Nairobi last visit of the year
This was my last visit to Nairobi and I tried to make it a big one. I added three days to the normal trip so I would not be so rushed especially since it is a day there and a day back on the shuttle. Was glad I did as I was able to work in a couple of side trips and extra stops at my favorite places to eat.
So to start things off I get into Nairobi on Tuesday evening and contact my friend in country to let her know I am there and see when she would like to get together. She mentions she is already at one my favorites to eat at Mambo Italia at Lavington Curve (for when you want a taxi driver to find it say the Lavington Nakumatt). We first discovered this pizza and Italian slice of heaven at the Karen Nakumatt Galleria I think. They have a carnivore thin crust that is right up my ally. So grab a taxi and off I go where I met one her local friends who just quit their job. That poor bottle of wine never stood a chance, fortunately it was all gone before I got there.
So the next day we meet up just before lunch to go grab the BoxGirls (remember that is the group that helps teach young girls and ladies in the slums self defense, motivation, life skills and confidence through the sport of boxing as well as their classes and mentoring programs). I took them to a local Nyama Choma place they all like and we devour about 5 kilograms of charred Ngombe flesh.
I went on a tour of things in the slums like their trash mounds and the polluted river. It is unfortunate how many times in my life I have seen things like this in different countries. I still think for horrible living conditions Belen in Peru is the king of that mountain but for danger in living especially for young women the Nairobi slums is one of the worst.
That night we ate a new place and had a good american style hamburger and chips (you will not a recurring theme in most of my food soon). The place was called the Captain's Grill.
Thursday I did some walking downtown to see what was going on in Nairobi this week and took a look at some computer stores but again everything was more expensive than it would be in the states so I did not buy anything.
The food kind of blends in after a while but I am pretty sure that was the night we went to the Brazilian all you can eat steakhouse in Lavington area. This is the third different one we have been to and each was different in their own way. This one was more relaxed atmosphere and the crocodile and chicken was excellent.
Other foodie joints were the Pub in the Nairobi Hilton where there is a great burger to enjoy. And two more trips to Mambo Italia, one for pizza and one for penne pasta with white wine sauce and chicken. It was excellent. One thing we discovered there for all the Nutella fans is that they make their hot chocolate with Nutella and steamed milk. My vocabulary does not extend to the necessary words to describe how wonderful that drink is (especially with a hint of Bailey Irish Cream) We did not find out it was made with Nutella until after ordering my third, they brought out a Nutella dessert pizza because no one had ever ordered that many Nutella hot chocolates. Now I was afraid to look at the bill but it was not severe, just normal had a good time pricey.
I took Barnabas for a little culture at the Nairobi National Museum after finally finding the walking route (I had wanted to do it last time but all I got were offers to get me a taxi-it was only a 15 minute walk). Unfortunately I had scheduled it for Friday morning and that was the same day as all the school children in Kenya came to visit it as well (really just 50 buses). It was a little small considering the breadth of items they could talk about in Kenya's history especially since one entire wing was dedicated to stuffed birds. Again it was worth the walk and the 1,200 Kenya Shilling price tag. One note though was that inside of the sealed glass display on ancient Kenya tribes was a stuffed bear (picture below) not sure whose joke it was but somebody at the museum had to do it.
That afternoon I went back to BoxGirls as they had requested I show them some of the experiments I had talked about with science groups so I did an egg drop and trying to blow up a balloon inside of a plastic bottle. I think they enjoyed the time but they were still convinced I had done something to the egg to keep it from breaking. I used a plastic coke bottle, three balloons, some yarn and toilet paper. I used a smaller bottle to make an example of a failed attempt and it worked as expected-splat! The one I did not want to break survived two falls one from shoulder height and one as high as the ceiling in the room. The balloon in the water bottle provoked much laughter as everyone tried and failed to blow it up. BTW using a small bottle really shows the last part of the experiment off well where you poke the hole in the bottle allowing them to blow up the balloon then after blowing it up close the hole and quit blowing. It completely fills the small water bottle giving more impact in visual learning.
While Sunday we had planned to drive through the Safari park inside Nairobi, I thought it would be nice to go do the safari you walk through on my own. Was glad I did because the Sunday trip fell through. The safari walk was much like a zoo in many ways only the areas for the animals were slightly larger. They had a leopard up in a tree where I could see his tail but that was all. The cheetahs were all taking a nap but visible. The lions again were asleep and not visible. But then one of the guys who works there, says follow me and we start traipsing around all these holes in the fence, he warns we are up against the exterior electric fence and then the two of us are on the backside of the lions area. After many warnings not to show the photos to anyone I include them below because they were great shots of the lions. He did ask for a coke but then took off before I could buy him one.
On Sunday went to the road that overlooks rift valley and took some photos.
After returning I have had some good developments-finally found an extension ladder-actually a reticulating 20 footer. Only took four towns and over 40 shops to find something but it will be on the bus with me tomorrow to Singida. Then I found a Mexican joint for lunch. Wonder how that is going to settle in.
So to start things off I get into Nairobi on Tuesday evening and contact my friend in country to let her know I am there and see when she would like to get together. She mentions she is already at one my favorites to eat at Mambo Italia at Lavington Curve (for when you want a taxi driver to find it say the Lavington Nakumatt). We first discovered this pizza and Italian slice of heaven at the Karen Nakumatt Galleria I think. They have a carnivore thin crust that is right up my ally. So grab a taxi and off I go where I met one her local friends who just quit their job. That poor bottle of wine never stood a chance, fortunately it was all gone before I got there.
So the next day we meet up just before lunch to go grab the BoxGirls (remember that is the group that helps teach young girls and ladies in the slums self defense, motivation, life skills and confidence through the sport of boxing as well as their classes and mentoring programs). I took them to a local Nyama Choma place they all like and we devour about 5 kilograms of charred Ngombe flesh.
I went on a tour of things in the slums like their trash mounds and the polluted river. It is unfortunate how many times in my life I have seen things like this in different countries. I still think for horrible living conditions Belen in Peru is the king of that mountain but for danger in living especially for young women the Nairobi slums is one of the worst.
That night we ate a new place and had a good american style hamburger and chips (you will not a recurring theme in most of my food soon). The place was called the Captain's Grill.
Thursday I did some walking downtown to see what was going on in Nairobi this week and took a look at some computer stores but again everything was more expensive than it would be in the states so I did not buy anything.
The food kind of blends in after a while but I am pretty sure that was the night we went to the Brazilian all you can eat steakhouse in Lavington area. This is the third different one we have been to and each was different in their own way. This one was more relaxed atmosphere and the crocodile and chicken was excellent.
Other foodie joints were the Pub in the Nairobi Hilton where there is a great burger to enjoy. And two more trips to Mambo Italia, one for pizza and one for penne pasta with white wine sauce and chicken. It was excellent. One thing we discovered there for all the Nutella fans is that they make their hot chocolate with Nutella and steamed milk. My vocabulary does not extend to the necessary words to describe how wonderful that drink is (especially with a hint of Bailey Irish Cream) We did not find out it was made with Nutella until after ordering my third, they brought out a Nutella dessert pizza because no one had ever ordered that many Nutella hot chocolates. Now I was afraid to look at the bill but it was not severe, just normal had a good time pricey.
I took Barnabas for a little culture at the Nairobi National Museum after finally finding the walking route (I had wanted to do it last time but all I got were offers to get me a taxi-it was only a 15 minute walk). Unfortunately I had scheduled it for Friday morning and that was the same day as all the school children in Kenya came to visit it as well (really just 50 buses). It was a little small considering the breadth of items they could talk about in Kenya's history especially since one entire wing was dedicated to stuffed birds. Again it was worth the walk and the 1,200 Kenya Shilling price tag. One note though was that inside of the sealed glass display on ancient Kenya tribes was a stuffed bear (picture below) not sure whose joke it was but somebody at the museum had to do it.
 |
| He can't see me right! |
 |
| Hey dad a relative of yours |
 |
| So look at me I am stuffed too but at least I am on the right side of the glass |
 |
| to swim like a manatee |
 |
| Hey why are you laughing so hard-Oh Crap!! |
 |
| This is the knife for circumcision |
 |
| No joke he was inside the sealed case |
That afternoon I went back to BoxGirls as they had requested I show them some of the experiments I had talked about with science groups so I did an egg drop and trying to blow up a balloon inside of a plastic bottle. I think they enjoyed the time but they were still convinced I had done something to the egg to keep it from breaking. I used a plastic coke bottle, three balloons, some yarn and toilet paper. I used a smaller bottle to make an example of a failed attempt and it worked as expected-splat! The one I did not want to break survived two falls one from shoulder height and one as high as the ceiling in the room. The balloon in the water bottle provoked much laughter as everyone tried and failed to blow it up. BTW using a small bottle really shows the last part of the experiment off well where you poke the hole in the bottle allowing them to blow up the balloon then after blowing it up close the hole and quit blowing. It completely fills the small water bottle giving more impact in visual learning.
While Sunday we had planned to drive through the Safari park inside Nairobi, I thought it would be nice to go do the safari you walk through on my own. Was glad I did because the Sunday trip fell through. The safari walk was much like a zoo in many ways only the areas for the animals were slightly larger. They had a leopard up in a tree where I could see his tail but that was all. The cheetahs were all taking a nap but visible. The lions again were asleep and not visible. But then one of the guys who works there, says follow me and we start traipsing around all these holes in the fence, he warns we are up against the exterior electric fence and then the two of us are on the backside of the lions area. After many warnings not to show the photos to anyone I include them below because they were great shots of the lions. He did ask for a coke but then took off before I could buy him one.
After returning I have had some good developments-finally found an extension ladder-actually a reticulating 20 footer. Only took four towns and over 40 shops to find something but it will be on the bus with me tomorrow to Singida. Then I found a Mexican joint for lunch. Wonder how that is going to settle in.
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