House where scouts founder spent his last three years

By Amos Kareithi

No paintbrush could have produced such masterstrokes with such breathtaking results. The snowy peaks peeping through the tree-line screen against a background of azure blue skies was the first sight the retired cavalry officer feasted his eyes on, every morning, at the sunset of his life, making his last three years memorable.

The tree canopy may have been whittled away by the sands of time but the mesmerising beauty still draws breathless gasps from spectators every time the scenery comes into sight, when the weather allows.

The veranda overlooks the scenic panorama, panning out to a rich green patch, where two circular patches hemmed with a floral pattern complete the layout of the neatly manicured compound with two white flagpoles.

The wooden breakfast table and four seats facing Mt Kenya are now empty as if waiting for their master Lord Baden Powell, who always sat at that exact location every morning, admiring the gigantic marvel of Mother Nature.

The master is gone and will never again saunter from the adjoining sitting room, and recline in his favourite seat, as he mused and penned down books, which would invigorate millions of youth who had joined his Scouting Movement. And what a world movement it has turned out to be, with a following of 28 million youth in 160 countries going by statistics from World Organisation of Scouts.

It is from this serene position that Baden Powell, after having founded the Scouts Movement in 1907, penned three books among them, Bird and Beasts of Africa, as he sipped coffee from the table, occasionally drawing inspiration from the scenic snowy peaks of Mt Kenya.

And when the leader of the World Scout Movement felt drained, as occasionally happened during his last days, he retreated into the house Paxtu built 78 years ago, within the expansive Outspan Hotel, where he stayed with his wife Lady Olave.

Powel relocated to Nyeri by accident. He was on an inspection tour of scouting movement in South Africa, when he detoured to Nyeri, only to encounter his long time friend, Eric Sherbrooke Walker who was owned and operated Outspan Hotel.

The two men had been comrades earlier in the army and Walker had helped organise the first proper scouting camp in 1908. The two developed a mutual friendship that culminated with Powell staying in Nyeri for two weeks before proceeding to South Africa.

Most frequented

So smitten was Powel and his wife with Nyeri’s beauty that Olave Powell described it as a young heaven in a letter to their secretary, Eileen Wade.

The Powell’s invested in the development of Outspan, and in return Walker constructed a stone bungalow, initially meant to be a home to retreat from the chilling winter, but in December 1938, assailed by old age, the couple decided to relocate to Nyeri.

Since Powells had named their home in England Pax Hill, they decided to call their new home ‘Pax’ and borrowed the Kiswahili word, ’Tu’ to make Paxtu, a declaration that they regarded Nyeri as their only home. "Paxtu was specifically made for Powell by Major Sherbroke Walker in 1926. After scouring the entire Mt Kenya and Aberdare area, he settled for this area as ideal place to build a hotel," Josphat Kagimbi, a guide explains.

Initially two bedrooms, a sitting room and veranda were dedicated to Powell who wanted to escape the chilling winter colds of Scotland, but the two bedrooms have since been reclaimed by the hotel and only the sitting room holds Powel’s memorabilia.

Although Powell and his wife Olave have been gone since January 8, 1941, their final home is still intact and has not known a dull moment.

Although originally it comprised of two bedrooms, it has shrunk to a single room, which has immortalised Powell’s lives and times, and becoming like a shrine, visited all year round by scouts from all over the world.

Paxtu is located at the extreme end of the wing, just next to a groove of bamboo. Although the shrine is a single room in a hotel occupying 45 acres of land, it is the second most frequented site in Nyeri and perhaps in Kenya as well.

Nearer happiness

The breakfast table with four lounge seats strategically set facing Mt Kenya are empty just the way they have always been since 1941, when Lord Baden Powel died.

On the day we visited Paxtu, a group of form two students have travelled more than 300km from Mwala to Nyeri, just to have a glimpse of Powell’s last home.

Duncan Maingi is breathless as he goes through the walled memorabilia, which comprises of badges, scarves, berets, and lingers on some stamps bearing Powell’s painting of his impression of Nyeri in 1930s.

"I feel like I am part of history. It is so exciting to know there are millions of scouts who would love to visit this room but they will never make it. I feel so special and honoured," an excited Maingi enthuses.

His enthusiasm brings to life Powell’s feelings as he wrote his last book, More Sketches of Kenya, published in 1940: "The nearer you are to Nyeri, the nearer you are to happiness … and certainly I am happy here."

Maingi and his 40 classmates tour the small room, soaking in images and information to relay to their friends back in Makueni.

Although the house has been refurbished recently, history oozes out of the walls and the furniture.

"We have not retained his desk. The two bedrooms are used as rooms for our guests. But this room is like a museum. It has been gazetted by the National Museums of Kenya as a monument," Kagumbi explains.

Powell’s life has been embedded with Walker’s history, whose exploits are regaled by the Paxtu’s caretaker describing him as an illustrious ace pilot who escaped with the assistance of Powell after being shot down in France.

Paxtu’s walls are adorned with flags from different parts of the world, either left by visiting scouts or posted by visitors as soon as they went back to their countries.

Benevolent Master

The most memorable piece is undated postcard reading, "Sincere thanks for your kind thought of us (as the hyrax said to the rhino when he avoided treading on him)." Powell and his wife, Lady Olave, signed the card.

The lucky few who ever visit this shrine attest to Powell’s love for nature and birds, whose feeding erectly stands, exactly where the scout master positioned them with birds chirping happily, without any knowledge that their benevolent master will never scatter grains for them again. -