TIA-This Is Africa. We arrived to a burnt down airport. Surprisingly our luggage made it. My safari trip was a bust; on hold till next time. I had some time to kill. I talked to the concierge and was informed that even though Nairobi was not currently on the list of the top ten most dangerous cities in the world, I should not venture out with my cell phone, any money, a camera, a watch, or nice clothes. The first time I walked out basically naked past the dozen guards guarding the hotel entrance with machine guns, I made it to the end of the block and chickened out. The inner Indiana Jones was not happy, so after a confidence building workout, I decided it was time for round two.
Even though I was the only white person walking the street, I made it to the city park in front of the hotel. There was no going back. Nairobi was mine. As I ventured through the less than manicured wasteland of a city park, I started to second guess my decision. Turns out the park was home to most of the city's vagrants and vagabonds. My white Addidas were sparking up quite an interest. I kept on keepin' on. I made it to an old cathedral across the park and this accomplishment sparked my courage. I decided to venture into the streets of down town Nairobi.
Turns out, that's not a safe thing for white people to do either. I quickly became disoriented with my unfailing terrible sense of direction and started to panic a bit as I was frequently accosted by many eager shop and street vendors. To say they are insistent is the understatement of the year. Eventually a large, intimidating Nairobian decided I needed to visit his uncle's shop. There was no dissuading him. I even showed him all my empty pockets.
The official tour of down town Nairobi began against my will. Although he assured me the shop was just around the corner, corner after corner came and went, but the shop never appeared. After being not so gently prodded for a fifteen minute walk, we made it to a very dark alley. I could see a dangly light bulb at the end of the alley and lots of dark figures laying and sitting around. All that kept going through my head was first, "I should have listened to Jody" and second, "kick him in the balls and run". I didn't kick him in the balls. He led me up a dark stairway. As I walked up what I thought to be my last stairway ever, we arrived at a very quaint shop. And I met his smiley uncle. There was even another white guy. The first I had seen all day.
I met a few of the shop's artists and perused all the beautiful work for a while. Long story short, his uncle walked me back to the hotel and we had a very nice conversation the whole way back. Ultimately, I walked away with two hundred and ten dollars worth of art for thirty dollars. Take that Nairobi.
Not my picture obviously, but when you're wandering the streets of Nairobi you don't have to worry only about the locals. Wildlife from the 200 sq. km reserve next to town frequently come for tours of the city as well.
*As a side note (the wife speaking), since these latest two adventures there have been conversations which will hopefully lead to no further exciting stories to tell. His Indiana Jones heart is broken.
