Tour of Nairobi City

One thing that if forgot to tell you in my entry last night is that I ran in Thomas Geil from NIH in Denmark! It was the best! He has been over here for four days with some of the Danish national handball team running sports camps in Kibera slum. We contacted each other via Facebook and he was able to come to Karen and meet me for a quick drink in our local pub. It was so great to see him! Such a small world.. Wish he had more time here!
Today we took a matatu into the city- Nairobi. The bus is always an interesting experience here- 20 people squished on an 11 seater bus just trying to find some space! Another funny part is the fact that I get charged 80 shillings to ride the bus, but the local beside me only had to pay 50…

In the city we met our Karibu group, who divided into groups and took two of us with them. Boots and I were put in a group with Sebastian (a teacher in Kibera slum), Agnes (18 yr old who makes and sells beaded handbags) and Sammy (an inspirational speaker- who speaks to school groups about life and vision).

We went walking through the streets, to experience the city Keyan life- but also to see the sites of Nairobi. We saw the Basilica ( which they call the Vatican City if Nairobi), Parliament House (where the first president is buried), Times tower (government building), KICC (Kenyatta International Conference Centre- and tallest building in Nairobi), Uhuru (Freedom) park- protected gardens where people like to relax and where they hold public meetings when the president Kenyatta comes to speak to his people. We took a long walk up the the State house where the president lives, although you can't see the house due to extensive security. We also went up to the Aboretum which is a recreational park which reminded me a lot of the botanical gardens in Ballarat which lots of flora and plaques explaining what each plant is. Boots is a landscape gardener- so was in his true element. Many people go to the park for personal reflection and private study. There seemed to be a number of students sitting under trees studying, trying to be away from the busy hustle and bustle of the city- we also saw a man loudly praying and talking in the bushes. It was a strange place- but kind of peaceful.

When we walked back in towards the city, we visited a few market stalls and walked up towards where West Gate shopping mall is. The West gate shopping mall is where the most recent terrorist attacks were on Kenya. We didn't go to the building, but were pointed to it from afar. The mall is located on the upper class side or Kenya. It is the side where the people with money live- according to Sammy. While talking about the attacks- Sammy became quite emotional. He explained to us that his cousin was one of the 68 people who were killed in the mall during the attack. Horrible. :(

Our next stop was the bomb site from the 1989 American Embassy bombing. This is the day where there was dual terrorist attacks in both Tanzania and Kenya orchestrated by Osama Bin Laden. A massive car bomb was driven into the US embassy gates in Nairobi, while minute later another truck bomb was detonated at the US embassy in Dar es salaam, Tanzania. 224 people were killed (12 Americans and 212 Africans) with more than 4,500 people injured. The site where the embassy used to stand has now been transformed into a memorial garden, displaying the names of all the victims that lost their lives on this day. It was a really sad place to visit, and a memory that will stay with me for a very long time. There is a museum set up on the site displaying some of they debris from the explosion, photos and a documentary film which had us all enthralled for over an hour. Very sad.
After a massive day if walking, we all sat down and had lunch with our friends. We returned to Karen for showers, a little shopping and an early night. Very tired!

Kenya