Galton Fenzi Memorial

                                                          GALTON-FENZI

   

I was in town the other day, I came across the Galton-Fenzi Memorial, across Cardinal Otunga Plaza. Galton has a fantastic story.the Royal East Africa Automobile Association in 1919, n. He is also remembered as the first motorist to drive from Nairobi to Mombasa in 1926 when all that existed was a dirt track.

The now caged memorial with its numerous cryptic markings which denote possible coordinates for routes that Galton-Fenzi developed for the association, sits near a designated smoking zone that may put you off if you are a non-smoker.

The memorial was erected in 1939 after Galton-Fenzi’s death on May 15th 1937. Until his death at the age of 56, Galton Fenzi remained the Honorary Secretary of the Royal East Africa Automobile Association that he founded in 1923.

The place where the peculiar monument stands is said to be the focal point from which all distances to and from Nairobi were measured.

Galton-Fenzi, after founding the association, began negotiating for loan cars to test them for their suitability under East African conditions. One of the cars he received was a Riley 12/50 from the Riley Motor Car Co. Ltd. of Coventry which he used to make the maiden drive from Nairobi to Mombasa and back.