Capital Time – Visiting Nairobi for a Day

(July 19, 20, and 23) Here I go again with my travel ramblings and this time no pictures (sorry). I hope you are all doing well, and I look forward to staying in touch the best I can and through the blog. I have been busier recently, and I can tell it will be very tough to keep up with writing now that I am on the road. I am determined though and will do my best to keep up with it.

Last Monday Maki and I had our flight from Mombasa to Nairobi. It was mostly uneventful, but because I seem to be constantly entertained in life there was an event worth writing about. There was a foreign couple well in their 30s sitting across the aisle from us, and they were kissing and hanging on each other excessively. Let me just say that this caused an explosion of anger (not unlike a volcano erupting) from the row behind Maki and I. They were yelling at the couple, because their young children could see the “get a room” behavior and they were raising their children with strict Muslim values and did not approve of the public displays. I have to say that I was on board and did not care to witness that couple either. It was quite heated and the flight attendants were brought in and tried to simmer things down (I felt badly for them). The couple was rude about it and chuckling but decided to behave like adults for take-off. We survived the 45 minute flight, and the people behind us and the children were very nice as we exited the plane.

Maki and I both agreed that Nairobi felt very different than Mombasa. It has 4 million people, is much more like a big developed (kind of – don’t worry the “roads” still have holes the size of Texas, and I am trying to write on the bus to Tanzania now) city, and can be dangerous in many places. Also, Nairobi is at an elevation of more than 5,000 feet (higher than some US mountain towns), so it is cooler - which I love. Our cab driver (named Smart – strange I know) was very helpful and let us know about safety etc. One thing I have noticed throughout my Kenyan travels is vehicles run on “E” (empty) all of the time and often stop at gas stations to get 1-3 gallons of gas at a time (which is excessive cash flow management and requires you to build in extra time since you never know when a Kenol Station stop will be made). Never-the-less we eventually made it to Ndemi B&B in Nairobi for some needed rest.

John and Ben arrived the next day as Maki left for her high-end Masai Mara safari (it was a huge success as she saw lions, cheetahs, and leopards). After we all got cleaned up we headed for Westlands in Nairobi which ended up being a pretty fancy area with at least three large nice malls housing numerous US stores (Nike, Apple, Converse etc). I was on a mission to try and get my iPod Touch fixed (aka my wannabe iPhone) since it seems it was fried by my adapter. It was not looking good, but they promised to try. Moral of the story: only use Apple adapters to charge Apple products (they have seen this problem before)! Anyway, it was like we were shopping and lunching in the US…bizarre, and then we were over it. Leave it to us to be in the most USA-esque place in the country! A HUGE thanks to John and Ben for their patience as I tried to get it fixed. Later that week I came back with Ben to get the iPod, and sadly they could not fix it. I am going to miss my poker game, emails, and clock on it. Oh well more time to read ;)

Later that night we met up with John’s Deloitte friend Charlene for a group dinner with some of the ex-pats working here. There were seven of us total and we ordered the GIANT platter of Lebanese food for 8 people, so the food kept coming and coming. That was a lot of humus, salads, and fried treats. My favorite aspect of the whole evening was when a girl from Russia named (wait for it…) Natasha sat next to me! It’s true - accent and all. She was from St. Petersburg and of course I requested some Russian be spoken. Don’t worry everyone I refrained from telling her about my alter ego Natasha and did not utter a single word in my Russian accent (one of the hardest things I have had to do in a while – hahaha). It was really great to hear about working and living in Nairobi from Charlene, Nat, Devan, and Natasha. They all work for NGO-like agriculture related companies here. I think I could do a work stint like that for 6 months to a year but probably not longer.

Okay, I am jumping ahead now to Friday which was after the Masai Mara safari (I will write about that in the next post) to finish up with Nairobi time. After getting back to Nairobi for our last night before the much anticipated drive to Arusha for our Kili hike we ran some errands and headed to dinner. We dined at an extravagant Brewery Bistro and were all underdressed considering we thought it would be more pub-like. It was good, but the real fun happened afterwards when we headed over to Natasha’s place for a belated birthday party for her with numerous ex-pats. Everyone was great, and we had a lot of fun.

The highlight quickly became Natasha breaking out her St. Petersburg vodka from the freezer and teaching us how to take a proper Russian shot. Can you say “cultural experience”?? Okay, I love vodka and it has long been my favorite hard alcohol, but I HATE shots of all kinds. Let me just tell you that the Russian method was AMAZING. All of us non-Russians were in awe that we could take 3 shots and feel fine. I can’t get shots down the hatch normally. I am about to share with you this GOLDEN method which you must try if you are so inclined. First, have Russian vodka that is thoroughly chilled (the bottle should be frosted from sufficient freezer time). Second, pour the shots with Mother Russia in mind. Third, pick up the glass and give a toast in Russian (we were informed that the toast is actually giving a reason for drinking – aka why it is okay to take a bunch of shots). Fourth, breathe out completely (just do it) and fifth take the shot with no air – get it down the hatch with a full swallow. Sixth, breathe in through your nose, and seventh, breathe out your mouth. You have completed the shot process and may feel warm (take that Siberia cold!) but should have avoided the burn shots normally provide. Simply delightful. Thank you Natasha! A couple of Tuskers later and it was time to crash before our early morning ride.

I have delayed mentioning the bombings that occurred in Kampala, Uganda during the World Cup, because I did not want to worry any of you (although many of you probably saw the news at home). Sadly 74+ people died (including at least one US citizen) and many others were injured by the Somalia based terrorist attack. Three bombs went off and at least one more was found. At one point we were going to go to Uganda for a weekend, but decided against it for logistics/cost reasons. Also, recently 300 bomb detonators were found just outside of Nairobi and are also believed to be terrorist related. Suspects have been arrested for both crimes. This has made me uneasy, but bad things can happen anywhere, and we will continue to be as cautious and safe as possible. I mention it, because this will also act as my travel journal to look at in the future, and I would like to remember the state of the world as I travel to different places. All in all I have felt safe throughout the trip and have truly enjoyed my time in Kenya. Until next time…Sarah.