Trip to Nairobi, Kenya

Map of Kenya and East Africa with my route(8 hrs by bus) in red.

It's been a hot month of bombings and insecurity and unfortunately I had a scheduled monitoring and evaluation workshop to attend in Nairobi. I certainly had to have a good think about the safety of the trip but after following the country's activities closely in the last weeks, as well as consulting with my fellow Kenyan co-workers and their friends, I came to the conclusion that I should go, though limit my activities in the city and as usual, keep my head on a swivel.

I think its important to look past the headlines and look deeper (for better or for worse) into Kenya's instability and security threats. Whether it's over water, elections, or religion, Kenya's climate has been tense for decades. The recent rise of Islamic extremist terorist goup Al-Shabaab, as well as the unstable environment in bordering Somalia, has added terrorism into their mix of problems. The government is notoriously corrupt with the reputation akin to being the Nigerians of East Africa. To highlight their controversial government you can look no further than the scandal currently rocking their president. Their recently elected president, Uhuru Kenyatta, is in the awkward position of also being on trial by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity as a result of his alleged inciting of ethnic/tribal/political killings following the re-election of then President Kibaki. So it's a real complicated case, lot of ins, lot of outs, lot of whathaveyou.

Some of the things I knew I had to do: avoid trendy upscale areas, avoid markets, reduce movement during peak hours, and no sightseeing. This was all pretty easy since my workshop took up the whole day but it is still frustrating to be moving around with a slight sense of fear. And anyone that knows me knows that I like adventure so it's unfortunate that I had to restrain myself from wandering around the city.

However, I did have an enjoyable time in Nairobi though I was twice stopped and harassed by police. I later heard that the Kenyan government has been quietly deporting thousands of illegal Chinese immigrants (as well as Somalis) but at the time I was very confused why I was subject to such harassment. The first time they stopped me was when I was walking to a restaurant and a patrol of maybe five soldiers in full army fatigues with rifles stepped in front of me with one officer grabbing my arm and asking me where my papers were. I felt like I was in middle school being escorted to the principal's  office as the officer clamped down on my arm and dragged me back the direction I was coming from. After I pointed out that I was an American and my passport was at the hotel I was staying (which was literally 30 ft away) one of the soldiers stepped in and asked me about my work. He said he was familiar with it though I could sense he was stepping in to create a good excuse to let me go. His partner was still stonefaced with an eagles grip on me though after some chatting with the other guy they let me go. I turned back to the direction I was originally heading and the bystanders certainly enjoyed cursing the police with me as well as inquiring what happened.

The second time I was stopped was when I was walking to a taxi stand with my backpack. A road block had been set up and as I attempted to walk past the police stopped me, asked me for my papers, and rifled through my backpack. Both times I was stopped, I think the police were shocked by my background and purpose for being in Kenya as they were probably expecting to have either successfully rounded up an illegal Chinese immigrant or receive a huge bribe. I'm astounded that they didn't attempt to find at least something I was almost doing wrong in order to illicit a bribe!

Somali dish of rice, chicken and veg.

One of the real highlights for me was the food. There were lots of cheap eateries that provided food with a Somali, Kenyan and Ethiopian flavor. There was also a lot more fruit available in Nairobi than in Moshi. I bought a fruit bag every day full of mango, pineapple, papaya and watermelon.

Fruit stand!

A mix of pineapple, watermelon, mango and papaya for 50 Kenyan Shillings ($0.57). 

In the end it was still an interesting trip and I was happy to have seen East Africa's biggest hub and one of Africa's most important cities. Although I'm not a huge city person, I always enjoy a visit and it's interesting to compare and contrast with other African cities like Accra, Lagos, Kampala and Dar es Salaam. Nairobi certainly has its personality, though I can best describe it as being slightly on edge at the moment!