants. In fact, Nairobi was designed for 250,000 people.

@MillennialJesus

Жыл бұрын

population boom is not an excuse for dirty streets

@ciirunderitu2528

Жыл бұрын

Should never be an excuse, cities like New York, LA, Houston, Chicago are clean despite millions of inhabitants. Poor leadership & grand corruption are Nbi's undoing

MAHNNNNN MEMORIES

I remember the first traffic being installed lights in Nairobi

Na hao watu naona hapo wengi ni ancestors

Awesome video....I'm just started doing vlogs of Garissa Town but I'm not as good as you..congrats

@hopanyow

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks - good luck with your vlogs - Africa's a great country - had really good times.

@lukaz254

2 жыл бұрын

@@hopanyow point of correction bro...Africa is not a country...it's a continent with more than 54 countries.

@hopanyow

2 жыл бұрын

L, I should have said Kenya's a great country and I was lucky enough to have lived there for four years, back in the early 60s. Many thanks for your interest. H

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

Keep going, you will be glad you did your vlogs in the future when you look back in years to come. Good luck.

Men look at the mzungus everywhere in town . What a beautiful scene

@chrisgitaka2553

Жыл бұрын

Oh please cant beleive ppo like you still roam the earth... Emancipate yourself from mental slavery...

Zakayo caused all the problems

My father was a game hunter in those days - knew George Adamson who would on occasion rock up outside the Thorntree with Elsa his lioness on top of the cab. He thought him mad as he said she would be down off that land rover in flash in hunting mode as a still very much wild animal.

@m.goodengumman3941

3 жыл бұрын

Yes I heard about this when I was young, we grew up around the corner from the Thorntree " 😀👍

@hopanyow

2 жыл бұрын

Great story, great country, thanks

@hopanyow

2 жыл бұрын

Wow! that must have been quite a sight. People these days don't realise just how vulnerable they really are sitting behind just a car window in a game park. I met game hunter John Boyce in the Long Bar one Saturday morning, but to have known the legend that was George Adamson and Elsa is real African history. A great story, many thanks for sharing.

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

Must have been wonderful times.

They where singing mzungu arudi kwao - ona Sasa wamebaki wakiuana na kuibiana wenyewe kwa wenyewe na watoto wao wame jaa kwa streets ni chokora...... Mzungu amerudi what next

@westmax8491

3 жыл бұрын

Now Nairobi is filled with slums in every corner.

Win 50,000. 50,000 was like a million in these error.

The cars for me❤

Nairobi was at colonialtime and after short years a nice clean town. But now...thugs thieves hawkers ...dirty ....polluted.

Win 50 k lotto sign? That money then could buy the entire Loresho ridge

I am due to visit 27 Dec 2017, after 35 years. Can I saunter around the city as it was then?

@jamesojey1471

6 жыл бұрын

So much has changed, you can only enjoy a good walk in a few areas of the city.

@thedeepend1348

3 жыл бұрын

Curious how it was

@mutuuramwangi1913

2 жыл бұрын

Don't even think about it.

@TheLifeEvents

2 жыл бұрын

@@mutuuramwangi1913 Thanks, we hired a driver. Changed so much, but recognised many locations.

@chrisgitaka2553

Жыл бұрын

Saunter to your hearts content, do noy beleive the nay sayers!

WOW!! What happen???! 😳

Dear Hopanyow, I am archive manager for a documentary film and would like to track down the origins of this video. Would you be able to let me know where you got this from? Thank you!

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

I filmed this while I was four years in Nairobi, from 1967

My parents are teenagers in Nairobi during these times, I wonder whats on their minds

There were no traffic lights I can see a person in the middle of the road ....hizo enzi zaonekana zilikua sawa kabisa si mavazi,kutulia the place is not congested ....

@georgenyasudi4060

Жыл бұрын

I was expecting to see him getting knocked down 😂😂😂

Huge respect to the traffic officer..,did you notice him?

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

Kept the traffic flowing

A traffic officer in a special boath with an umbrella commanding traffic?. Those were the days😅

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

A Nairobi icon.

Just seen the new Stanley hotel. So it's an old hotel.

Different world guys

At 3:12 KICC was under construction

Explain to me how Kenya charity sweepstakes has survived for a millennium 😳😂

@itgamingke

3 жыл бұрын

Lol!! Khaligraph jones na Eric Omondi were promoting it

muzungo muzungo everywhere

Kulikuwa wazungu mob tao sikuhizo...

@lydiaotieno7592

7 жыл бұрын

i c,and there were no chokoras seems evryone had a family

@westmax8491

3 жыл бұрын

@@lydiaotieno7592 today, Nairobi has slums in every corner. Some places smell like toilets. Nairobi downtown is not pleasant anymore

Nimeona wasee wamesimama kama bunge la mwananchi. Niko sure hao walikuwa wanasema venye life imekuwa hard 1965. Ati 1926 kulikuwa na makazi 😂😂

These are the 1970's images

Nairobi will remain after we all die.

🤔🤔🤔 If only we could turn back the hands of time

@DJLOFTY

18 күн бұрын

What would happen

@phinessanyangomcayieye7865

17 күн бұрын

@@DJLOFTY things would be so diffefent. We wouldn't be in this predicament we are in as a Country#MYTWOSENSE#

Win 50000 betting ilianza kitambo acha saa hii tunakaziwa

It looks more like the early 70s. Correct me if I'm wrong.

4:05 is she running from the camera hehe

Most of this people aren't there plus the one who took the video😂😂😂

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

I'm still here and I hope to take/post a few more videos.

Nimemuona pia waciuri akivuka kenyatta avenue

I hope there were no thief's

It's now over 60 years down,8i wonder if the people in the video are still alive

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

Yes, some are as I have spoken to them since I posted on this clip on line.

4:06 did she think the camera man was actually shooting a gun?

Oh yes every saturday

Grew up in Machakos 68-73 going to Nairobi always big day out - I remember going to a supermarket that had kids playground on roof & the Norfolk hotel with aviaries in the courtyard, a big park & lunch at the Hilton - ham sandwiches :)

@m.goodengumman3941

3 жыл бұрын

Don't forget the WOOLWORTHS, IVE GOT PICTURE OF OLD NAIROBI, 1957.

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

I remember the aviary.

How did it look better in the past??? Dammmm says alot about the people in power.. the country looks like them now 😂😂

Much quieter

Fly BOAC VC 10 3.56 what a loss that (BOAC) scrapped the VC 10 in favor of the Boeing that was the greatest loss for British aviation and Engineering

@hopanyow

2 жыл бұрын

The VC10 landed so smoothly, without bump - what an aircraft!

@hopanyow

Жыл бұрын

The VC10 was a beautiful aircraft (You hardly knew you had landed! - I flew back from Nairobi in one when I returned to the UK.

@hopanyow

10 ай бұрын

I had several trips to Kenya in the 60s. When you landed in a VC10, it was a very smooth experience and you hardly noticed you had landed, in a 707, you are reminded, YOU'RE HERE.

was it better then.

@rdrewes

4 жыл бұрын

Sure... was living up on Hurlingham in those days... sure different today

@mwanikimwaniki6801

Жыл бұрын

@@rdrewes Hurlingam is still great lol

Na kwani riverroad ilikua aje.