Fri 03/07/09 02:20
It’s my second day in Nairobi and I’m sitting in my room right now. It appears that I won’t be able to add to my blog until I get somewhere else that has internet access. When I first got here the power was out so no internet, then today when I connected my computer to the net it wouldn’t work. It’s a usb modem, so that’s probably the reason that I couldn’t just connect. Anyway, I’m sitting in my room in hopes that I’ll be able to put the entries online sometime soon.
So yesterday I had a pretty full day seeing many of the sights in Nairobi. I first went to a sanctuary for elephants and rhinoceros, which was pretty cool. One of the more interesting aspects of going to the sanctuary was getting there, it was fun just cruising around the city. At one part there was a baboon that was trying to cross the street. My driver just pointed at it and said “monkey” about four times.
After seeing the elephants I went to a giraffe center. Very similar to the other place but instead it was giraffes that I got to feed. Then I went to Karen Bliss’s house… she wrote Out of Africa. It was interesting, but to be honest I could have skipped it and not wondered if I had even missed anything. And then finally I went to the National Museum. Lots of dead birds and paintings, and overall interesting.
My thoughts about Nairobi so far are mixed. The people are friendly and seem to be genuine in all regards, which was a nice surprise. I think I believed all the hype about robbery and stuff that I had heard. I want to make sure that anyone reading this knows that I know, that one day in a city doesn’t mean anything. So if I get robbed today I don’t want to hear anyone say “I told you so.” There is the fact too that there are security fences everywhere, and the front door to the hostel is armored in a way that a bank safe is armored… no lie, it is solid with pins going through the door to the jamb about every 8 inches. My driver yesterday told me that at night there are gangs of people walking around looking for people to rob… It kind of takes the fun out of just walking around like I enjoy doing.
On a side note, I’ve been having really strong cravings for a cigarette since yesterday. I almost broke down last night and bought a pack, I didn’t, but today I’ve been wanting one too. These cravings are worse than any I’ve had since I quit a month ago. Hopefully I’ll be able to ride them out until I don’t have them anymore.
I don’t know what I’m going to do today, but I leave for the airport tomorrow morning at 430 for the airport so whatever I do I’m going to have to be in bed early. I think I’m the only guest in the hostel right now so if I do go anywhere it will be by myself. I want to go to the park today, but I’m not sure how to catch a taxi. The hostel is like in a neighborhood.
