The Karen Blixen Museum is the farmhouse where the Danish writer lived from 1917 to 1931, when she ran a coffee farm on the slopes of the Ngong Hills. Her account of those years, Out of Africa, was published in 1937 and later adapted into a 1985 film starring Meryl Streep. The house is preserved largely as it was when she left Kenya, and the Ngong Hills are visible from the gardens.
The museum is managed by the National Museums of Kenya and sits in the Karen suburb about 20 km from the city centre, surrounded by well-maintained gardens. Guided tours explain the history of Blixen's life in Kenya and the colonial context of the farm. The house contains original furniture and personal items from her time there.
Karen Blixen's relationship with the Kikuyu and Maasai communities on her land — and her ambivalent position as a colonial landlord who nonetheless fought for her workers' land rights when forced to sell — is discussed honestly in the museum. A short drive from the Giraffe Centre; easily combined as a half-day outing from the city.