A (Surreal) Trip to Nairobi

We spent 3 terrific days in Nairobi with no drama or trauma and had a great time. It was a bit surreal, though, in some ways--we did get our fix of Western culture, African-style.

Of course, if you come to Africa, you expect animals, and one thing this place does is deliver them in a way that America just can't ever match. Everything back in the States is very..."safe." Which is good, but sometimes not exciting (see our former posts about the Snake Park). Here in Africa, they just don't spend so much time worrying about being too safe--hence the fun!

We went to a "boardwalk" (zoo) and to Noah's delight, these cheetahs were more than willing to cooperate by getting up close and personal. The other animals we have already seen on safari but this was a big treat. At one point, they both jumped up and ran across the field.

We also visited the Langata Giraffe Center, where very endangered Rothschild's giraffes are raised. The platform is about 15 feet off the ground and the giraffes are very gentle (and slimy). Next to the center is the Giraffe Manor, an English manor home built in 1932. For a sweet $400 a night, you can have a giraffe reach his head in through your 2nd story window to say "howdy." The center did an excellent job of teaching about conservation and uses donations to help Kenyan students afford transportation to come and see the giraffes. It's a sad fact, both here and in Kenya, that so few children actually ever get to see the animals for which their countries are so famous, yet they will eventually make decisions about wildlife management, population management, etc.

The Sheldrick Trust was founded by David and Daphne Sheldrick (he was the original warden at the Tsavo Parks) to help rhinos and elephants orphaned by poachers. Here at their center (open for only 1 hour each day) visitors get up close and personal with the 7 baby elephants that are currently under their care. The infants are raised and then sent out into Nairobi National Park with armed guards during the day to learn how to live in the wild. Eventually they are released into Tsavo National Park. Poaching in Kenya continues to be such a problem that all elephants and rhinos in game parks are monitored! They did also have a "baby" rhino (3 years old and much too big to be allowed near the guests) who is spending his days in the wild (guarded) and nights back at the center. I wondered how it helped that these elephants were so used to people and seemed to enjoy them--but once freed they are not likely to come into contact with people, the way bears, etc. are in the States. The elephants were the definite (animal) highlight of the trip for all of us!

Not that the rest of the family was overly interested, but I loved our stop at the Karen Blixen home. You'll recognize it from "Out of Africa" because they used the actual house for the exterior shots. It's hard to imagine this house, now in a very upscale neighborhood, being out in the bush. Back in the day it was very luxurious (her original furnishings are still in the home) but by today's standards it's very small and spartan. I loved the movie and have read a couple of her books, but I'm now wanting to read a good biography of hers. The move is very misleading, I think, about her personal life, which was terribly sad and tragic. We ate lunch nearby at another "coffee house" built in 1908 by a Swedish farmer who later built the Blixen home. No one who tried to grow coffee here was successful--the altitude was blamed (Nairobi is at almost 6,000 feet) but it's actually the soil acidity that was the problem. Karen, the suburb named after her, is a very posh place--absolutely beautiful!

Now the surreal part--Nairobi really is very beautiful--it reminds me very much of Southern California in the vegetation, which is lush and green everywhere we looked--and also in the size of the white stucco, Mediterranean-tiled castles perched on hills behind massive gates everywhere we went. In the visitor areas, it is amazingly wealthy--real mall, ala The Galleria, water parks, movie theatres, mini-golf, great restaurants--all for a price. It really was amazing--very Western, albeit with some definitely African quirks. It is easy even in Arusha to insulate one's self from life and the daily interactions with Tanzanians, but in Nairobi, it is possible to have virtually no contact with anyone but expats. Because Kenyans begin English in primary school, everything is in English--news, signs, etc. We did hear Swahili being spoken, but often, even between Kenyans, the language of choice was English.

The surreal part, once we downed our mochas and headed out around town, is that Nairobi is an African city and millions are desperately poor. On our return from the boardwalk zoo, we crested a hill and spread out as far as you could see in either direction, were the Kibera slums, where over 1,000,000 people live in unimaginable conditions (these are the slums from the movie "The Constant Garener"). The contrast between the wealth of the few and poverty of the many was hard to take in. It's here in Arusha as well, of course, but we were left with an unsettled feeling, especially once we stepped into the mall, well-insulated from whatever unpleasantness might be lurking outside.

Just to clarify--I ate those Oreos right up, thank you very much! And loved the chance to go to a movie. And if you ever get the chance to go to Nairobi...take it! But it's not how the vast majority of people live on this Earth, much less in this corner of the world. And that bears remembering.

I'd love to tell you about the great restaurants we ate in, but (sad to say) the highlight foods were (in no particular order)...pretzels, Skippy peanut butter, Oreo cookies, and Ritz crackers. AND they were all fresh. And yummy. And expensive. And yummy. Between Nakumatt (Target) and Uchini (Cub Foods) the kids were in heaven. I should mention their reaction as we entered Nairobi: "Look, Mom! A stoplight! Look! An overpass! Oh my gosh--a 4 lane road!" Guess they've been away from "civilization" as they remembered it for a while! Another highlight was a real movie ("Cars") in a real theatre with real popcorn (the word "real" kept popping up from the kids a lot this week) along with mini-golf and a real pedicure (OK, that last "real" was mine and it was heavenly). As you can see, Noah finally found himself at home here, happily comparing prices on the Oreos and Ritz crackers.