Nairobi

At the time of the campaign, Nairobi is a new colonial town of about 8,000 people. Just beyond the town rises Mount Kinangop and the beautiful Aberdare Range; Mount Kenya soars a little further north and east, while Mount Satima rises to the north. The town was founded in 1900 as a railway siding at the foot of the mountains, the last spot where locomotives could shunt. At an elevation of more than 6,000 feet (1,800 m), the region is relatively cool and dry, the views superb, the water adequate, and the soil excellent for farming. Europeans sweltering in Mombasa quickly noticed these advantages, and settlement began. Indian and Muslim influences can be seen in some quarters. The nearby swamp has been drained, and the streets lined with imported eucalyptus trees.
Until 1920, Kenya was known as the British East African Protectorate. At the time of the investigators’ visit, it is Kenya Colony: mostly self-administered, though it owes allegiance to the Crown, which oversees most foreign and Commonwealth matters. Two under-strength battalions of British regulars garrison Kenya. There are also over 1,000 paramilitary police— usually black or Asian men, led by white officers. The fictive Nairobi presented in this scenario bears no resemblance to the modern Nairobi of more than 500,000 residents.
Nairobi at this time is divided into districts; the normal situation in European colonies and in former colonies, such as the United States. Nairobi had three: one each for black African, Asian/Arab, and white inhabitants. These divisions are policed and forcibly maintained. Offices, hotels, clubs, etc., may be marked as “Whites Only.” There may be separate entrances to administrative facilities, such as courts. Jails are also segregated. Toilets at the railway station are emphatically separated. Whites who like to buck society’s mores may penetrate other areas with impunity, but black men and women in white areas without reason may be arrested, physically ejected, or escorted off the premises.
Slums edge Nairobi, home to many poor Swahili people, lacking sanitation or electricity. Many have homes constructed from flattened paraffin tins. The Indian Bazaar Quarter is more prosperous, with the more affluent merchants building comfortable homes on the outskirts of town.