The tree stands on an island in the middle of Moi Avenue where it hugs Kenyatta Avenue. Mwanahabari.co.ke has unearthed a picture taken sometime in the 1940s showing Nairobi back in the day – and the tree is captured in the frame.
In order to show the transformation – this writer took a near similar picture taken from the same spot on April 24, 2021 – to help draw comparison with the one taken in the 1940s or even earlier.
Nairobi has changed – that’s for a fact.
In the picture taken sometime in the 1940s shows a palm tree already grown – proof that it may have been planted even before the turn of the 1900s.
Ideally, depending on the species, some palms can live for more than a century. That means the palm you plant might outlive you – it is not uprooted or cut down for it’s timber. And there are over 2600 species of palm trees.
One this is clear – the individuals who planted the palm tree may all have gone to be with their ancestors.
The tree has gathered dust and cobwebs that have accumulated on it’s pointed leaves over the years. It has withstood teargas, riots – and has definitely witnessed muggings, county askaris chasing hawkers, killings and annoying pickpocket acts that have become synonymous with the capital.
There is also recent evidence that palm trees may indeed be the oldest living trees because their cells are not replaced with new cells, as is the case with other trees.
Palm Trees are botanical family shrubs and are the only members of the family Arecaceae which grow in hot climates. Nairobi can be very hot.
The picture also shows a zebra crossing just around the intersection point. The zebra crossing has since given way to time – and has been replaced with an island where pedestrians can stop temporarily before crossing the expansive Moi Avenue.
Nairobi was founded in 1899 by the colonial authorities as a rail depot – a stop point to Uganda. A dusty Nairobi grew to replace Mombasa as the capital of Kenya in 1907 – at which point the Palm tree now counting years on Moi Avenue may have been planted by the Indian coolies who worked on the train.