Cindy-Lou Dale

At Dar Es Salaam I travelled north to Kenya’s main port, Mombassa. The roads were pitted with ruts and potholes, littered with dead animals and washed out in places. On the outskirts of the city, pedestrians would cross the highway from one slum to another, wildly inebriated.

 

Finally, I was on the last leg of my journey to Nairobi, Kenya’s modern capital city. On route, I encountered salesmen touting for business at the roadside and was somewhat bemused at the sight of a man selling second hand toilets.

 

Following four days driving from Cape Town, I was desperate to stop but had one more challenge to face before arriving at my hotel.

 

Nairobi’s traffic was insane - thousands of people milling about, goats herded across busy roads, yapping dogs wandering the streets, chickens darting here and there and the world’s most aggressive, selfish drivers who clearly considered being overtaken by another vehicle as a personal humiliation and would not stop to let other vehicle pass as this undoubtedly would constitute lack of resolve. They were oblivious to the world around them and no doubt considered their vehicles as their own "private" territory - a sort of mobile plot of land. Some motorists had farm animals as passengers inside the vehicle, whilst the human passengers were forced to partially sit inside opened windows, holding on to roof racks, where more people were sitting.

 

One old African man that stopped next to me, on the wrong side of the road, was arguing with his pig, who sat on the passenger seat.

 

I soon learnt that if an oncoming driver sees you indicating to turn into a side road and flashes his lights at you, it does not necessarily mean he was giving you way to make the turn as evidently, in Nairobi speak, it translate to, “I'm coming to kill you!"

 

When relaying some of these driving experiences with the hotel’s check in clerk I soon realized he was not joking when he boasted that his son who was a matatu (taxi) driver. I had been warned about them at the border post. The check in clerk took great pride in telling me that for his son, a successful day's work was measured not merely by the amount of money made but also by the number of laws he broke without getting caught.

 

The following day I took great pride in summoning up the steely nerve necessary to ensure that a hovering matatu did not squeeze into the space in front of me, which in Nairobi’s terms, would be tantamount to failure. I drove away childishly triumphant.

 

 

Nairobi is the bustling financial and administrative capital of Kenya, but for many tourists it is simply a short stop on the way to Kenya's real allure--its beautiful game parks and beaches. The city's origins date back to the 1890s when a British railroad camp sprung up to work on the Mombasa-to-Uganda line. From 1899 to 1906, the city was the British provincial capital and became the capital of British East Africa in 1907. During the 1950s, Nairobi acquired a reputation as the glamorous, exotic destination of movie stars and royalty who visited it on their way to African safari. In 1963 the city became the capital of Kenya when the country shook off British colonialism.   Today, the city continues to grow as more and more Kenyans and East Africans have settled their for the plentiful work opportunities and in order to escape the civil war, famine, and injustice plaguing neighbouring countries. The city's population now exceeds 1.5 million, but unfortunately, the city's infrastructure has lagged behind the population growth. Many of the immigrants find work in the jua kali (Swahili for "hot sun"), which is the thriving street economy that produces and sells many of the items Kenyans use every day.   Though the city lacks substantial landmarks and activities for tourists, there are a few pleasant churches, as well as diverse restaurants and interesting museums. The city's neighbourhoods include Museum Hill, which is home to the National Museum, Parklands, Mathare Valley, Eastleigh, Nairobi South, Nairobi Hill, Kilimani, and Groganville, at the northwest section of the city.

 

Flights to Kenya www.opodo.com

Kenya Hotels http://kenya-hotelguide.com

 

5 Must Do’s

 

Karen Blixen's House and Museum

This charming farmhouse is where Karen Blixen, author of the popular novel Out of Africa, lived from 1914 to 1931. It was used for many scenes in the rather lengthy film adaptation of the book, which starred Meryl Streep as Karen Blixen. The house has a gift shop selling a good variety of books, and is surrounded by beautiful gardens, perfect for picnics.

 

Giraffe Centre

The African Fund for Endangered Wildlife Giraffe Centre is a sanctuary for the rare Rothschilds giraffe. It has a platform where you can feed the giraffes and get the close-up photographs that eluded you on safari. Across the road, but still part of the centre, is a small patch of forest through which you can take a 1km (0.6mi) self-guided nature walk.

 

National Museum

It's worth visiting the National Museum as both an introduction to Kenya and an escape from Nairobi. The museum's cool, peaceful interiors will give relief from the hot dusty streets outside. As you walk quietly around, you'll see displays of fossils, tribal artefacts, and a bird gallery with more than 900 stuffed and mounted specimens.

The Bomas of Kenya

This cultural centre is located in Langata, just down from Nairobi National Park. Here you can see a display of traditional homesteads, or bomas, watch traditional dances and hear songs from the country's many ethnic groups. There are performances daily. Not far away is the Langata Giraffe Centre. The Bomas is south of Nairobi.

 

National Archives

The archives house an impressive exhibition of Kenyan handicrafts, a collection of somewhat odd paintings, and a variety of photographs of Mzee Kenyatta and former President Moi visiting different countries and shaking people's hands.

 

Word Count: 991

(c) Cindy-Lou Dale 2004