Weekend in Nairobi with Noni

I traveled to Nairobi for the weekend to visit Noni and her family. The first thing I noticed is the heavy traffic all around the city. It took an hour and a half for the taxi to reach Noni's parents apartment.

We passed many people selling things on the side of the road. They said this is a common livelihood for Kenyans.

Noni's apartment complex had a gate and a guard like most places in Nairobi. This sign was on the gate. I learned this meant no honking to get the guard to open the gate.
Here is Noni, her mom, and her dad in their apartment. They were excellent hosts; very generous and kind. I hope to return the favor when they come to Washington DC sometime!

When I arrived, their apartment was lit with candles because there is currently a water and electricity shortage in Nairobi. They learned this week that they would not have electricity on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. I wished I had packed my flashlight! They have a generator they charge on the days they have electricity, and can use for some hours of the day on the others. Nairobi uses water for electricity and has not had enough rain to sustain the energy needs. Apparently, this happened in the 90's too. This is a great hardship for residents who need to run their refridgerators and stoves, not to mention TV and internet!

Shortly after arriving we went to a nearby Lebanese restaurant in their neighborhood. It turns out this restaurant used to be Noni's childhood home. The owners and staff knew Noni and her parents well. They showed me how the bathrooms are where Noni's bedroom used to be, and the bar is where her sister's room was, and we ate in their living room.

It was a really nice house with a large front yard and back yard. It must be surreal but also cool to be able to frequent your family home as a restaurant.

After dinner Noni and a friend of hers took me to Mercury bar. It was great to be in a modern lounge listening to music and watching people mingle.

The next day we started out with breakfast at Java House, which is a large coffee house chain in Nairobi. I loved the fancy coffees and yummy food. I took this picture from the balcony.

I caught Noni sitting pensively at the table.

After breakfast we walked around a mall called the Junction. I bought a number of goodies at the Nakumatt which is a large grocery/home goods store a little like a Walmart.

Although I didn't get to visit any of the famous game parks in Kenya on this trip, later in the day we visited a giraffe center where we were able to feed the animals.
We saw their slimy tongues eating the hay out of our hands.

There were funny signs warning us of headbutts and overfeeding the giraffe.
Two of the giraffe's were named Laura and Lucy.

There was a "zoovenir" shop on site, and I posed with the Maasai warriors. One of them was looking at me! I learned the Masaai are an indigenous tribe in Kenya and Tanzania. They were warriors and one of the most well known groups in Africa. Over the weekend there were many opportunities to buy Masaai blankets, shields, masks, and these statues.

After the giraffe center we went to Karen Blixen's house and museum (the author of the memoir "Out of Africa"). I saw the movie a long time ago, and touring her house was an interesting reminder of her story. She owned over 6,000 acres of land in the early 1900s where she unsuccessfully tried to grow coffee and successfully wrote many novels. The official guided tour talked about her as a brave woman who came alone to Africa to get married and that she employed hundreds of people and made sure they finished school and had other opportunities. We had some of our own discussions of how the other story told is that she may not have treated the locals so well, and she may or may not have actually bought the land. The good and bad impact of colonialism was an ongoing theme in our discussions over the weekend, as it often is when traveling around Africa.

There were many gardens surrounding the homes she owned on this land. We had lunch in one of the gardens at a very pretty cafe. There were weddings in the gardens when we visited her house.

This is The Karen Hospital- a private health facility near her land. The neighborhood is named Karen and seems to be a very upscale area.

As we drove around Nairobi on busy crowded streets, seeing a herd of cows crossing the road was a common site.

I liked this sign advertising a hair salon, a wonderful pub and butchery and place to eat grilled meat.

This was a roadside fruit and vegetable market; also a common site.

On Sunday we visited the Masaai market outside of the YaYa mall. Noni negotiated the price of two scarves for herself and a colorful Masaai blanket for me. I also bought a beaded necklace, a beaded belt, and African Obama fabric.

We indulged ourselves while in the big city for the weekend, including getting our hair done.

Fun at the salon!
On Saturday night we ate at a sushi restaurant.

We really enjoyed it.

On Sunday we saw the movie "The Proposal" and then returned to Java House to meet up with Noni's friends.

I enjoyed visiting where Noni grew up. She pointed out her primary and secondary schools and her old hangouts. Nairobi is a fascinating mix of modern ammenities like movies, malls, bars, and a variety of cuisines; along with rural Africa characteristics like cows and goats everywhere, everything for sale at the side of the road, poverty, and general hard lifestyle.

I never felt unsafe over the weekend but we knew that car jackings and other crimes are common in Nairobi. We were careful not to drive far at night and in general people advise against driving alone at night. Most places we went were guarded with gates and guns. I liked Nairobi very much and could imagine it would be a very interesting place to live. The people were very friendly and learning Swahili greetings was fun. Though I think the crime, traffic, and energy shortages would be challenging to deal with as a resident.