Kibera Slums

Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya is the largest slum in Africa, and has a population estimated at one million. The name "Kibera" is derived from kibera, a Nubian word meaning "forest" or "jungle."
The slum originated in 1918 as a Nubian soldiers' settlement in a forest outside Nairobi, with plots allotted to soldiers as a reward for service in the First World War and earlier wars.

After Kenyan independence in 1963, however, various forms of housing were made illegal by the government, rendering Kibera unauthorized on the basis of land tenure. Essentially, since the early 1970s landlords have rented out their property to a significantly greater number of tenants than legality permits. Since the tenants, who are extremely poor, are unable to obtain or rent land that is "legal" according to the Kenyan government, the slum-dwellers find the rates offered to be comparatively affordable. The number of residents in Kibera has increased accordingly despite its unauthorized nature.

Kibera has residents coming from all the major ethnic backgrounds with some areas being specifically dominated by one tribe . Many are coming from rural areas due to the problems of rural underdevelopment. This multi-ethnic nature coupled with the tribalism of Kenyan politics has led Kibera to be the site of small ethnic conflicts throughout its near 100 year history (most recently in 2002 in which many resident's homes were attacked by arson).

On our way to Carnivore we passed Kibera and stopped to take pictures...however we couldn't drive through it sadly because it was getting late...and we all know what can happen when it gets dark :-S