One Week in Kenya

Well, slightly longer.

My friend's driver, Euticus, was waiting outside the airport for me.

It was a little odd being back, as the airport didn't look anything like I remembered it. I used to joke that I'd spent about twenty hours in transit in Nairobi airport, without ever actually having seen Nairobi. I knew it fairly intimately: where to shop, where to sleep (on the red sofa in the cafe upstairs), where the uncomfortable metal benches were in front of the departure screens.

Euticus explained that I'd come in a different part of the airport because of the fire last year. I'd read about it at the time, but forgotten since.

We had fun trying to get out of the car park. Driving in Nairobi is nothing short of crazy. Plus it was raining and chilly! I didn't believe my friend K when she told me to bring a jumper. After the tropical heat of Laos it was a bit of a shock.

Not quite as much of a shock as the deluge we drove through a few days later, on our way through town.

Drainage isn't such a big thing here.

Security is, though.

My Facebook update the next morning:

Right, so, welcome to Nairobi. Stuck in traffic for an hour leaving the airport. K, wondering where we were, phoned to say there'd been reports of a bomb having gone off in the centre. Turns out it wasn't - they were suspicious packages and they were disposed of. My driver says 'Ah, no worries. It won't be a bomb, it's probably just a hand grenade.' Oh, fine. Meanwhile, we drive past Westgate Shopping Mall, where more than 60 people lost their lives - the windows riddled with bullet holes. This morning, Mary, the cleaner just informed me that the guard at the compound over the river from us was murdered last night, probably during a robbery. K's house is like a fortress. We gate and lock everything all of the time. On the up side, the securely guarded woods nearby are absolutely blissful. So far, I really like Kenya.

Dad sent an e-mail today alerting me to the tourist evacuation of Mombasa, which is where a moto driver I met yesterday suggested he take me on a tour. I said "I hear it's not so safe at the moment for tourists" - "Ah, no," he assured me "it's safe."

Hmmm.

On the up-side, the hotels will be cheap.

[Breaking news - twin blasts at Nairobi Market. Over the other side of town from us. Thinking of the victims.]

Whenever you go to the shopping mall or drive into a public car park here, you're subjected to security checks: bag searches, magnet wands, mirrors under cars. It's a little odd to witness, and must me horrible for the Kenyans who have to live this every day. Mary says she has to carry her ID with her at all times, and is regularly asked to present it.

So, I arrived on the Wednesday at around 1:30 in the afternoon. Took a while to clear customs and get my visa, but pretty smooth. I was sat next to a guy who looked the spitting image of Roméo Dallaire on the plane, but I didn't have the courage to ask. Probably wasn't.

K's house is gorgeous. It's a lovely little cottage in the affluent area of Westlands, which is just around the corner from Westgate. Unfortunately her office is even closer, and she heard everything as it was unfolding last September. Bit traumatic. 

Her house is in a lovely compound with a green garden, a guard, and a guard dog called Malaika (which I think means 'angel,' because she is our guardian angel). It is a bit like breaking into Fort Knox. There's a padlocked gate on the back door, a padlocked gate on the front door, grids on the windows, and a gate between the sitting room and the sleeping quarter, which we lock at night.

In Rwanda my guards had only been tokenary, but here they seem necessary.

It's not just burglars you need protection from, though.

This cheeky monkey appeared on the windowsill a couple of days ago. Despite K threatening it with a pair of scissors, it continued to reach up to try to let itself in through the window! Totally brazen. The next day, I was outside reading a book when it dropped down off the roof, walked into the kitchen, and walked out with half the fruit bowl! It proceeded to eat the fruit above the kitchen door. I'm slightly traumatised by monkeys after being viciously mauled by one in Rwanda, so I wasn't about to argue with it.

Apart from being bullied by monkeys, it's been nice and relaxing in Nairobi.

K and I went to check out an NGO festival near the national museum. It was a display of all the major donor countries in Kenya, lots of yummy food and colourful displays. The tents were strangely reminiscent of the night markets in Laos, and there was even a Garuda!

My favourites included the German stall, which was handing out gummy bears and a free booklet listing 'Facts About German Culture' (I'm hoping it will help me to understand K a little better...), and the Finnish one, which had two large cuddly Moomins on display. Others included Japan, Botswana and Indonesia, with Britain conspicuously absent.

Mexico's contribution to the day was by far the best.

Learning all about piñatas - they represent the devil
and you are rewarded with sweets for beating it.

It was such good fun. 

The grounds of the museum are lovely. There's a mosaiced healing garden with lots of different herbs, and notes explaining that they are used for. 

So far, we've been for a nice walk in the heavily protected (ecologically and security-wise) Karura Forest, and had a lovely Ethiopian meal with K's colleague Ingrid. We've been to see an excellent play called Silence is a Woman by Sitawa Namwalie at the Goethe Institute, which was absolutely brilliant. Well worth seeing if you get the chance.

Silence is a Woman

I've done some gardening, and managed to get lost on the way home from town - walking for over two hours around the back streets of Nairobi! K has forbidden me from buying any of the puppies or bunny rabbits on sale from the street vendors. There's a strange mixture of lamps, furniture, bags and flowers for sale, as well as a plethora of makeshift garden centres. Nairobi really is quite green in between the 70s-style office blocks and heavily congested roads.

Last night K took me to the local Hindu temple. There's an open basement beneath the main building. It's completely empty, but they serve the best Indian food ever. We were the only two people there, and we ate until we were fit to burst, then took a short meander around the grounds to let it settle.

Some time back, I did some online work for a couple of lovely Aussie ladies called Tracey and Celia. Tracey runs a tour company in Kenya, and Celia runs a consultancy for peace building and reconciliation. I'd put them in touch with K, so they all know each other - now it was my turn. We're meeting Tracey tomorrow, but I caught up with Celia at the Sarit Centre yesterday, and arranged to check out Westlands' night life. We headed out for a drink last night, taking in Gypsy's, Havanah and Aqua Blu.

I really liked Gypsy's, there were some comfy sofas upstairs for Celia and I to cwtch up on and chat. Havanah was packed to the brim with ex-pats, standing room only (or barely), and Aqua Blu was rather beautifully lit, but absolutely empty. Guess Thursdays aren't the new Fridays here.

Still, it was really nice to get a look at Kenya after dark. 

Aqua Blu

It's been a mixture of lazing about doing nothing, and ambling about seeing everything. K's a really good cook, so I've certainly been eating well. 

I need to sign off with this shameless selfie for my mate Dan, who made me my Salad Fingers T-shirt, which arrived the day I left the UK. Friends are so important in this world. Mine constantly surprise me.