2 nights in Nairobi
Well it's been a couple of nights since I arrived in Africa and I'm just now getting back on the net (which is a long time for me not to have my internet fix). So far, Nairobi has lived up to Lonely Planet’s description as being both “a welcome injection of first world razzmatazz” and a “seedy, scruffy city with an air of barely contained violence.”
My flight landed late on Thursday and I got to my hotel after dark, which isn’t always the best thing to do if you’re staying in downtown
Looking for something to do when I arrived Thursday night, I ended up chatting with the guys that work at the front desk. I asked for them to recommend a good bar where tourists and locals hang out. The security guy ended up walking me to a place called Florida 2000.
It looked fairly sharp but the seediness came out in a hurry. Within 3 minutes of entering, the local girls descend on anything wearing a Khaki shirt. I thought the women in
I woke up earlier than I should have the next day, jet lag was kicking in. Plus being incredibly thirsty had something to do with it also. And oh yeah, there’s music blaring through the walls and construction was going on one wall away. I got some food across the street at the Nakumatt shopping center and wandered around town. Walking around the
Going against my better judgment, it was Friday night and I asked the front desk guys again about good but less seedy bars to go nearby. The security guy from the previous day comes out with a smile and escorts me down the street again. Somewhere lost in the translation, he thought I wanted to go back to Florida 2000 and we started walking towards there. When I told him I was looking for a place with less umm…. women with questionable motives, he took me to some place called Seemas(sp?). I should have explained I wanted to go to a place with less men looking to pickpocket you also. I was there maybe 5 minutes when while passing some guy near the crowded dance floor, he tried to fish out the contents of my left pocket. I grabbed his hand and gave him a good shove in the back. His response was to point to and try to blame the guy in front of him. Some guy in a suit saw the altercation and pointed to the guy as if to ask “did he try something?” I nodded and the next thing I know they are throwing him out of the club. I got a beer and was poked and prodded by the local gals again, and I wasn’t even wearing a Khaki shirt, somehow they knew I was a tourist. The place was seedier than even the Florida 2000 so I jumped into a cab and thought I would try some of the spots mentioned in the Lonely Planet book. First up was Pavement just outside of downtown. It was a very nice setup. An airy restaurant on the outside and an edgy club inside. No hassles here, other than some guy in dreads offering me drugs but unlike some of the downtown patrons, he didn’t push when you said no. Ended up chatting with him a bit, he had some interesting things to say as drug dealers always do.
I had arranged for the cab driver that took me to Pavement to meet me back outside at 1:30 so I went out to meet him. I thought I’d also check out Simba Saloon since that was mentioned as being the hottest spot by Lonely Planet. The place kind of reminded me of Andres Carne de Res in
One thing I noticed from going around
2 comments:
Brother,
Be careful in Nairobi. I am Kenyan and i dont like to hang around the streets at night here. Nairobi is ok if you are streets smart but River Road is not a good place to be at night especially if you are a tourist
u r one brave mzungu. ope u had a cracking time though.
ben
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