Muthaiga Country Club, Country club in Muthaiga, Nairobi, Kenya
Muthaiga Country Club is a single-storey country club in the Muthaiga suburb of Nairobi, Kenya. Its light-coloured walls and low-pitched dark roof are partly screened by trees and a hedge, with small-paned rectangular windows and two tall chimneys; the right-hand section extends into a lower wing. A low wall or gateway stands at the left, and a broad driveway leads to the building.
The club was founded on New Year's Eve in 1913 and served as a gathering place for the British colonial community to hold social events. Over time, it became a cultural center and remains an important social hub for Kenya's upper class today.
Beryl Markham recorded that 'Na Kupa Hati M'zuri' (I Bring You Good Fortune) was engraved in the stone of the club's great fireplace in her time. The club appears in Beryl Markham's 1942 memoir West with the Night, in Sydney Pollack's film Out of Africa, and in Evelyn Waugh's 1931 travel book Remote People, where Waugh found he had already been registered as a temporary member by the club secretary.
The club sits in the Muthaiga suburb, about a 15-minute drive from central Nairobi. It is a private members' club, so entry and any stay must be arranged in advance rather than on arrival. Members play golf at the nearby Muthaiga Golf Club, a separate course.
The club was known as the 'Moulin Rouge of Africa' in the early 20th century, where members celebrated freely, drank champagne, and danced late into the night. A house rule that still exists today states that damaged loose property only needs to be repaid at double its value, reflecting a carefree approach to life.
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