The re-launch of the Historic State of the Art White Rhino Hotel in Nyeri, this Easter weekend will form a major landmark and will change the face of leisure, entertainment, domestic and international tourism in the county.

Over a century ago in 1902, the British decided to establish their presence in Northern Nyeri, which bordered Masai country.

This was meant to bring control to the previously hostile territory of Northern Kikuyu Country.

A decision was reached by the British East African Company and the colonial administration to establish a trading and defense post close to a little hill that Kikuyus called Kia Nyiri and which the Masai neighbors called Na-aier.

The rationale was that the natives had to be subdued through brutal administration and bare knuckle force.

Shortly after the establishment of the post, a trickle of European settlers and missionaries and Indian merchants began to migrate into Nyeri and the surrounding areas. The settlers mostly traded in coffee, wheat and cattle.

The founder of the world Scouting Movement, Lord Robert Baden-Powell and his wife retired here in the twilight years and both chose it as their final resting place.

Lord Baden Powell is reported to have written, the following words, which aptly describe Nyeri, “The nearer one gets to Nyeri, the nearer one gets to bliss”.

Nyeri is a town surrounded by the picturesquely scenic and imposing Mt Kenya as well as the sprawling Aberdare ridges.

In the 1920’s Nyeri soon grew into a centre of entertainment for Whites who came to town to drink and socialize especially at the White Rhino Hotel.

The Hotel was the first in Nyeri, when the European population numbered only nine.

The hotel was established to cater for the early white hunters who roamed the thickly forested hills of Nyeri and the open savannah plains between Mweiga and Naromoru.

It is said that one of the then rare white rhinos was shot a distance from the hotel but finally died at the spot the hotel is built.

The White Rhino Hotel was once the one and only focal point of Nyeri and indeed the Mt. Kenya region.

The inspirational décor and ambience of the new White Rhino hotel will match any international or 5-Star hotel in Kenya.

The serene and open grounds, with a children playground, will prove to be a favorite of families, with children, intending to get away from the hustle and bustle of modern Kenya. In the re-launch of the hotel, the lost glory, dream and business opportunities of Nyeri County, can be realized again.