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Though Kenya's capital of Nairobi may be a more cosmopolitan way-station for safari-goers, the highland town of Nyeri is the true gateway to the spectacular wildlifeparks and wilderness landscapes of Aberdare National Park and Mt. Kenya National Park. Nyeri, which considers itself the capital of Kikuyuland, lies in the shadow of the Aberdare range and Mount Kenya. The area is one of Kenya's most heavily farmed, serving as a marketplace for the hillside coffee plantations and nearby, tightly packed farms growing wheat, potatoes and other produce. During the war for Independence, Nyeri saw much of the fighting, and a monument in downtown honors the Kikuyu warriors who died in battle. Another local monumenthonors a man of peaceful exploration: Robert Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the scouting movement, is buried just outside of town. His last house in Kenya, PaxtuCottage, is now a museum on the grounds of the grand Outspan Hotel. The Outspan, at the foot of Mount Kenya, serves as a sort of base-camp for the world-famous Treetops, Kenya's most renowned safari lodging. Guests check into the Outspan, and are then driven to Treetops (in Aberdare N.P.), which once consisted of a literal tree-house (the original burned down in 1955), and now features a stilted complex that gives the illusion of being among the trees. Movie stars, moguls and the see-and-be-seen safari set clamber to reach the leafy -- and pricey -- heights of Treetops, which has long been a favorite among European royals. In fact, Princess Elizabeth was staying there when she learned she was about to ascend the throne. Still, some luxury safari buffs prefer the better game viewing at the hotel's major competitor, The Ark, where guests are awakened at night by an alarm alerting wildlife watchers whenever a big game visitor steps out of the shadows and into the hotel's floodlit viewing areas.