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#11
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safety in Nairobi
An interesting variety of answers. Hans-Georg makes a very good point:
you will not get help if you are attacked. You will also not see policemen on patrol. You will see askari guards outside many stores, and sometimes these will help. I still simply do not feel safe in the city. Peter |
#12
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safety in Nairobi
Gary,
don't play it down. Nairobi has had around 10 carjackings per day in recent times and now shares its reputation as one of the most crime-ridden cities in the world only with Johannesburg. Talk to people who have lived there for a little longer, and they will all tell you stories of what happened to them---robberies with the car owner tied and stuffed into the trunk, people trying to stop your car with gun in hand, things like that. Nowadays when I look back at the 80s when I could walk through Nairobi with my camera equipment, a fairly big box, without the least worry, this seems hard to believe from today's point of view. I hope I'll get to scanning my photos soon, scanner already slowly on the way, then I can show you what Nairobi was like in those days, a very pleasant, peaceful city in Africa. Nairobi has sunk very low. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#13
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safety in Nairobi
In message , Hans-Georg
Michna writes Gary, don't play it down. Nairobi has had around 10 carjackings per day in recent times and now shares its reputation as one of the most crime-ridden cities in the world only with Johannesburg. Talk to people who have lived there for a little longer, and they will all tell you stories of what happened to them---robberies with the car owner tied and stuffed into the trunk, people trying to stop your car with gun in hand, things like that. Nowadays when I look back at the 80s when I could walk through Nairobi with my camera equipment, a fairly big box, without the least worry, this seems hard to believe from today's point of view. I hope I'll get to scanning my photos soon, scanner already slowly on the way, then I can show you what Nairobi was like in those days, a very pleasant, peaceful city in Africa. Nairobi has sunk very low. Hans-Georg Oh dear, just when I thought Gary was "our man" to tell us all how it is in Nairobi! I thought Gary had it right, as he lives there, I know you have been this year Hans Georg, and I haven`t been since 1999. I`m still in touch all the time with friends who live in Nairobi and they haven`t reported anything out of the ordinary. On the topic of hiring a car to get to various tourist attractions, that`s a great suggestion Gary, it`s something we did to get to Giraffe Manor and Karen Blixen`s house. The cost is OK and it`s a very convenient way to get around. I`m surprised I didn`t see you in the eighties around Nairobi Hans Georg. I used to walk around on my own shopping and having coffee etc! Pat -- Pat Anderson |
#14
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safety in Nairobi,how to handle carjackers
"Hans-Georg Michna" wrote in message ... Gary, don't play it down. Nairobi has had around 10 carjackings per day in recent times and now shares its reputation as one of the most crime-ridden cities in the world only with Johannesburg. Talk to people who have lived there for a little longer, and they will all tell you stories of what happened to them---robberies with the car owner tied and stuffed into the trunk, people trying to stop your car with gun in hand, things like that. Nowadays when I look back at the 80s when I could walk through Nairobi with my camera equipment, a fairly big box, without the least worry, this seems hard to believe from today's point of view. I hope I'll get to scanning my photos soon, scanner already slowly on the way, then I can show you what Nairobi was like in those days, a very pleasant, peaceful city in Africa. Nairobi has sunk very low. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. Got a problem with carjackers? Fit your car out with this little device! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/232777.stm |
#15
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safety in Nairobi
Hi again, Pat!! Hans-Georg said it well: people living there have come
to accept the present standard as the norm. To a visitor it is shocking. I don't think there is anywhere in the west where ladies come to work without jewellery, and then put it on at work, because of serious danger of theft from their fellow countrypeople. |
#16
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safety in Nairobi
When we checked in at the Panafric last year we were told by the lobby staff not to leave the hotel after 4pm and by no means go anywhere unless you are in a taxi. We wanted to go to the 'Hard Rock' in Mombassa too but it had recently been shot at in a drive-by. From Mombassa we wanted to take a bus up to Lamu but were discouraged when we read the newspaper which reported on a bus doing the same route the day before guerillas ambushed them by strafing the bus with machine gun fire, then making all the passengers get out, strip and have sex with each other. Kenya was one of the saddest places I have ever been to- it is so beautiful, Nairobi included as it is surrounded by a wildlife park, has great architecture etc, Mombassa has so much history, the wildlife parks, lakes, the list goes on. There are so many natural resources; fossil fuel, fruit, tourism, foodstuff, Tusker Beer , the list is endless. And yet the country is **** poor and corrupt to the hilt. It is incredible that the people there are so educated, speak English so well, but are forced to rip off tourists and each other. It is certainly not 'like any city', I have parked an open top Jeep Wrangler (no doors, roof etc) in the parking lot of a busy shopping mall in Oman and left my wallet on the passenger seat and come back an hour later and it is still there. Even in Hong Kong taxi drivers return suitcases of cash to their owners for no personal reward. -- Posted via http://britishexpats.com |
#17
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safety in Nairobi
In message , Peter Gower
writes Hi again, Pat!! Hans-Georg said it well: people living there have come to accept the present standard as the norm. To a visitor it is shocking. I don't think there is anywhere in the west where ladies come to work without jewellery, and then put it on at work, because of serious danger of theft from their fellow countrypeople. Peter, I can understand why it happens, even though it`s strange to you and I. I have a good friend in Nairobi, Jenny, who was born in Kenya and has a film production company there. When we`ve stayed with Jenny and her husband, she told me that she had put away her gold jewellery and started to wear silver, since doing that nobody has bothered her! It`s gold that is the attraction as it`s more valuable. In twenty years of living in and visiting Kenya, we only had one incident and that was an inside job. We used to stay at the Sindbad hotel in Malindi, which sadly has now become derelict, and one night somebody removed the mosquito netting and removed some louvre windows, climbed in and stole money, travellers cheques etc. I woke up and saw the chap getting out of the window! It was the room cleaners son. Pat -- Pat Anderson |
#18
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safety in Nairobi
Hans-Georg Michna wrote:
"kees" wrote: I have been mugged once in my life, in Rome, during the day. Well, at least they tried to.... Me too, by a gang of children in front of the main station. I had to shake them off somewhat vigorously, but the biggest surprise for me was that the adult people around obviously saw this as absolutely normal. Totally unimaginable in Germany, for example, where there is a "culture" of people watching over each other (which sometimes goes too far in the other direction for some peoples' taste). Hans-Georg Get real. Wake up. In Germany you can rob someone and no one reacts, afraid that they themselves are assaulted. All you can hope others call the police. |
#19
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safety in Nairobi
Pat Anderson wrote:
I thought Gary had it right, as he lives there, I know you have been this year Hans Georg, and I haven`t been since 1999. I`m still in touch all the time with friends who live in Nairobi and they haven`t reported anything out of the ordinary. Pat, people don't like to talk about these things. You don't walk around telling people that you've been robbed and raped recently. Some people do tell though. Another effect is that people always try to make the best of it. Somebody who lives in Nairobi and doesnt emigrate doesn't walk around telling people what a bad choice he's made. On the other hand I don't want to exaggerate either, but we've seen the study putting Nairobi next to Johannesburg in terms of crime. (I think I posted it here some time ago.) I do drive into and through Nairobi, even at night, but I take several precautions before I do that, and constantly assess the risk. People in Nairobi, for example, tell me not to stop at the Uhuru Highway traffic lights, but instead drive right through at night, because there have been many cases of cars being attacked when they stop there. One of the more common crimes is that your type of car happens to be on the order list of some carjackers. They will stop you, hold a gun under your nose and put you in the trunk. Then they will drive out into some less inhabited area and leave you there. If you're lucky, you stay alive and healthy. I could name a woman I know personally, to whom this has happened, but you have to believe me, because I should not publish names in this way here. I could name a man who was driving in Nairobi when people in another car tried to stop him. He used his big Pajero to ram their car, but when he did that, they startet shooting at him. He hadn't seen the pistol before. He fled out of his car in dense traffic and ran away, hiding among the many pedestrians on the road. He was merely lucky to survive. And these are just stories from personal friends. There aren't that many people in Nairobi who have no such story to tell. I`m surprised I didn`t see you in the eighties around Nairobi Hans Georg. I used to walk around on my own shopping and having coffee etc! Hehe, who knows, we may have passed each other a few times in town. :-) But I guess you can confirm that Nairobi was very pleasant in those days, compared to today. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#20
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safety in Nairobi
men wrote:
Hans-Georg Michna wrote: "kees" wrote: I have been mugged once in my life, in Rome, during the day. Well, at least they tried to.... Me too, by a gang of children in front of the main station. I had to shake them off somewhat vigorously, but the biggest surprise for me was that the adult people around obviously saw this as absolutely normal. Totally unimaginable in Germany, for example, where there is a "culture" of people watching over each other (which sometimes goes too far in the other direction for some peoples' taste). Get real. Wake up. In Germany you can rob someone and no one reacts, afraid that they themselves are assaulted. All you can hope others call the police. True, but not when the misbehaving persons are children. Also indifference and fear are two different things. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
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