First stop: Nairobi
This is both Ryan and my first time in Kenya. For Ryan, it is his first time in East Africa. I traveled overland around Southern and Eastern Africa in my year of travel after college. The two of us notice different things about the city, and it’s fun to see it through each other’s eyes.
For me, the biggest contrast between this trip and the last is my budget. On my previous trip I was on a very tight budget, and Africa is not cheap*. I rarely took private car taxis or flights. I mostly got around on public buses, crowded shared minivans called matatus, hitchhiking and sketchy motorbike taxis called boda bodas. The only safari I did was a self-drive safari in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Yesterday in Nairobi, Ryan and I hired a driver to take us around all day. Our driver, Jackson, came recommended by a friend who had jut moved away from Nairobi. It was SO nice. We didn’t have to stress about finding a safe ride or directions, and we made a friend in the process! While the adventure level seemed a bit lower, we were able to visit many more places than would have been possible via public transport and we felt safe doing it.
The safety advice for Nairobi was also a bit more extreme than most of the other cities I visited on my previous African journey. Nairobi is famous for robbery. ‘Nairobbery’ is a common word thrown around by expats living here. We were recommended to only take taxis door-to-door at night. Since Ryan and I together are like 2 giant blonde beacons that draw a lot of attention, I feel even more cautious than I did traveling alone. On my previous trip, I took no special precautions traveling around Kampala, Dar Es Salaam, or Lusaka. Everywhere you look in Nairobi, you will find buildings surrounded by razor wire, electrified fences and armed guards. Every apartment and larger restaurant or business had a wall around it with a gate and guard. Before we could withdraw money from the ATM, a guard had to search Jackson’s car before letting us into the enclosed bank parking lot. Most other gate guards let us through as soon as they saw that we are “msungus” (white people).
I was impressed by the nightlife and fancy restaurants available in Nairobi. We visited a western-style cafe with a beautiful garden, amazing bread and delicious chicken samosas called Amani ya Juu (translation Amani Garden Cafe). We enjoyed fancy drinks and food a hyper-trendy city view restaurant Bao Box, complete with locally-brewed IPA and mango-soaked mojitos. There was also an awesome club called the Alchemist. It was composed of a series of structures, which enclosed a courtyard space. There were food trucks, multpile bars, a dance floor with fun lights and music, and some pop-up shops selling clothes, records, comic books, earrings, body oils... It reminded me of the famous art gallery / shop / club combo in Havana, Cuba or a bit of Music Box Village in New Orleans. It was cooler than any nightlife venue I saw during my months of travel in southern and Eastern Africa after college.
We stayed in homestay in a residential area south of the expat neighborhood Westlands. It was basically just a room in an apartment where the host, Yvonne, lived. It was clean and quiet, but a good 10 minute walk from any shops or services, other than the neighboring restaurant. Our first night there, Jackson picked us up from the airport and helped us find our homestay. After almost 24 hours of travel, we were tired, dirty and hungry. It was 10pm and our only dinner option appeared to be a small local bar/restaurant called Tulips just next door! We were happy to have one thing open so close by. We ordered Nyama Choma (literally translated as ‘burned meat’) which was goat meat slow-cooked over hot coals. The meat took about an hour to cook, but the outcome was mouth-watering, tender goat medallions served with french fries.
The next day, we visited the Giraffe Center where we kissed and fed giraffes. The Giraffe Center is a non-profit organization which focuses on education around conservation of endangered species and houses several Rothschild giraffes. When you enter the center, they hand you a small bag of food pellets which you can hand-feed to the giraffes on the property. When you approach the giraffes with this little nugget of food, they will stick out their long, black tongues to delicately grab the tiny morsel from your fingertips. If you place the food pellet in your mouth, the giraffes will try to pluck the food from your lips, but in the process will end up licking your face and thus delivering you a sloppy “kiss.” Care must be taken while feeding the giraffes, however, as any funny business will get you a well-deserved head-butt from their enormous cranium.
After visiting the Giraffe Center, we visited the former home and coffee farm of a local Kenyan heroine, Karen Blixen. Karen’s autobiography, Out of Africa is a famous look into colonial Kenya during WWI, which was made into a movie starring Merrill Streep and Robert Redford. We enjoyed walking their property and imagining what it might have been like to live there close to 100 years ago.
Overall, we had a nice introduction to Nairobi and definitely look forward to another night in the city, but for now we are off to Nanyuki, situated at the foot of Mt Kenya — our main objective in Kenya, which is a 6 day walk and climb through the tropical forest and alpine zone of Africa’s second tallest peak.
Footnote:
*A meal at a local restaurant will cost about $9, and a meal at an expat restaurant around $20. Hotels $40-$1500. Taxi from the airport $20. Compared to Southeast Asia, where one can comfortably travel on $30/day, in Africa you will probably spend closer to $100/day.