on Safari

After a farewell to Nairobi, Sarah and I left for the coast. We are on day 2 of our 6 week tour of Africa. We are not exactly backpacking.....yet. Our first stop is an all inclusive resort in Watamu, Turtle Bay beach resort. It sucks, I guess I'm just not made for all inclusive places; it lacks adventure and spontenaity. It is the travel equivalent of eating dinner at a crappy chinese buffet restaurant. Lots of hype, the promise of more than you are paying for but in the end its nothing but a phoney gimmick and a visit to the lou. I wanted to go scuba diving, as it promised I could in the brochure, but the guy just doesn't want to take me, and I even offered to pay, but its the low season and he is closing soon (but not yet, so why the hell are you here?). Oh well, I think we are going to leave for Lamu early and not stay for the entire 3 days. Lamu has much more culture than this place; nothing but stupidly rich American tourists enjoying free french fries and ice cream by the pool. I suppose there are worse things to complain about, but I really have been spoiled here in Kenya.
Anyway, here is our preliminary itinerary for our 6 week journey:

1. Watamu, Ke
2. Lamu/Shela, Ke
3. Malindi, Ke
4. Diani beach, Ke
5. ??Dar es Salaam, Tanzania??
6. ??Zanzibar, Tanzania
7. Nairobi en route to
8. Cape Town, SA
9. Nairobi, Ke
10. Kampala, Uganda
11. Jinja, Uganda (white water rafting on the Nile river)
12. Kigali, Rwanda
13. ...and beyond if time permits

Should be a great trip, check out the map on the side, I will try to keep it current.

tusker presents, hockey night in Kenya on cbc

Thursday night was the big night. David, the cbc journalist came to my house and we filmed the whole deal. I taped my custom made stick in the dark (power was out) while being interviewed and of course wore my leafs jersey; yes even though they didn't make the playoffs. We then went to the bar for some tuskers, took a matatu to the rink and of course played the hockey game. It was some great footage. The hilarious part was that I was miked the whole night, I'm not sure what will end up on the show but it was pretty fun making wise-ass comments all night. There was a figure skater on the ice before us and she attracted quite a bit of media herself, I felt like we were competing celebrities. She ended up coming on the ice to play hockey with us and we were all covered by the local media; tv news, both papers as well as the cbc. I even ended up on cbc radio. I did an interview after the game with some guy.

The funny thing was that there were quite a few difficulties along the way, really adding the Kenyan element to an otherwise Canadian evening. The power was out at my house, so we interviewed in the dark. The matatu I arranged to take us and a bunch of friends and collegues to the game ditched us and we needed to wave one down and hijack it(common term here, not literal), I also had a pretty bad case of diarahea during the game and the bar after the game was out of beer. Finally the worst part was that the security at the hotel were a bunch of racists; they would not let my Kenyan friends into the rink to watch the game. Unfortunately I did not realize this until after. It really was funny that all this happened in one night, I'm not sure if cbc will play up that angle but it definately seemed like destiny that this Kenyan element was added to our Canadian game on my night in the spotlight.

The whole thing was awsome, looking back it really is a great context with which to bring Canadians a little closer to understanding Kenya and life in Kenya; plus its the playoffs, you don't make it on the cbc unless you talk hockey. As soon as I know when it is on TV I will try to let everyone know so you can watch it for me.

No More NOPE

What a crazy week! Sarah arrived in Nairobi last Saturday and we are finally set to begin our trip around Africa. Karibu Kenya Sarah! It has been a long 6 months. This week has been beyond hectic. Work has come to a grinding halt, almost literally; matatus are nuts. I have spent the week running in circles trying to tie up all those loose ends before we head out. Still so much to do, I will be back for 2 weeks before I officially head home on June 15th.

In true Kenyan fashion we had a big celebration to mark the end of my time at NOPE. We had a farewell party on my last day of work that was beyond nuts. All of the staff, Sarah and myself went out for a traditional goat feast. You are not supposed to waste any parts of the goat, except maybe the hoofs. Our meal began with Kenyan sausage. It is a pot porrouri of various body parts and organs stuffed in some other organ, the texture was a little much. Next up was some fried small intestine, actually quite yummie. This was followed by the goat soup. Many parts go into this but most noteably the brain. They served me a coffee mug full of this stuff, it was like milk that tased like goat. I got about 3/4 of the way through and almost chucked. On to the main dish, of course nyema choma; something I have really come to enjoy here and think we need to think about introducing it in Canada. No celebration in Kenya is complete without speeces, cake, tusker and of course, dancing. It was a great day and I will really miss everyone at NOPE. It really is a family culture here, no one is left out and everyone is appreciated. It makes a huge difference in your work when you really feel appreciated and loved. It has been like no other job I have ever had, so much so that it dosen't even feel like a job, alight I don't get paid but still.

Me, I will be famous

There is a journalist for the cbc based here in Nairobi, David Mcguffin. He caught wind of the fact that there were some people organizing a hockey league in Kenya and decided it would make a great story in Canada, especially during the playoffs. The bit will play on the National, during or after a playoff game on the cbc (sorry for jumping the gun on the whole hockey night in canada thing; close enough). He sent an email around to all of us who play and asked for a voluteer as a subject of the story. I could not resist and immediatly responded. The tone of my email was that of a little kid begging for a new toy at the department store, "IT HAS TO BE ME!!" I told him that we could go to my carpenter and have him make me my super-duper custom made product of Kenya ice hockey stick. He really liked this angle and agreed that I could be the one.

I met him yesterday and we sorted out what will be happening for the filming next week; our game is on the 20th and we will shoot some bits with the carpenter before. I can't wait, it is going to be so awsome. Everyone from work wants to come watch and cheer me on so I am going to hire a matatu to carry my cheering section to the game and then to the party after; So wicked. I will put up a post when I know when it will be aired.

In other news, my computer has completely died, it needs a new system board. This totally sucks because I have 1 week left of work and a lot of loose ends to tie up; including the launch of my new website which i have been promisinig for the last few months. But meh; this is Kenya, you have to expect this sort of thing. It dosn't even get me streesed anymore because these things happen all the time. Hakuna matata.

the parties never stop

Ok, I know I said that Ugo's party was really cool, but that was until I went to the party of Felix. This DJ promoter guy hosts these parties every few months or so at different venues around the city. This saturday was the latest one of these parties and really topped off an interesting but typical Nairobi saturday for me.

First off, the party on friday night was pretty nuts too, we all went out for diner then over to casablanca to pass around some shisha and dance like fools (well me anyway). It was getting late and people were contemplating heading home when someone came up with the idea of going to another club called pavement, this was about 2am or so. Its more of a wazungu trendy club than Casa but still pretty cool. We danced there until like 5AM. The parties never seem to stop in Nairobi and this was no exception.

So I don't think I need to explain the state I was in on Saturday; lets just say rough. Peder called me up and suggested we go to Karin for some lunch. An excellent idea "as long as I don't have to make any decisions". So we went to Karin and pretended to be rich wazungus for the afternoon. The place is named for Karin Blixen, the women who wrote Out of Arfica and is a pretty posh, upscale place to live that many KCs (kenya cowboys [white kenyans]) live. We felt an obligation to go to the Blixen museum, but refused to pay to get in as it sounded pretty lame and it was.

After the relaxing afternoon I headed over to Alla's house as she was holding a little going away party; she is moving to Swaziland today for a new job. When I arrived there was a lot of confusion around the front of her building, cops and a lot of people standing around. It turns out some other people coming to the same party were robbed and carjacked right in front of the building. Not a great start to the party as they were pretty shaken up.

The party picked up and so did my energy level. After a few speeches, a necessity at any gathering in Kenya, most of us moved to this Felix party. We pulled up to this massive old colonial style house in the garden where the party was being held. It was a scene straight out of a movie. The party was wicked, everyone was having a blast and lots of dancing, drinks, food and good music. Then an interesting twist; someone went into some closet upstairs in the house and found it full of old clothes. As people kept coming down in ridiculous costumes more and more people went up to get dressed up. We were all dancing in these old crazy costumes. This one guy Mike really took it to a disturbing level. He came out in a tight red suit and womens underwear on his head. You need to know Mike to understand, but it was hilarious, so was the strip show he put on later.

This party was seriously wicked. Once again I made it home around 6AM. Complete craziness, but what a blast. I will miss Nairobi for sure. Less than 2 weeks left here and then I'm off to travel for 2 months. Poa sana!

what the F?

So, I was waiting for a matatu the other night just at the end of my street. It was after 8 so it was pretty dark out. Two guys appeared accross the street and were looking quite suspicious (I just finished watching 24 so I was in federal agent mode). They walked along the street in front of me and then crossed over to my side. They were kinda walking this way and that and seemed as though they did not know where they were going as they were looking all over. Then all of a sudden this car speeds by and slams on the brakes, cops jumped out with their guns pointed right at these guys. I think it was wise that they did not run, cops have big guns here and they will not hesitate to use them. "Shoot first and ask questions later" is not a joke here, its a policy. People fear the police more than anyone here. The cops ran right up to them ready to fire but were also looking over in my direction. After they grabbed'em and threw the guys into cage in the back of the truck they started walking over to me with guns still drawn. I just kinda froze and clutched my six pack of tusker a little tighter.

He started shouting at me in kiswahili and I replied, "dude, i don't understand what you are saying." Then he said "what the hell are you doing out here at this time." "I'm waiting for a matatu" I replied (my Jack Bauer instincts kept me calm and cool). Then he gave me some advice I will try to stick to, he said "You should not be here."

The way I see it, this could mean a few things. The obvious: white guys should not go out after dark in the middle of nowhere in suburban Nairobi. Or, what I think is really the case: they wanted to pull the trigger but decided against it because there would be a witness.....a white witness. The way I see it, my stupid decision to take a matatu after dark saved those dudes lives.

Feeling safe is in Nairobi is all about boundaries and what you feel comfortable doing. After arriving here from Toronto, if someone sneezes you jump. But you can't live your life in fear so you push the boundaries of what you feel comfortable doing. Step by step you feel more and more comfortable with life in (apparantly) one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Everyone has borders, mine are just a little further than the average mzungu; probably closer to Kenyans, but I like to push it. Maybe I'm crazy, but its fun.

This time I probably found a border that I should probably not push any more. I promise, no more waiting by myself at the side of the road for a matatu late at night in suburban Nairobi. You have to know your limits but how else do you find them? I have definatley found one.
(sorry mom and grandma....don't worry, I'm fine)

Nairobi Nightlife

This is something I have been experiencing quite a bit lately so I thought it appropriate to write a little about it. When I first came here, after hearing all of the Nairobi horror stories, I was a little hesitant about going out to bars and stuff. Now, after a little acclimatization to the city and the culture, I am frequently leading the way.

The parties here are awesome. For the most part, the clubs themselves are quite similar to the ones back home. The music is often questionable and the bars are always smoky but more or less the same as back home. The biggest difference is the craziness of the people in the bars. Kenyans are much less inhibited than Canadians. You walk into a bar here and it is wall to wall dancing. Everyone is dancing! Even when you are in a place that is not really a dancing place, like a pub, people will dance. A few weeks ago there were about 8 of us, all wazungus (white people) out on the town. We sat down at a table in this pub and ordered drinks. The entire place was dancing all around us, everyone! We were the only ones sitting there. It was hilarious, this guy was dancing while watching the TV. We must have looked pretty silly.

Bars are open all night here, so the party usually gets going around 2AM. I typically get together with friends before, either at someone’s house or at a pub, and then head to the party spot for 1 or so. There are many nights that we dance till 5. The places here are super cool and usually pretty cheap. My favorite place is Casablanca, you can go and sit outside on a couch, in the sand underneath palm trees in front of a fire and smoke shisha out of huka pipes, or go inside and dance it up. The whole place is super chilled and feels very Mediterranean. We frequently talk about how a place like that would do quite well back home, I have never seen anything like it before.

When a mzungu walks into a place here, everyone looks at you, well that’s the way it feels anyway. Being white is like instant celebrity status everywhere, especially bars. Last weekend this drunk guy came up to me and asked if I was Armenian, to which I replied “no way dude, I’m Canadian…. But that guys Armenian” and I pointed to Peder, my Norwegian friend. There was a bit of an issue in the news the week before and Armenians weren’t exactly the most popular people in Nairobi. It was pretty funny for me, the guy went right over to Peder and grabbed his arm. Fortunately there was no trouble and in retrospect it was a bad thing to do, but damn it was funny.

Last Saturday was the craziest party I have ever been to. It was Ugo’s birthday and they held a party at their house. The place was packed with so many different people. You could walk through the house and hear like 5 different languages being spoken. I met a photographer who just came back from Iraq where he took pictures of the big assault that happened just a while back. Craziness! At its peak I think there was around 80 people, which is nuts for a party in Nairobi. We danced till almost 5 in the morning. They had the music cranked all night long and I’m surprised there wasn’t any trouble. I actually think the cops came and someone paid them off….but who knows. It was wicked, poa sana!
more pics to come...just need to talk to Ugo......(new)thanks for those great pics Ugo. Who let that crazy canadian guy into the party?