6 - 16 OCTOBER 2011 NAIROBI – 1° 15’ South

6 - 16 OCTOBER 2011

NAIROBI – 1° 15’ South

Colloquially known as nairobbery

This is an ad for corrugated cardboard coffins

Another easy peasy travel day on a good bus to arrive in very busy Nairobi early afternoon. I befriend my seat partner to find out how far we actually are from Westlands which is a nearby landmark to the Girl Guide Headquarters. Turns out we are dropped a couple of blocks from a city bus that takes me directly to the junction. After a bit of walking I eventually find the place right next door to the beautiful Nairobi Arboretum. Kenya’s State House (and President) is also close by so they are definitely in good company in a nice, safe neighbourhood. I arrive in time for lunch with girls and leaders who are participating in an Alcohol Awareness Training.

Lovely Kenyan Girl Guides

These girls will then return to their regions to train other girls alongside their leaders.  The training is being led by the lovely Dorothy and I also meet other leaders from various regions who settle me into a very basic but secure cottage on the site. The building was been renovated in 1998 with been many ingenious ways used to increase space and update the office facilities. Spending the rest of the day with staff and Guides I sit in one hygiene session: it is a fact that many girls miss a week of school every month because they are menstruating and cannot afford modern sanitary products. This is a huge issue for young women so a reusable sanitary pad has been developed and sewn at Kibera. These girls received a pack that included toothbrush, laundry soap, new underpants and several of the ‘reusable’ sanitary pads. The evening finished with dancing to music dvds and it still amazes me that young African girls dance so sexy and suggestively that they would not be out of place in any lap dancing club. I sleep well and head out early Sunday to orientate myself with Nairobi. 

Along with finding a physiotherapist (for my very painful muscle spasm), I also want flight socks (for the long haul flight home) and flea powder (for Ethiopian churches and beds) – all rare things in Nairobi but I figure this city will be my best bet. I search grocery stores with no luck for the flea powder But finding the Alliance, I pick up their program to find there are a few events over the coming week including a play tonight: I’ll be back before Midnight – a comedy thriller with me the only mzungu in attendance. Getting a taxi back after the play, I meet with staff and get invited to visit the Girl Guide Kibera project tomorrow which turns out to be really informative. Kibera is reputed to be one of East Africa’s biggest slums and the Girl Guides have established an educational facility there for girls who have dropped out of school, for whatever reason. They are taught baking, vegie growing and tailoring, all worthwhile skills that will hopefully see them gainfully employed within a few years, To that end the girls are producing all the Girl Guide uniforms for leaders and girls. The level of tailoring is amazing and those shirts are better made than any chinese factory could turn out. Because of being a mzungu and a girl guide I get asked to talk to the girls who have their tailoring exams coming up in a few weeks. So in an off the cuff session, I give them an overview of mind mapping, a great technique for being able to recall facts and information, even when stressed. This seems to go down quite well with the teacher and girls who take copious notes of everything I tell them. Gosh I hope they all do well. 

Would you ever ask why not?

 Finding my own way back to town I go looking for Milimani Backpackers and find the Seventh Day Adventists medical clinic down the road, who have a physio coming in later today. I make a 5pm appointment , make a booking at the backpackers and return to Guide Centre where Dorothy teaches me a few Swahili words to counter the continual touristy Jambo that I am greeted with.  So I now rely with habariaco and get a locals’ reply. The physio appointment goes well, if my reduced pain level is any indication and I wander some more around town to find the Stanley Hotel, est 1902 and its legendary Thorn Tree Café which historically hosted a travellers noticeboard on its café tree trunk.

No smoking in the streets here

Tuesday I move to Milimani Backpackers, visit the National museum which hosts the single most important collection of early human fossils in the world all of which were discovered in Kenya. The collection made sense along with a fab display of contemporary East African art on the second floor. I walk back into town to the Norfolk Hotel, which was the unofficial starting and ending point of for East African safaris since 1904 – unfortunately their Lord Delamere bar has been relocated inside, far away from where a grenade could be lobbed at tourists. Another physio appt where he tells me the problem is called sciatica! Then visit the Alliance for a beer, a photo exhibition, Objectif Developpement – Nouveaux regards sur le Sud: Seven different French Agency for Development projects by seven different photographers.

Tonight is an evening of Tango combining the screening of El Ultimo Aplauso (The Last Applause), a doco about a group of aging tango singers who yearn to perform one last time, a tribute to the Argentinian Tango singers’ irrepressible talent and spirit. This was followed by a Milongo, a social tango dancing display at Alliance by a local dance studio.

An MJ Khanga!

Wednesday I visit a Kanga Exhibition - The Kanga Stories exhibition giving loads of info about this cultural cloth with a history that conveys literal and socio-cultural messages. There were kangas produced for Michael Jackson’s death and Obama’s elections! Later I visit the Kenya National Archives with a fab collection donated by the late  Joseph Murumbi  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Murumbi) and his wife Sheila when they sold their impressive African arts and crafts collection to the Government of Kenya in the 1980′s. The collection takes you on a cultural tour of the African continent, showcasing the traditional implements and crafts used in days gone by from different parts of the continent. Along with some great historical photography this visit was a definite highlight. And couldn’t leave town without shopping at Haria’s Stamp Shop, est 1958 on Biashara St for some kangas to take home and they kindly spend time with me while I choose kangas not only by designs and colour but by the messages on them, which they translate for me. I have another physio appointment with hopes that the inflammation is slowly settling. Then taking a matatu to an outer suburb, Village Market which is known for its trendy shops. I pass a hairdresser and ask them if they can cut mzungu hair – yes. OK just take about 2 inches off all around. When she hacks into the front and demolishes my fringe I tell her to stop and ask if she knows what she is doing? Not really she says!!!! Aarrgghhhhh I spend the next hour on some retail therapy to alleviate the pain of sciatica and a bad haircut.

Kazuri orders being made up

Thursday is a BIG day out to Langatta and Karen (named after Karen Blixen, I presume), the well established and well heeled suburbs of Nairobi. I travel with John and Kerrie from Montana, USA who are also staying at Milimanis and we eventually locate the right bus after a couple of false starts. We part ways in Karen and I pay a visit the Karen Blixen museum. Karen Blixen (author of Out of Africa) lived here between 1914 and 1931, leaving after a personal tragedy (her toy boy looked very handsome in the photos) to return home to Denmark. Who knew she died of malnutrition back there?  The museum itself is a small house with loads of photos and walking in the gorgeous gardens I meet a couple of Danes who were so thrilled to be visiting her home – In Denmark she is celebrated and pictured on a their fifty kroner note.

Here a kiln, there a kiln at Kazuri,,,

From the museum I walk through the streets with very high (secure) fences to visit the Kazuri bead and pottery factory. This was established back in 1975 providing employment for single mothers to learn a marketable skill and is a massive concern that now fills orders from around the world! There’s even a store in Sydney, Australia. On a free guided tour to learn how the beads are produced, I did learn that all the employees are bussed in – because none of them don’t live anywhere near Karen, which is a very upmarket (and white) suburb!! Kazuri had an amazing range of beads, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, sandals decorated with beads, and then there was the pottery!! Every colour of the rainbow so as is usual when faced with so much choice I got very confused and had real trouble to pick between any of them.

Daisy and me

Still in glorious sunshine I head back to the main road for a matatu to the Hardy shops to walk to the Langata Giraffe Centre. For a steep fee you gain entry to a lovely sanctuary where they are breeding the Rothschild giraffe back from near extinction and reintroducing breeding pairs to various Kenyan national parks.  As an added thrill I got to hand feed Daisy with her beautiful eyes, who staff assured us do not ever overeat. There were a couple of aussie blokes lined up to pose for their Christmas card photo and wanted to put a santa hat on Daisy so I was a bit pleased when they were knocked back. How humiliating for Daisy that would have been! Staff provided a very informative talk about giraffes and I left knowing much more about a giraffe then before!! Lol Big walk up hill and down dale back to the main highway, catching up with John and Kerrie again. We get another matatu to Langata where we part ways at the turn off for Carnivore Restaurant where I am headed for a late lunch.

Carnivore's fiery pit

Carnivore is a very popular complex with large grounds often used for concerts and the road passes beneath the landing flight path for a light plane airport so walking there is most entertaining watching the planes come in one after another. I arrive just as the lunch crowd (read tour groups) were dispersing to find a very unique and amusing restaurant. This is dining out big time with a huge meal and I am sure Terry and Kyle would have loved it. Meat, meat and more meat, roasted over a massive fire pit of coals and served on swords to be carved at your table. There was the usual beef, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey, ostrich, crocodile and antelope on the menu!

John and Kerrie told me about the Yaya centre nearby, so next day I find my way by matatu to discover a wonderful expat world of shopping – bakeries, coffee shops, gift stores along with a pharmacy who stocked Scholl flight socks, made in Mordialloc, Australia!! Wow that’s another thing off my list but flea powder is still proving elusive. Another photo exhibition, this time at the Goethe Institute: Kibera ni Moja – photos of details within peoples lives who live in Kibera. More shopping back at Westlands at Spinners Web for a fantastic array of stuff to pick from that will help fill another parcel home then Saturday brings more shopping at the very busy Masai Markets near the High Court, the home of a very dubious sculpture representing the law – blind, naked and slippery as a fish!

Kenyan law??

I headed to the train station to find out that the Mombasa train will not be running the day I return from Madagascar but I do get a recommendation that Modern Coast in Accra Rd have the best buses. Walking back through town I locate their office and reserve a VIP seat.  Tonight there’s concert music at the Goethe Institute - MA3 who are a local 6 piece quirky afro pop band have a cd launch –Loads of fun, easy music (even with the somewhat Christian lyrics) and an easy window into young contemporary urban Kenya!!

Sunday I spend with Kenya Girl Guide leaders who have come for the weekend to be trained in the Alcohol Awareness program. I was invited back to hear their guest speaker who is well known Nairobi personality (name escapes me) who spoke very well about her slide into alcohol abuse over many years. She was very effective in opening up the session to generate a lot of questions on the usually taboo subject of alcohol abuse. The Leaders were lovely to meet and Dorothy put me in touch with Christine, the Guide Manager of a project called Shanzu at Mombasa who also have accommodation. Another theatre show at Alliance tonight, Nuts – the screenlay that starred Barbra Streisand a long time ago. It’s a sell-out and yes I was the only mzungu again! Last couple of days easily spent here in Nairobi and the Alliance is hosting a Human Rights Film festival this week. Monday night is The Green Wave recounting the hopeful events leading up to the Iranian 2009 elections and the violent suppression of the mass protests post election.  Tuesday is You don’t like the truth which was a very disturbing doco based on security camera footage in Guantanamo Bay between a team of Canadian intelligence (?) agents and Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, then a 16 year old detainee. I found the political, psychological and legal aspects of this film very troubling.

Tomorrow I’m flying to Madagascar and will only return to Nairobi to catch a night bus straight out to the coast in a couple of weeks. But so far so good, I didn’t have any problems here in the city and on the other hand I really enjoyed my time here finding lots to do, good food and except for the huge christian evangelist youth group invading the backpackers over the last couple of days, accommodation was central, cheap and very comfy. Not my most fav African city but I have to say it was a lot better than its reputation makes it out to be.

A great wall mural

FACT: When the national newspaper ran a two page centre spread celebrating Kenya’s Vivan Cheruiyot being named the 2011 IAAF Athlete of the Year, they were so sure of Vivian's win that they had already prepared the article and sent it to print. Ooops Unfortunately they had to run a qualifying statement on the front page: “The IAAF has awarded its Female Athlete of the Year to Australia’s Sally Pearson and not to Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot. It’s not Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot who won three global titles in the cross country, 500m and 10000m who is 2011 world athlete of the year. It is Australia’s Sally Pearson who only won the 100m hurdles world title.” Days later much controversy still fills the sports pages with claims that Vivian was sacrificed because the IAAF saw an opportunity to market the sport in Oceania in giving the undeserving Pearson the award. oooooh

Great beer..

FACT 2: (and nothing to do with Kenya) DRC National Independent Electoral Commission has released the official list of the presidential and legislative candidates for the upcoming election. Eleven candidates will be running for president while a whopping 18,500 candidates will be contesting for the 500 legislative seats. This means an average of 37 candidates will be running for each legislative seat.