I had been travelling for over 36 hours, from Canada to London via Air Canada and after a long boring wait at the Heathrow, to Dubai. After a 6 hour delay, we arrived at the jomo Kenyatta Airport. A harassed looking man in civilian clothes directed us to the visa booth. A three month visa was obtained after parting with US$62.00. While waiting in line at the passport control area, a group of 7 Africans, jumped in front of me, holding Somali passports. They inserted $15 to $20 dollar bills in each passport and presented to the official sitting inside the booth.. The driver from my hotel was waiting for me, and in a few minutes I arrived at the steps of the Stanley Hotel which was celebrating its 100 years in Nairobi. The other hotel as old as Stanley is the Norfolk.
After a quick shower, and a few phone calls, I was ready to hit the familiar streets. My previous visit to this city was 8 years before, in 1994. I stopped outside a closed bookstore and looked at the books displayed by the window. Immediately I was surrounded by half a dozen hawkers, some carrying brochures. ’’Do you want to go to masai mara?, how about Amboseli? Nakuru? Tsavo.. or Mount Kenya.. real cheap’’ ’’Do you want taxi’’ another man asked. Since I had already made arrangements for each day spent in Kenya, I politely declined their offer and moved away. Some of these hawkers are genuine, but booking a safari through them may ends up in disaster.
Another time I was approached by an older man, pointed to a new red car and asked if I want a taxi. I wanted to visit a friend in Karen, and thought this might be a good time. I went back to my hotel, phoned my friend, grabbed the camera and went outside. The man asked me to follow him, we walked a couple of blocks away from the red car. I asked him where he was going, and he replied that the car was parked just around the corner and guided me to an old beater and quickly seated me in the back seat. He uttered some words to another man in Swahili. Then I noticed that there were no handles inside the door; as a result, I couldn’t open it from inside nor could I roll down the windows, and felt I was trapped! The old man occupied the passenger seat while the driver started the vehicle.I smelled strong alcohol. Not happy with the way things were shaping up, I told them that I forgot the money in the hotel and asked them to let me out. When they opened the door, I rushed out and told them that I had no intention in traveling in a junk like that. The crime in the streets are on the increase. Thanks to the high unemployment and corrupted politicians. Some says the underpaid police are working side by side with the criminals. I came back to the hotel after a brief stroll.
While I was writing my diary that night, the telephone rang. It was my friend Brian arranging a lunch at the Muthaiga Club next day. The Muthaiga Club was established over 100 years ago exclusively for the use of the British during the colonial days. No Blacks , Asians or women were admitted until Kenya became independent in 1963.There is no such discrimination today, but it is evident that the club is still dominated by the old settlers of Europeans. The well to do Blacks come here occasionally, but they feel like a fish out of water. The membership is controlled and strict and cost a fortune. Members can bring guests here and have meals, drinks or play billiards. No money will change hands. You simply sign a ’chit’, and the club will bill the member at the end of the month.
I met a few interesting characters here, ex game wardens and professional hunters, most of them were retired and go to the club with friends to reminisce about the good old days. On the way out, I took some photographs of the club from outside, as no camera is allowed inside. That was the day the queen mother died, and I noticed that the (Union Jack)British flag was flying in full mast. They forgot to lower it.Brian wasn’t impressed. A staunch Brit, raised in Rhodesia and arrived in Kenya in the early 1950s, Brian was engaged in security business in Kenya. We knew each other for more than 20 years. We stopped to see the original house once occupied by the famous Ewart S. Grogan.
There are numerous hotels and eatery in Nairobi to suit every one’s taste. During my earlier visits I stayed at the heron courts apartments (not impressed due to lack of lights in the suite, and broken beer bottles on the stairways), and at the Oak Hotel across from the Stanley, where there were armed guards on each floor around the clock for security. Most transactions outside the airport are done with Kenya shillings. At the time of my visit (March-April 2002), the exchange rate was 75 K. shillings to $1.00. It is not allowed to take any Kenya Shillings out of the country.
There are several well stocked shops in Nairobi, that cater to all needs. But bring your own rolls of film, they are rather expensive here. A large number of shops are owned by people of Indian origin. Their families have been settled here for several generations since the original work force from india arrived here for the construction of the Uganda railway in the 1890s. It was the Indians who built the entire railway under very harsh conditions including the attacks from man eaters, and it was they who established dukas (small shops) throughout the length and breadth of Kenya when no one dared to do so. The Indians played such an important role in the growth of this country, and they are also instrumental in similar venture in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and Uganda.
You are also advised to take anti malarial pills regularly while in Kenya.
But most people arrive in Kenya for sightseeing, or going on safaris to the various National Parks. The closest one is of course the Nairobi Nat. park, just a few miles from the city. Here, you will be able to see most animals except the elephant and the leopard. Amboseli is the best place for elephants.Tsavo has huge maneless lions, Masai mara has a healthy populations of elephant, lion, giraffe, zebra, ostrich, impala, waterbuck, and bushbuck; In Aberdare and Mt. Kenya you will see buffalo, giraffe, elephant, zebra, lion, and an occasional rhino. The Nakuru is the home of the flamingoes. The meru park is the setting of Joy Adamson stories (Elsa, the lioness of Born Free). She was killed by her cook in 1979, and her husband George was murdered at the Kora national park in 1989 by Somali bandits.
Due to the heavy ivory poaching, you will never see elephants with large tusks, or many rhinos. They too were indiscriminately slaughtered by poachers for their horns, so that some rich Arabs can make a handle for their knives, or use them as aphrodisiacs.
Ignoring the traditional matatus with reckless drivers, I took a private van to Nyeri, a town 100 miles north, where I checked into the Outspan Hotel. It was here Jim Corbett spent his last 8 years upon leaving India in 1947. The cottage he stayed was called Paxtu, originally built for Lord Baden powell, the chief of scouts. By prior arrangement, I obtained the same cottage to spend my first night there (US$160.00). The hotel is near the Aberdare National Park. The famous Tree Tops is situated in the heart of this park. It was here, 50 years ago, when a young Princess Elizabeth arrived and spent the night while her father (King George VI) died in his sleep in Sandringham. It was Jim Corbett who escorted the princess to the Tree Tops. I saw an entry in a journal made by Corbett in Feb. 1952, and kept inside the Tree Tops. It reads ’’ For the first time in the history of the world...she climbed the tree a Princess.. and next day she climbed down a Queen’’. (More about Tree Tops in a separate piece)