Nairobbery
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
1
227
272
Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Nairobi,
Kenya
Friday, July 25, 2008
When the safari tout found the woman he was looking for, he sent her over to sit with us in order to persuade us to join her. That didn't work either. The cafeteria opened and we got some breakfast. It was going to cost us upwards of twenty bucks to take a taxi into town, so when the guy driving our new friend offered to give us a ride for about eight dollars, we agreed.
We drove into town. Near the stadium our driver pointed out the huge Maribu storks nesting in the trees above the road. They looked ridiculous: either the bird was too big or the branches were way too small. We pulled into the center of town while he tried to talk us into going on safari, then into a hotel we didn't want. Finally we just said thanks and ran away before he tried to be of more help. The Africana hotel was fairly nice, at least by Middle Eastern standards, and we curled up in the TV room until a room was available. Then we took a seven-hour nap. Considering that our flight left at midnight and arrived at 4 in the morning, you can't blame us.
When we finally ventured out, around five, we were looking for food. Down in the lobby we were greeted by a man we had never met before. He was from the safari company we had got a lift from earlier. He had obviously been briefed on what we had told the other guy. And he was very determined to get us into his office. He had apparently been waiting for several hours for us to appear in the lobby.
He followed us around as we tried to tell him we weren't interested. We were also pretty hungry and not to be diverted. So when he suggested/we chose a restaurant, we went in and assumed he would leave us alone. He didn't.
He walked into the restarant, sat down at the table next to us, got a beer, and proceeded to wait until we had finished eating. Then he was back at it again.
We finally shook him and went into an Internet cafe. We thought that would be it.
We were surprised, and slightly annoyed, to again find him waiting for us the next morning. This time he had brought another woman (she did not look like she wanted to be there), and again said we shold go down to the office and look at the safaris. This time we told him that we had booked a safari (in fact, we had just received confirmation the night before). Then he wanted to know which company and what kind of safari. When this looked like it wasn't working he tried to sell us some city tours. Finally he gave up, but he wins the most persistent tout award on this trip.
Nairobi has such a bad reputation that we were pretty paranoid before we even arrived. But despite the danger (or perhaps because of it), I came to like this city. We were based in the city center (considered comparitively safe, at least during daylight hours). The streets were always full of people going about their business. In fact, it takes concentration to walk anywhere without running into someone. Matatus (minibuses) are lined up everywhere, with touts loudly trying to fill their vehicles. Traffic is noisy and terrible. Every block has three or four fried chicken and chips places. It's about all we could find to eat downtown. A huge plate of French fries are abot 50 cents. A half-chicken is $3. You sit on tall, long benches and every segement of society is here for a quick, cheap meal.
The danger is there, of course. More important is the underlying hostility towards a foreign face. Guys reach out sneakily to pinch Erin's arm when we walk down the street. One guy very obviously put out his foot to try to trip me. Once a big teenager walked up to me, put out his hand, and said "hook me up" like he was expecting me to give him a fistful of cash. There is a security guard that locks us into our hotel each night and we go through a metal detector everytime we get on and off a bus.
Nairobi is slightly frightening, but very alive.
~T
