Nairobi, finally in Kenya!

Date: Wednesday June 3

After very long and tiring days of travelling, and another 8 hour flight, Jen and I finally landed in the capital of Kenya at 6:30 am. Our friend and peer Soraiya kindly hosted us for the day and we couldn't have asked for a better host! We were greeted by a smiling Kenyan named Sammy who would be our tour guide and driver for the day. As we drove from the airport into the center of Nairobi down "The Great North Road" (aka Mombasa road) my eyes were constantly moving and looking at everything...as I expected, it is truly a different world.


 

 As the capital of Kenya, Nairobi is a crowded busy city with people always on the move. Many people walk miles along a muddy dirt path at the side of the road every day to get to work. The streets are packed with people and cars with no street signs, lines, or speed limits. I really enjoyed just looking out the window from the car observing absolutely everything as we drove all over the city. It is difficult to describe everything that I saw on this day but it was incredible.

 

Our day consisted of all the touristy things in Nairobi...the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (elephant and rhino orphanage), the Giraffe Center, and eating lunch at Carnivore Restaurant. Unfortunately we did not have time to visit any of the famous museums but hopefully we can at the end of our trip! :)

Kenya is a BEAUTIFUL place with gorgeous scenery and we were lucky enough to have gorgeous hot sunny weather for the second day in a row...YAY!

 

Quote of the day: You can never really understand what it is really like until you live it

Most memorable moments:

1. Kissing Laura the Giraffe
2. Touching a very rare Black Rhino
3. Watching baby elephants play in the muddy water
4. Eating crocodile and ostrich at Carnivore Restaurant...SO YUMMY!

Highlights from the car drive with Sammy from the airport:

5. EVERYTHING is in English...Why? English is used as the official language in Kenya after different tribes with different languages merged and English helped them "come together"
6. Public transportation, mainly  Matatus (large taxi-like vans), is used very commonly by Kenyans going to and from work
7. About 3/4 of Africa is Christian
8. They are very HUGE fans of Obama
9. Pretty much EVERY car is made by Toyota since they are easier and cheaper to maintain
10. Traffic congestion is EXACTLY the same as in Toronto...rush hour sucks!
11. They have frequent power outages since the power supplier has a monopoly

Fun Facts:

12. Giraffe's are SOOOOOOOOOOO strong→ they use their legs to defend themselves from Lions by kicking
13. How has the recession affected Kenya? The same as the rest of the world...I heard on the radio that this is their worst recession in 17 years
14. This is the 47th year since Kenya's independence

Tomorrow morning we fly (again!) to Kisumu, the 3rd largest city in Kenya, where we will meet the project leader Roy Omulo and drive to our place called home for the next 3 months...Oyugis! :) I CAN'T WAIT!