Ngong, Kenya

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Ngong, Kenya is southwest of Nairobi, near the Great Rift Valley (click map to enlarge)

Ngong is a town near the Ngong Hills along the Great Rift Valley, located southwest near Nairobi, in southern Kenya. The word "Ngong" is a Maasai word meaning "knuckles" ^[1] due to the 4 hill peaks of the ridge, which stands alone rising from the plain around Nairobi. The Ngong Hills, from the eastside slopes, overlook the Nairobi National Park game reserve and, off to the north, the city of Nairobi. The Ngong Hills, from the westside slopes, overlook the Great Rift Valley dropping over 4,000 feet below, where nomadic Maasai villages have been developed.

The general population of Ngong, Kenya is 57483 people, and the elevation of Ngong town is 1961 meters in altitude, but the altitude of the hills is about 2460 meters above sea level. ^[2]. Ngong is the central town of Ngong division of the Kajiado District.

During the years of British colonial rule, the area around the Ngong Hills was a major settler farming region, and many traditional colonial houses are still seen in the area.

Today Ngong town and its environs is a well developed outskirt providing a good residing place for many of Nairobi's workers

In the 1985 film Out of Africa, the four peaks of the Ngong Hills appear in the background of several scenes at Karen Blixen's house, located near Ngong. Local residents still reported seeing lions in the Hills during the 1990s.

The solitary grave of Denys Finch Hatton, marked by an obelisk and garden, is located on the eastern slopes of the Ngong Hills, overlooking the vast game reserve.

[edit] Notes

^ "FOUR DAYS - OLOGASAILE / MAGADI(BEAS 08)" (tour), Government of Kenya, 2006, BreakawayExpedition.com webpage: BreakawayExpedition-Tour.
^ "Ngong, Kenya Page" (statistics), Falling Rain Genomics, Inc., 2004, FallingRain.com webpage: FallingRainCom-Ngong.