The story of Outspan Hotel and Treetops Hotel in Kenya is intertwined with colonial history, royal visits, and the struggle for independence. These establishments have witnessed significant events, making them iconic landmarks in the Aberdare region.
Treetops Hotel in Aberdare National Park.
The Origins of Outspan Hotel
The Outspan Hotel is located in Nyeri town, at the heart of Kenya’s tea and coffee growing highlands. Eric Sherbrooke Walker built it up from an old farm in the 1920s.
The Sherbrooke Walkers, like most of the early settlers in British East Africa, were of the officer-gentry-aristocracy class. Eric Sherbrooke Walker had served in the Royal Flying Corps during World War 1, followed by a stint in military intelligence with the White Armies in Russia during the Bolshevik uprising wherein he earned the Military Cross and other honors. After the war, during America’s prohibition era, he took up rum running off the West Indies and made enough money to marry Lady Bettie, daughter of the Earl of Denbigh.
To ‘outspan’ means to unyoke one’s weary oxen at the end of a day’s journey. Lord Baden Powell, who in 1920 was proclaimed Chief Scout of the world, recognized the tranquility and beauty of the Outspan and chose to ‘outspan’ at the hotel with his wife for the last three years of his life.
Read also: Hotel Expansion in Ethiopia
By the end of 1927, they had built ten rooms and opened for business for the New Year of 1928. The big attraction to their settler guests, who though well-heeled usually had very primitive facilities on their African farms, were rooms that came with private bathrooms and running water.
The 30-acre setting and two purpose-built conference rooms lend themselves to creative meetings and training sessions with numerous tempting leisure activities for when ‘school’s out’. Guests may swim in the hotels pool or play a quick game of tennis or squash on the courts. Golfers will particularly enjoy playing the game at the neighboring Nyeri Club.
Outspan Hotel Room Details
Outspan hotel has a total guest rooms of 45 and are all fitted with: satellite TV, telephones, and tea/coffee making facilities.
- 14 Deluxe: This is the modern wing with some rooms recently refurbished. The bathroom unit has a shower and bathtub separately.
- 3 Deluxe Cottages: These have one main bedroom and a smaller one for a child and a sitting room.
- 28 standard rooms: Of which 19 have a fireplace and 2 interconnecting rooms ideal for families.
The Story of Treetops Hotel
"Treetops" redirects here. 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 (hunting platform on a tree during shikar in India) experience in relative safety and comfort.
The original idea of Major Eric Sherbrooke Walker, who owned land in the Aberdare Range, was to build a treehouse for his wife Lady Bettie. The idea grew, and in 1932 the couple oversaw the construction of a two-room treehouse in a huge 300-year-old fig tree well away from Nyeri itself; this was intended as an adjunct facility to the Outspan Hotel in Nyeri, which they had also built and owned.
Read also: Experience Tolip Hotel in Egypt
Initial construction was hampered by the presence of wild animals, as the treehouse was purposely built beside animal trails leading to a nearby waterhole. This first structure was open only on Wednesday nights as a night-viewing platform for guests staying at the Outspan Hotel; although beds were provided, these were intended for resting or dozing, rather than sleeping. Rising demand prompted the Walkers to expand to accommodate more visitors.
Wildlife Viewing at Treetops Hotel.
Royal Visit and Global Fame
The visit of Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to Kenya in 1952 included a visit to Treetops as personal guests of the Walkers. The visit cemented the fame of the Treetops. The princess' stay, which coincided with the death of her father King George VI on the night of 5-6 February 1952, and consequently her succession to the throne, involved the Treetops in the worldwide publicity surrounding these events. The same night, before the event was known, Sir Horace Hearne, then Chief Justice of Kenya, had escorted the princess and her husband, Prince Philip, to a state dinner at Treetops.
Corbett, the resident "hunter" at Treetops, also wrote about the visit in his final book Tree Tops, which was published by the Oxford University Press in October 1955, six months after Corbett's death (19 April 1955). Archival footage of the royal visit has also survived.
Treetops Hotel - A Queen's Journey from Princess to Monarch
Read also: Your New Cairo Retreat
The Mau Mau Uprising and the Burning of Treetops
The Mau Mau Uprising, which began as a protest in 1951 and 1952 of British control in the Kikuyu homeland quickly became a violent uprising. It was suppressed by the British over the period 1953-1954. In 1953, the Aberdare forest provided refuge to many hundreds of Mau Mau rebels, led by Dedan Kimathi.
In June 1953, the entire region was declared off-limits for Africans, and orders to shoot Africans on sight were set in place. A major military operation in late 1953 ("Operation Blitz") left 125 guerillas dead. This was followed in January 1954 by "Operation Hammer", led by the King's African Rifles, which however failed to encounter many guerillas as most had already left the area.
As a protest against the shoot-on-sight orders, and repeated military action, Mau Mau rebels burnt down the Treetops Hotel (which acted as a lookout for the King's African Rifles) on 27 May 1954 in a contentious military action or act of terror.
Treetops Hotel Rebuilt.
Rebuilding and Expansion
Treetops was rebuilt in a nearby chestnut tree overlooking the same waterhole and salt lick near the elephant migration pathway to Mount Kenya. Further demand required the Walkers to accommodate more visitors. Treetops had another level added and was reinforced.
Further increased demand flowing from the publicity surrounding the Queen's accession there, the name Treetops was transferred, with the addition of the word "Hotel" to a new 35-room structure on additional stilt supports. It had four decks and a rooftop viewing platform.
Treetops' popularity was additionally due to their "no see, no pay" policy during their early years - a common business policy on safaris, where guests were not charged for services if they failed to see any big game. Visitors could observe the wildlife from the top deck, the viewing windows in the communal space, or from ground level hides. They could also take motor tours from the Treetops. While an overnight destination, only overnight luggage was allowed, with visitors being driven in from the Outspan Hotel for the night.
Other facilities included a thousand-watt artificial moon used to illuminate animals at the waterhole during darkness.
Later Years
In 1966, when Eric Walker was 79, he sold the Outspan Hotel, and with it, Treetops, to the Block Hotel group. Eric Walker died in 1976, aged 89. Aberdare Safari Hotels acquired the two properties in 1978.
Aberdare Safari Hotels embarked on an initiative dubbed "Return the Bush" in conjunction with the Kenya Wildlife Service. The initiative involved the rehabilitation of 125 hectares (310 acres) of the Aberdare National Park that has been degraded by the toll the fenced-in elephant population has exerted on the ecosystem. Electric fencing for the paddock covering an area of 16.5 ha (41 acres) around the lodge was installed.
Other Notable Visitors
Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts movement, was a resident of Nyeri and a frequent visitor to Treetops. In 1938, he commissioned a cottage on the grounds of The Outspan Hotel, which he named Paxtu. The final resting place of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell is located nearby.
Paul McCartney and Beatles roadie Mal Evans stayed at the hotel while on safari in 1966. Returning from the safari trip, McCartney stated that he came up with the concept of "Sgt.
Popular articles:
tags: #Kenya
