"Nairobi" a Nairobi Travel Page by Krumel

Nairobi is the first port of call for most visitors to Kenya. Many of them only stay for a day or two before heading off to their main holiday destination in Kenya.

You hear so many stories about Nairobi being such a dangerous place that on my first visit to Kenya I hardly ventured out into the city on foot, but took a taxi everywhere. As this was also the first time I had ever travelled outside Europe I felt very conspicuous with my white skin and blonde hair among the black crowds in Nairobi’s streets, and I wondered if this is how black people feel when they come to Europe. However, on my next trips I got a bit more adventurous and wandered a lot around the city centre, and got a better feel for the place. I felt quite safe walking around during the day, after having taken the usual precautions (no jewellery or wrist watch, no bag that can easily be snatched, no camera hanging round the neck), but I still always make sure that I’m back at the hotel at dusk.

It is a bustling city, streets overflowing with people, where the traffic rules are impossible to figure out. I am still not sure if the bigger car or the one with the louder horn has the right of way. Crossing the street as a pedestrian is a suicidal undertaking, and I have rarely seen a traffic light that was actually working.

There is not really much to see in the city centre, and don’t come here for a great shopping experience, either. Most of the sightseeing attractions are on the outskirts of Nairobi, and most of my time in the city centre was spent in Internet cafes or bookshops, or just walking around soaking up the atmosphere.

One of the places that you sometimes here about, or see in the distance from the Highway, are the slums of Kibera, where many of the scenes for "The Constant Gardener" were shot. On my last trip to Kenya a friend of mine took me there to visit a friend and to have a stroll over the enormous market.

It is very sad to see that in this day and age families are living without any running water or washing facilities in a room that is smaller than some bathrooms in Europe. But despite of their poverty they were so genuinely friendly and welcoming, and even wanted to cook for me. I have actually often found that no matter how little they had, many Kenyans were often offering to share their food, if they thought that you didn't have any. Makes you wonder what we may have lost on the way, worrying about our luxurious lifestyle.