Nairobi

'Jambo!' Everybody greets us enthusiastic in Kenya and Tanzania.

But, not everything is as friendly here in the East of Afrika. After our travel experiences in India we thought to be immune for poverty, dirt and misery in general. But here in Kenya, a moderate prosperous country in Africa, the poverty and the hopelessness of things really hurts us. Yes, the safari and the beaches are fantastic. But as soon as you dare to step outside the protecting fences of your expensive lodge, or take a walk on the beach, away from your hotel, reality catches up with you. And reality never comes easy.

As soon as we arrive in Nairobi we are confronted with the problems of the city. 'Nairobbery', as it is called mockingly. Our plane lands in the evening and we are transported to our luxurious hotel, in the outer skirts of the city. A very luxurious hotel, indeed! We have a spacious room with views on the beautiful garden, small waterfalls bathing in romantic lights, a big swimming pool. In the morning we even spot an ostrich, freely running around! But, not everything is as positive since we have to pay 4 dollar for only 1 liter of mineral water from our room bar...  

After a huge breakfast - 'Jambo!', black waiters popping up when needed for baking eggs or serving thee, ask about a hundred times if everything is 'OK' with us - we take the bus of the hotel towards the center of Nairobi. Without any problems we arrange a rental car for the next week. According our travel guide we have to take care not to be liable to pay enormous amounts after damage - and I can assure you: after one week of Kenya even the most well-meaning car rental organization is bound to find some damage to your car! Watch also your theft protection waiver - although all rental cars are equipped with an alarm and most hotels have their own 24 hours watched parking place...

After renting our car we walk towards the National Museum. A small walk according our map, but we seem to pass through some lesser parts of the city... People we meet warn me urgently to put away my camera and so - alas - I have only a few pictures of this interesting city, with its modern buildings side by side with ramshackle shops and slums. We are very conspicuous, from far away everybody sees immediately that we are white and rich.

The national museum gives an interesting survey of the wording of human beings - here in the east of Africa our first footprints (literary!) are found. Furthermore the museum has a beautiful collection of stuffed birds, we take a look at birds we hope to see on our safari. After a visit to the nearby snake museum (where we take a look at snakes that we sincerely not hope to see on our safari!) we walk towards the starting point of the bus back to our hotel.

But we have to wait and within only a couple of minutes we are surrounded by 2, 5, 10, many street boys. I even try to talk a bit with them, but clearly they have other objectives. The boys are very thin, clothed in rags, bottles with glue clasped under their noses. But the blanc expression on their faces is deceptive. As soon as we escape to our bus that finally arrives, one of the boys tears my golden necklace of my neck. Indeed: Nairobbery! A bad experience, but I can't really blame the boy since his situation is so much beyond any hope. An hour later, safely back in our expensive hotel, we observe another Kenyan boy, eating with an obvious lack of enthusiasm from an immensely loaded plate, easily worth one month of life on the streets of Nairobi. Madness.

Next morning the man from whom we rented a car picks us up and takes us to his home, to perform some formalities and to give us our car. We drive through a very expensive neighborhood in Nairobi, a lot of embassies are located over here. Our car rental man explains modestly that he lives in the 'poor part' of this neighborhood.

All houses in this part of Nairobi are surrounded by a two meter high wall, with on top of that a high voltage electric fence - to 'frighten' away criminals. The porch is guarded 24 hours a day and within the walls watchdogs run around. The man that owns the rental car company - for we assume now that must be the case - has a beautiful home, very big, expensive decorated. Before we go I ask if I can use the toilet - a question that can easily be answered with a 'no' in other parts of the country, since not everybody owns a toilet. He answers a proud: 'Yes, you have the choice between six toilets!'. We still wonder how the houses of the 'better part' of this neighborhood look! But - beautiful or not, being a prisoner in your own house doesn't seem attractive to me. I really prefer our own much smaller home!

Loaded with all kind of advise for our travel: where to stop and where certainly not, location of aggressive traffic 'bumps' ('Shit, so that was what he meant...'), completed with inside info of tricks to free tourists in rental cars of their money, we are heading to the Rift Valley.

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