Nairobi - Dec. 11-26, 2010

The flight was eleven and a half hours, and the seats quite uncomfortable. Food very so-so. The plane was full of people going home for the holidays, so no possibility of empty seats to stretch out. I sat next to a mother with 2 children around 7 and 3. They were very well-behaved and sociable. Another early arrival, this time we were allowed to land, but had to sit in the plane until a gate opened up. The airport looked much the same as I remembered it from 44 years ago, maybe a few buildings around it, and no animals on the runways. The good thing about the flight was there is not much jet-lag, so apart from missing a night's sleep, I was feeling fine. Had to hang around waiting to get a visa. Fortunately Dan had told me to have $25 ready in cash for the visa. Not the greatest of welcomes - the lift was not working to go down to baggage claim, and the guard I spoke to made no effort to help me down the stairs with my carry-on luggage. Did find a lady porter downstairs who put my 2 bags and carry-on on the trolley, then there was Zoe on top of Dan's shoulders and Elisa. What joy! 

They had arranged for the use of the apartment complex van to pick me up, which was big enough to take us all and the luggage. The apartment complex is not far from the airport, so we were soon there.

The first impact was that it was warm! a balmy 78 F, it felt so good. Then there was the red Kenya soil and wonderful bouganvillia trees in different colours. I was sorry it wasn't jacaranda blossoming time, I could see the trees and picture the glorious purple-blue blossoms everywhere. The infrastructure around the city is interesting - there are tall, beautifully-designed (for the most part) buildings along main roads, but the roads themselves are appalling - no sidewalks, just paths in the grass or rubble alongside the roadway. I tripped onto the road once, stepping from the sidewalk on to the road, as the tarmac was higher than the dirt path and I didn't lift my foot high enough. There was lots of traffic, (driving is impossible for a newcomer, no-one takes any notice of traffic lights as there are so few anyway, roundabouts are very hazardous as everyone is trying to squeeze in.) but also many people walking on the sides of the roads. Later on I saw very nice sections of the city, and there was a lot of road construction going on to the north, so progress is happening. 

The apartment complex which is totally enclosed by a wall with a security gate and guardhouse, is well laid out with lovely gardens and swimming pool. There is also a bar and a chef who cooks meals on demand, and we would have lunch in a little pergola next to the pool. Dan and Elisa would take Zoe in for a dip, but it was surprisingly quiet, not many of the residents of the 3 blocks used it. I didn't make use of the pool as I had forgotten to bring my swimsuit, and didn't find one when I looked in the mall. All they had were the skinny sports suits. I would take my writing pad down and catch up on my journal. It was bliss. Remember, the weather is always perfect.  

 The apartment on the second floor was spacious and well-designed. The front door opened onto a foyer with built-in shelves, mirror and hooks for hanging hats and coats. Doors lead  into the living room (lounge), and the kitchen, which also had a balcony where clothes could be dried. In the foyer there was a good-sized storage closet to put Zoe's stroller. In typical African fashion, the floors were lovely wood parquet throughout. The living room had a built-in entertainment center to fit a large flat TV, bookcase sheleves and cabinets.  The dining room had a built-in china hatch with sliding-glass doors above and cabinets below.   The textured walls are an earthen color reflecting the Nairobi soil. The dining room, overlooking the pool and gardens, was through an archway from the living room, which had a balcony where we had tea and watched a troup of monkeys watching us. As of now, they have not figured out how to jump from the roof covering the cars, over to the balconies. From the dining room, a door leads to the  hallway with three bedrooms, one with the bathroom ensuite. There is a second bathroom, and  a small office.



I was well-rested the next day when we went out to the Karen Blixen Coffee House run by the Tamambo restaurant, (formerly the plantation manager's house), in the suburb of Karen. This once part of the estate where Karen Blixen came from Denmark to start a coffee farm. The house which I visited a few days later is still there, but the rest of the estate has been sold off. We had a wonderful brunch, it was a great start to the holiday and we celebrated with Mimosas (and Bloody Mary's I  think). The Eggs Florentine with salmon were superb, as was the setting.



Our sweet Zoe

Yummy

After brunch and looking around the lovely gardens and little shop, we went back home, stopping at a roadside basket display. Elisa wanted some laundry baskets and I bought the best purchase of my stay in Africa - a straw-woven hat.


Baskets galore

Your dolls fit better in there, Zoe!

With Zoe still taking naps occasionally, it was easy to have a lie-down in the afternoon to escape the heat of the day after a strenuous morning of sightseeing.  Unfortunately that can be very habit-forming, but blame it on the ever-present sun! It was lovely to sit out by the pool in the cool of the evening, no humidity and amazingly free of biting insects. We did have mosquito nets to pull around the beds, and Zoe had hers over her crib which she called her "house". It didn't always stay in place, but she was surprisingly good about keeping under it.

On days we didn't have a touristy event, we went shopping at a nearby supermarket or to one of the many malls in the outskirts of the city. The exotic smell of the fruits in the supermarket sent me into a heady spin -pawpaw, mango, grenadilla and so inexpensive. Fresh fruit was on our menu every day either at home or when eating out. Another delectable inexpensive treat was avocado. It was in season and in all green salads. How I miss them all. 

One morning in a mall, the Junction, a smallish mall with a variety of very nice shops, I saw a notice about a string group playing carols that eveing. Thinking it might be a violin teacher taking his/her students to play, I suggested to Dan we take Zoe, as she loves the violin and is always playing hers ( usually a spoon and a straw for the bow, but she'll use anything, fork and knife etc!) Off we went in the evening and found a string trio with a bass, playing carols beautifully. We watched, Zoe was fascinated, then during a break I went up to the first violinist and introduced myself as a friend of Gillian. He brightened up and said they all knew her, and were in fact using some music that she had left them.  Gillian was an orchestra student when a young girl, and had gone on to become a fine violinist. For her PhD project, she had gone to Kenya to start a string program in a school near Mount Kenya. During the time she was there, she met and played with a number of musicians. She is sorely missed there. I was invited to play with the group, the cellist was very accommodating and lent me his cello and I enjoyed playing with the group very much. I was pleased that Zoe got to see me playing. The cellist is a sub-organist of the Anglican Cathedral, All Saints, and he invited us to attend the Christmas Eve service of Lessons and Carols, which we did. His brother is the organist and I got to meet him after the service. I was sorry that the musicians I had been introduced to were gone for the holidays. I would have enjoyed meeting them and playing chamber music. The Nairobi Symphony was also on a break.
One Saturday afternoon, Elisa. Zoe and I went to the YaYa mall which she frequents often as it is close to her office. While not terribly big, it has a good grocery store, well-stocked, and a number of boutique shops. It had some Christmas decorations, but no-where near the American-style hype.  The most fascinating thing were the Christmas trees of various sizes made from banana tree leaves and decorated by traditional beaded ornaments.
Another outing one day was to the Diamond Plaza. An interesting square of Indian shops on three sides. Everything was sold in the small shops - clothes - exquisitely embroidered saris for women and little girls, tunics for men and boys. For everyday wear or weddings, the selections were breath-taking. Jewellery of course and leather slippers, electronics, a small convenience store and of course the mobile phone shops. The fourth side had long tables and benches where one sat and got bombarded by waiters trying to get you to order from their restaurant. Fortunately Dan and Elisa had a favorite Indian/Chinese restaurant, "Chowpaty" so we didn't have to battle too long. I was very conservative and had a vegetable samosa and a cheese marsala dhosa which was very tasty. To drink I had a mango lassi (mango puree yoghurt, delicious). It was way too much food, and I took home a good portion of the dhoso. Poor Dan bit into a chili seed and was in agony for some time. It really affected his tongue. I felt awful for him, but then found out that this was not the first time he had done that. Those chili seeds are hard to see in a dish.
The next day were were leaving for our big trip to the Mount Kenya area, so went home to get over lunch and pack for the trip.
The Mount Kenya trip has been described in the Mount Kenya, Nyeri, Aberdares chapter, and we arrived back safe and sound the day before Christmas Eve.