Kenya/Nairobi

OK folks, thanks to those of you that gave me advices before I left for
Nairobi.

I came back yesterday, after my first trip ever to Africa. And I can just
tell you all it will not be the last trip. I arrived in Nairobi friday
morning at 6am. and were to be picked up by my friend Daniel, a local boy
that is in charge of an orphanage outside the city. He was not there, and I
called him. "on my way" he said, yet it took 3 hours to I was picked up. And
in the meanwhile, I was very often approached by taxi drivers wanting me to
go with them instead.
Even a man in milytary outfit came to talk, and asked me all kind of
questions, before he asked for money for lunch

Anyway, I stayed at Shalom Hotel a bit outside the city center. And it was
safe and cheap. Only 25 Euro a night. And that was a quiet place, very very
friendly staff, and a place I can recommend if you dont need fancy, and can
stay outside the city center.

I was taken around by my friend Daniel. I visited his orphanage: Emanuel
Boys Rescue Center, it was so nice to see how Daniel have helped other
children. He was once a street child himself, and are now "father" to 40
boys. It was touching and impressing.
We were supposed to go to Masai Mara, but because of heavy rain, we changed
our plans and went to Amboseli instead. It was a wondeful experience, and we
saw a lot of animals. Had one big problem: We were two cars, and I was in
the one behind. We got stuck in a mud hole, and lost contact with the first
car. It took us a good while to get up, and when that was done, sun was
going down and we got lost. It took us 3 hours to find those other ones,
that had our tents!
So it was SO good to see them again. It was difficult do drive around at
night, not seing where one were.
We met a masai man out there that took us home to where he lived. We got to
see people dancing, singing and so. And we even got to take a look inside
one of the houses, that was made of cow droppings. Ohhhhshhh....


Well, Nairobi city was a fun experience, exept for the safety. Or lack of
safety.
I would never ever stay very cheap in there. Never. But it was fun to be
around in the city and experience the busy life there. And also two nights
on town I had. Very very fun times! People in Kenya were great people, and I
have nothing bad to tell about them (in general). Very open, very caring,
very gentle, very humble.

I had quite a lot of children clothes for the orphanage, but some clothes
were too small for the boys there, and some was also girls clothes. So I
decided to give it away to someone that needed it much. And the slum was a
good place to go then. But most people put their pride in making their own
living, and can be humiliated by some stranger coming to ask if he can give
them some clothes. So I decided to sell my clothes instead. And so I did. I
went into a slum area, and sold children clothes for 5 shilling (8 european
cent/9 american cent) for each thing. I was surrounded by people with big
smiles, and very eager buyers.
The last thing I heard when I left the slum, was a man shouting : "When will
you be back Leif"?

Well, I did not get to see Karens house, the elephant orphanage, giraffe
center and all that. But I got to see many many kenyans, I had great
moments, and feel like going back any day!


Leif Arild
Norway

Leif,
What a great story, glad that you had such a great safari! You did so
much more than just go on the tourist trail, you can go again and then
do all those things. The Kenyans that you met obviously enjoyed seeing
you and Daniel in particular.
Thanks for telling us about your time in Nairobi.
Pat.




In message , Petal and Leif
writes
OK folks, thanks to those of you that gave me advices before I left for
Nairobi.

I came back yesterday, after my first trip ever to Africa. And I can just
tell you all it will not be the last trip. I arrived in Nairobi friday
morning at 6am. and were to be picked up by my friend Daniel, a local boy
that is in charge of an orphanage outside the city. He was not there, and I
called him. "on my way" he said, yet it took 3 hours to I was picked up. And
in the meanwhile, I was very often approached by taxi drivers wanting me to
go with them instead.
Even a man in milytary outfit came to talk, and asked me all kind of
questions, before he asked for money for lunch

Anyway, I stayed at Shalom Hotel a bit outside the city center. And it was
safe and cheap. Only 25 Euro a night. And that was a quiet place, very very
friendly staff, and a place I can recommend if you dont need fancy, and can
stay outside the city center.

I was taken around by my friend Daniel. I visited his orphanage: Emanuel
Boys Rescue Center, it was so nice to see how Daniel have helped other
children. He was once a street child himself, and are now "father" to 40
boys. It was touching and impressing.
We were supposed to go to Masai Mara, but because of heavy rain, we changed
our plans and went to Amboseli instead. It was a wondeful experience, and we
saw a lot of animals. Had one big problem: We were two cars, and I was in
the one behind. We got stuck in a mud hole, and lost contact with the first
car. It took us a good while to get up, and when that was done, sun was
going down and we got lost. It took us 3 hours to find those other ones,
that had our tents!
So it was SO good to see them again. It was difficult do drive around at
night, not seing where one were.
We met a masai man out there that took us home to where he lived. We got to
see people dancing, singing and so. And we even got to take a look inside
one of the houses, that was made of cow droppings. Ohhhhshhh....


Well, Nairobi city was a fun experience, exept for the safety. Or lack of
safety.
I would never ever stay very cheap in there. Never. But it was fun to be
around in the city and experience the busy life there. And also two nights
on town I had. Very very fun times! People in Kenya were great people, and I
have nothing bad to tell about them (in general). Very open, very caring,
very gentle, very humble.

I had quite a lot of children clothes for the orphanage, but some clothes
were too small for the boys there, and some was also girls clothes. So I
decided to give it away to someone that needed it much. And the slum was a
good place to go then. But most people put their pride in making their own
living, and can be humiliated by some stranger coming to ask if he can give
them some clothes. So I decided to sell my clothes instead. And so I did. I
went into a slum area, and sold children clothes for 5 shilling (8 european
cent/9 american cent) for each thing. I was surrounded by people with big
smiles, and very eager buyers.
The last thing I heard when I left the slum, was a man shouting : "When will
you be back Leif"?

Well, I did not get to see Karens house, the elephant orphanage, giraffe
center and all that. But I got to see many many kenyans, I had great
moments, and feel like going back any day!


Leif Arild
Norway




--
Pat Anderson

Leif,

thanks for the nice travel report!

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:34:02 +0200, Petal and Leif wrote:

Anyway, I stayed at Shalom Hotel a bit outside the city center. And it was
safe and cheap. Only 25 Euro a night. And that was a quiet place, very very
friendly staff, and a place I can recommend if you dont need fancy, and can
stay outside the city center.

I'd like to have an address, like the name of the street or some
description of how to find it. Or a telephone number. Do you
still have such information?

Had one big problem: We were two cars, and I was in
the one behind. We got stuck in a mud hole, and lost contact with the first
car. It took us a good while to get up, and when that was done, sun was
going down and we got lost. It took us 3 hours to find those other ones,
that had our tents!

Yes, one parameter to always keep in mind while driving is how
much extra time you have before sunset. I usually plan for at
least one hour extra buffer time and get nervous when that time
shrinks to below one hour.

It also helps to know in advance where you're going and use a
GPS. That, at least, is my experience.

So it was SO good to see them again. It was difficult do drive around at
night, not seing where one were.

Driving in Kenya at night is something to be avoided. In nature
reserves it is not allowed, everywhere else it is dangerous for
various reasons.

People in Kenya were great people, and I
have nothing bad to tell about them (in general). Very open, very caring,
very gentle, very humble.

Yes, that is really true for most Kenyans and also for most
Ugandans. It is probably true for people in most countries. Big
trouble comes from a small minority.

How much time did you actually spend in Amboseli National Park?
Did you see elephants? (Actually it's difficult not to see
elephants in Amboseli. :-)

Hans-Georg

--
No mail, please.

"Hans-Georg Michna" wrote in message
...

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:34:02 +0200, Petal and Leif wrote:

Anyway, I stayed at Shalom Hotel a bit outside the city center. And it was
safe and cheap. Only 25 Euro a night. And that was a quiet place, very
very
friendly staff, and a place I can recommend if you dont need fancy, and
can
stay outside the city center.

I'd like to have an address, like the name of the street or some
description of how to find it. Or a telephone number. Do you
still have such information?


Sure, it is just a pleasure to share things with others.
Shalom has this homepage: http://www.shalomhousekenya.org/
I found it to be a good place to stay. Safe, nice staff, quiet, and two
restaurants inside the gate to eat at, one italian, one more
african/international. Both very good and affordable. I would not stay so
cheap in the city center, because of lack of security. But this place was
fine.


It also helps to know in advance where you're going and use a
GPS. That, at least, is my experience.

Well, they say you live and you learn. GPS will be a good thing to bring
for next trip. Also walkie talkie between the cars would be good to have.
We had problems getting trough on the mobile phones.


How much time did you actually spend in Amboseli National Park?
Did you see elephants? (Actually it's difficult not to see
elephants in Amboseli. :-)


We left Nairobi early monday morning, and headed towards Amboseli. We got
two flat tires on our way, and also the things that hold the weels up broke
(not shocker, but two iron sticks, dont know what its called in english),
and some temporarily repairs had to be done. But we ended up in Amboseli at
night, and had seen a lot of animals on our way to put up the tents.
Next morning we got up at 6 and drove around the entire morning before
heading back to our camp site for brekfast. We saw lions, elephants, zebras,
buffalos, giraffes, hyenes, flamingos, eagles, hippos, and those big big
birds that can not fly (dont know the name of them in english). I think we
saw most kind of things that there were to see.

We met a masai man near our camp, and he took us home to his place. We saw
them dance, sing, and got into a house to see. We spend that day in
amboseli, and headed back out with the car in the afternoon to see more
animals.
Next morning, we packed our stuff, took another drive around before heading
back home to Nairobi. Short time, but very vey good. So, we were away
from early monday morning, and came back to the hotel wednesday night.


Leif

On Tue, 1 May 2007 11:59:35 +0200, Petal and Leif wrote:

Sure, it is just a pleasure to share things with others.
Shalom has this homepage: http://www.shalomhousekenya.org/
I found it to be a good place to stay. Safe, nice staff, quiet, and two
restaurants inside the gate to eat at, one italian, one more
african/international. Both very good and affordable. I would not stay so
cheap in the city center, because of lack of security. But this place was
fine.

Leif,

thank you very much! The last barely acceptable low-price
accommodation I knew has closed, so I was very much lacking this
information. I've added this link to
http://www.michna.com/kenya.htm to the chapter Itinerary,
subchapter Nairobi. Some people may be very grateful for this.

It also helps to know in advance where you're going and use a
GPS. That, at least, is my experience.

Well, they say you live and you learn. GPS will be a good thing to bring
for next trip. Also walkie talkie between the cars would be good to have.
We had problems getting trough on the mobile phones.

Oh yes, I always carry a bunch of short-distance, low-power
walkie-talkies when I lead a safari with two or more cars. In my
experience they are used frequently.

How much time did you actually spend in Amboseli National Park?
Did you see elephants? (Actually it's difficult not to see
elephants in Amboseli. :-)

We left Nairobi early monday morning, and headed towards Amboseli. We got
two flat tires on our way, and also the things that hold the weels up broke
(not shocker, but two iron sticks, dont know what its called in english),
and some temporarily repairs had to be done. But we ended up in Amboseli at
night, and had seen a lot of animals on our way to put up the tents.
Next morning we got up at 6 and drove around the entire morning before
heading back to our camp site for brekfast. We saw lions, elephants, zebras,
buffalos, giraffes, hyenes, flamingos, eagles, hippos, and those big big
birds that can not fly (dont know the name of them in english). I think we
saw most kind of things that there were to see.

Ostrich. Thanks for the trip description!

Amboseli is better for tourists than it first looks. It is
sometimes visited by many tourists, and you can't drive off the
tracks, so sometimes you can't get close to interesting animals,
but then you have the magnificent mountain as an unfailing photo
background. Actually it does fail you sometimes, when it's
covered in clouds, but it's often there in the mornings and
evenings, when the photo light is best anyway.

Next morning, we packed our stuff, took another drive around before heading
back home to Nairobi. Short time, but very vey good. So, we were away
from early monday morning, and came back to the hotel wednesday night.

Not too bad. The time is often too short. I have sometimes had
the pleasure to be able to stay as long as I wanted, and I keep
being surprised for how long a place stays interesting. Amboseli
has some outlying areas that are quite interesting as well.

The bigger nature reserves, like Masai Mara, can hold one's
interest for even longer times.

Hans-Georg
--
No mail, please.