Kissed a giraffe today

Day 2 Nairobi – I was the last to wake up this morning at around 5:30am. Terry had been up since three and Cody since about 4:00am. Breakfast was being served until 8:30am, so Terry and I headed off for a run when the sun came up around 6:30am. We started off on our run in gentle showers and within minutes were in another torrential downpour. It was warm, but this was serious rain. We made it about 12 minutes before turning around to get the camera out of the rain. There was a highway of locals walking on their way to work. I was less shy today and smiled at people as I passed. Still not too many ‘jambos’ (hi in Swahili), but a few friendly looks. I did get one big smile and a wave followed by “You are swimming!” which we may as well have been as the rain was so hard.

We came back drenched and extremely muddy, with the taste of deet in our mouths as the bug repellent was washed by the rain right to our mouth – yuck!

Breakfast was buffet style, included in our room rate – hard boiled eggs, bacon, sausage (Cody says the sausages taste like candy), toast, little warm cinnamon buns, beans (like pork and bean style, Terry had two servings of these), pineapple, over-ripe watermelon, little limes, jam (which was bitter and not at all delicious), french fries, cereal, and this brown mush that none of us were brave enough to try. We didn’t eat it all of course, just wanted to give you an idea of what was served.

We are fumbling around a bit with how much everything should cost. Taxis and cars are very expensive. They (the guest house staff) wanted to charge us 10,000Ksh (almost $200) to give us a driver for the day, or 5,000Ksh plus km for half a day. Way too much for us. We settled on a taxi for 600Ksh to the museum and then we were going to brave public transit on the way home.

Due to the rain, we switched our plan from the Giraffe Centre to the National Museum in Nairobi. Nairobi is bustling. Not at all as scary as I had anticipated. As a matter of fact, I felt very safe the whole time. Kenneth, our guide at the museum, told us that they have really increased security in the city. There was a display of photographs at the National Museum depicting 24 hours in Nairobi (I may have to go back to buy the photo book as it really does tell the story of a day in the life). There was a series of photos of a man being beaten in the street by security guards. Kenneth was explaining that this man had stolen a purse and was being beaten. So you see, it is much safer now. How comforting. This whole display was pretty depressing – the Nairobi I had heard about. Drunkenness, sex workers, funerals, morgues, babies in hospitals… with a couple of pictures of Hindu weddings and dancing. Everyone is very busy in Nairobi, Kenneth kept reminding us.

After the museum we walked through Nairobi. We asked Kenneth if we could walk to the Norfolk Hotel where my friend, Sadru Mitha, wanted me to take a picture for him of Nairobi University. Rather than tell us how to get there, he walked us right out of the museum, down the street, across a bridge (over the Nairobi River – Nairobi means ‘cool place’ by the way), and pointed us in the right direction. He must have been watching us because when we were about half a block away we were pausing not sure whether to take the high road or the low road and looked up and he was running towards us to get us back on track. I felt very well taken care of.

We passed by some pretty divey fast food joints and settled on a nice, open air restaurant. Terry and I had vegetable curry (280Ksh and Cody had chicken curry). Just as we sat down, another torrential downpour hit. We were VERY happy to be under cover. Before lunch was done, the sun was out.

The stores on the street level are tiny, micro businesses. It’s like a row of closets selling fancy clothing, colourful shirts and ties for men, sparkly skimpy tops for women, dress shoes, cellular phones (there is a cell phone stand about every third shop). We passed a gorgeous mosque right in the middle of town. I was not surprised that this was the first time I was approached by a beggar woman. “Please mummy” she said. I read somewhere that in Muslim culture it is seen as a blessing in the eyes of Allah to give. I did not give.

I also read that you are not supposed to take pictures of government buildings… oops. We passed by a very cool looking building with a VERY tall red tower. The security guard eyed me taking a picture and told me that because this is a government building I cannot take a picture, but I could hide and take the picture secretly. Good security.

We stopped again for a rest at Kenya’s version of Starbucks (I am extremely happy to report that there are NO MacDonald’s or Starbucks in Kenya!) – Nairobi Java House. This was very upscale, with Starbucks prices. Red leather couches, great décor and rich, delicious coffee. Terry and I shared one – this is the first caffeinated coffee I have had in maybe 4 years and I was pretty jittery afterward. Not sure I’ll try that again, but it was worth it. After we left, Terry caught a glimpse of himself in a store window and commented, “I don’t think I’m looking too good.” We definitely stand out as dorky looking tourists with our flip flops and back packs.

We checked out a few budget hotels and found one, the Kenya Comfort Inn that we may stay in when we come back. Up side is that we will be in the city, so walking distance to everything, down side is running would be pretty much impossible.

It was about 2:00pm by this time and I was just about done with wandering around the city. We made the decision to try and take the bus to the Langata Giraffe Centre after all. This is where the adventure really began! Our Lonley Planet told us which bus to catch, so we got on the “Citi Hoppa” and crossed our fingers. The busses all pick up in this one area – there is a guy leaning out of the bus with a sign showing the number and destination. There is a lot of yelling, banging and whistling to get passengers. He said he was leaving now and it was only a 10 minute ride. For 150Ksh we hopped on. We were the only whiteys on the bus and we sat in the very back. The ride was pretty bumpy and we felt pretty cool. I kept asking where the Hardy shops were and different people looked out for us. So, we did find our stop, or rather the driver found it for us (it was not marked at all). We got off and started walking. This was more than we bargained for. We were offered a ride on a boda boda (bicycle or motorcycle taxi where you basically get a double). We declined and kept walking for at least 2 kms. We did find our way there and it was a beautiful walk on a quiet street lined with bright pink bougainvilleas and tall flower trees.

The Giraffe Centre was more than I dreamed of. Everyone had told us it was a must see. The Rothschild Giraffe is an endangered species and they breed and raise them here to be released into the wild. We were able to hand feed the giraffes – Laura and Daisy were there names – and even got a kiss! Lots of kisses actually. They have long pointy tongues that are rough like a cat's. You can feed them from a raised tower so you are at eye level – they have beautiful eyes with thick long lashes. It was amazing. We could see three babies in the distance and two warthogs shared the grounds. There was a great gift shop, which we resisted. We had very specific instructions on how to take the bus (matatu) back to our hotel. We got a lift from a matatu back to the street where we got off our bus (for 30 bob, another name for shilling). We didn’t get on the bus that maybe we should have (my fault), but then climbed in a matatu that assured us that he could take us to the place that we would catch the right bus. So, matatus are maybe 9 or 12 passenger vans. They are EVERYWHERE. Cody thought they were gangster vans because you always see guys hanging out of them, banging the side, whistling and playing loud music. As soon as we got in this one, the music was cranked with a reggae/rock tune of “Bizzy bizzy bizzy bizzy blazy blaza.” We were going in the opposite direction I thought we should be. The music was SO LOUD, people were jumping on and off. They did get us where we needed to be to catch our next bus. I’m kind of glad we made the detour because we got to see the area called Karen (after Karen Blixen, Out of Africa).

I saw great graffiti – KEEP PEACE ALIVE. We saw goats, some cows, a slum, outdoor furniture sale that seemed to go on for miles. Miles and miles of furniture (mostly bed frames) for sale along the side of the road, women carrying babies and small children on their back and of course, lots of men walking purposefully.

Sorry for the long entries. I’m sure once I’ve been here a few more days not EVERYTHING will be note worthy. But I just don’t want to forget a thing. Feel free to skim!

Back in Nairobi Central, we had one more bus to take back to the Methodist Guest House. We wanted to pick up some fruit to take back to the room in case our little local market was closed. I asked a nice looking young man on the street if he knew where we could buy some fruit. He was so friendly and said he would show us. He had a big smile and kept saying over and over that he was so happy to meet us. He was going to university taking journalism. He told me to call him and he would take us home as that is the Kenyan way – when you take someone to your home, then you know them. I was completely charmed. Terry was not. We had gone several blocks out of our way and Terry smelled a rat. So, we said good bye and made our own way back to the bus sans fruit. I still think he was just being nice.

We did make it back home. Now we’ve got some luggage juggling as our allotment from Vancouver to Nairobi was 2 bags each of 50lbs and our flight to Kisumu only allows for one bag each of 35lbs. Hmmm, could make for some pretty heavy back packs.