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Articles Tagged ‘nairobi’

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I fought the law… and I won

Saturday, January 6th, 2007

So it is safe to say I had my first true African experience this morning. On my way to Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi my taxi driver was pulled to the side just outside of the entrance. I figured due to the increased tension in East Africa right now that this was a routine random check. 4-5 police officers surrounded the car. One reviewed his stickers on the car and another took his ID and other forms of proof that he was in fact legit. Another officer came by my window and tapped on it. The window didn’t work so I opened the door. He asked me…wait no, he actually TOLD me I wasn’t wearing my seat belt so he would have to take me down to the police station where I would have to pay a fine.

I told him I could not as I had a flight to catch in 2 hours. He wasn’t very confident in demanding that I get out of the car so I took it that he only wanted a bribe from me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out $5 USD. His eyes lit up and helped himself inside the taxi to finish the deal. After I was ready to hand it to him suddenly one of the other officers said something to him in swahili and he immediately got out of the car and my driver was given the ok to continue on.

Well, apparently I handled the situation well. I took the bribe money and held it in the air and told him he could have it an in doing this it caused civilians, other officers and his BOSS off in the distance to see it so they told him to not take it. My driver said it wasn’t that they didn’t want him taking my bribe but it was too blatent and they could have gotten in a lot of trouble.

So, my first dealing with corrupt officials ended well for me. I have to admit after that I was feeling very confident in my travels.

Not so fast though

I arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this afternoon. I don’t want to post too much because I haven’t really had a chance to explore the city and want to give it a fair shot. Tomorrow is Christmas day so I decide to use it as another travel day and will be heading north to Lake Tana and the town of Bahir Dar by hired vehicle. I won’t be back to Addis for a little while.

Posted in Kenya & Tanzania | 6 Comments »

Lazy in Nairobi

Friday, January 5th, 2007

Ok, so maybe I was a little more exhausted than I thought. After taking a walk this morning and stopping for a Fanta I headed back to my hotel and laid down to read my guide book for Ethiopia. I eventually past out and slept for 7 hours. I hope I can still get to sleep tonight because tomorrow is another big day.

I feel a bit guilty about coming back on to the internet tonight but Nairobi isn’t the safest place for me to be walking around at night by myself. After this I’ll find a place to eat. I saw a Taco place near my hotel that had the exact same symbol as the one at home but definitely was not Taco Bell.

Just thought i’d add that before I headed out!
There is appaerently a Hooters in Nairobi so maybe I’ll be REALLY adventerous and different and go get some wings and a pitcher of beer then watch some football. There should be some matches on tonight.

UPDATE:

Just wanted to say I had the strangest moment sitting here in the internet cafe. It was all quiet and there is one other guy in here with me aside from the 2 women working the counter. Suddenly the radio turns on and they are blasting country music. Randy Travis “Forever and Ever Amen” to be specific.They were singing along too.

The kid next to me is on myspace music listening to Nickleback songs.

UPDATE#2:

I didn’t grab a picture of it myself but this is pure comedy gold. I found an image someone took of the taco place I was talking about. It says “TACO CLUB” and then has the Taco Bell … BELL. It doesn’t make any sense at all… why even steal the bell? Ahh, awesome.

fyi, check the address location for the website of the person I took this image from, just want to give credit

Posted in Kenya & Tanzania | 7 Comments »

Kenya Dig it!?

Thursday, January 4th, 2007
Yes, corny puns are still allowed while I'm blogging. Well, I made it. After 20+ hours in airports and to back-to-back 8 hours flights I finally arrived in Nairobi, Kenya last night at about 9pm GMT+3 (which I imagine is ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Kenya & Tanzania | 3 Comments »