Nairobi, Kenya
Monday, February 18th, 2008In transit to our next destination, India, Shelly and I spent a day in Nairobi, Kenya waiting for our departure flight. With the political crisis and recent violence, we were hesitant to stay in Kenya and even considered cancelling our entire African safari (which we’re now glad we didn’t). The locals said that since the violence they’ve seen an 80% – 90% drop in tourism and we saw this first hand. Many of the places we visited were very quiet and in some cases we were the only visitors. If anyone is traveling to Nairobi soon, we thought it was safe and business as usual. We didn’t see any excessive security or police presence and people were shopping and living normally.
For our day in Nairobi we visited an elephant orphanage where they raise baby elephants that have lost their parents to poaching. We also toured the Karen Blixen museum (from the movie “Out of Africa”) and, as with most attractions that day, we were the only travelers there. Below is a picture of Shelly and I in front of her estate.
We also spent a good part of the afternoon searching for Bata brand safari boots. While in Tanzania, many of the local guides and bush pilots wore these boots and raved about them. Shelly had to find a pair and after searching in three shops we finally found a size 5. For those keeping track, this is her 4th pair of footwear bought on the trip (2 pairs of tango shoes in Buenos Aires, 1 pair of Prada boots in Milan, and now safari boots in Nairobi).
Lastly, we couldn’t stop in Nairobi without visiting the restaurant, Carnivore. This is probably the most famous meat house in Africa and known for serving exotic roasted meats. We probably tried 15 different kinds, including ostrich and crocodile. The restaurant was also the brief unveiling of my mustache (I’ve since shaved it off). A few weeks ago, our friend Cooper sent Shelly and I an “URGENT” email, which had an article about mustaches. According to the article, they are gaining in popularity and are a sign of respect and dignity. So Coop, if you’re out there, here’s a week’s worth of growth… and respect.
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