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Published: November 14th 2009
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From Marja:
I know it's been about a week since we left Africa but I'm pretty sure that I can remember the highlights and that Shell will add to the posts or correct me if I go wrong.
We arrived in Nairobi after a fairly good flight from Rome via Zurich. From the moment of clearing customs in Nairobi I loved the place. Everyone was happy and wanting to help you without having intentions of stealing anything from you. This was a bit hard to come to terms with at first as Rome and Naples taught me to watch my stuff and trust no one. But I did come to terms with it and settled into things after about 2 hours.
The place we stayed at was a hotel called Kivi-Millimani. It had very basic rooms but a wonderful garden that we spent a fair bit of time in if we weren't out and about. They looked after us very well and by the end of our stay we knew a few of the staff by name. There were, however, security guards and fences for us to hide behind. We later found out that there had been a few
Lion
At the animal orphanage abductions for body parts in that area of Nairobi so I was kind of glad that the guards were there to look after us.
The first few days in Nairobi were spent sleeping and eating and exploring the city. We made friends with a driver called Francis and he took us around for a few days. We went to a giraffe sanctuary, an elephant orphanage, museums and national parks.
The elephant orphanage was the highlight for me. They are only open to the public for 1 hour each day so that the animals don't get too used to humans. They have elephants there as young as a couple of months old. Many of them are victims of mothers falling into wells. The baby elephants were so beautiful. I'm lost for words just thinking about it. I wanted to stay and be with them. The really small ones have blankets tied to them all day so that they don't get cold. They come in via a line of trunk to tail, following the keepers, and have bottles of milk while the keepers tell you about their backgrounds, personalities and the work that the orphanage does. It was fantastic to
outside the animal orphanage
We were there on a Friday with some school groups. Lots of timid staring and a few braver hellos to us. see them all getting strong and everyone there working towards getting them back into the wild where they belong.
They also have a couple of Rhinos there as well. One of them is actually released into the wild already but comes back every now and again to hang out. Right in the middle of our elephant time he came back and walked right past us to get to his pen. The other rhino is blind so can't be released but seems to have a pretty happy life wandering around with the keepers looking out for him and then back into the pen for safety.
The photos are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/violettesaunty/sets/72157622663362863/ if you want to see them.
From Shell: Ditto everything Marja said. We struggled a little when we first got there because the ATM offered us Kenyan shillings in the tens of thousands and we weren't sure of the exchange rate. We ended up making a reasonable guess but when I exchanged my euros for shillings, the teller forgot to give me my passport back (and I STUPIDLY didn't realise), resulting in a trip back to the airport the next day to pick it up.
We got
Baby elephants
David Sheldrick elephant orphanage to hand feed giraffes (twiga) at their sanctuary, which was so special. We also visited an animal sanctuary that was a little confronting due to the small, basic enclosures provided for the animals. I know they would have died if not rescued, but they were being held in conditions that I wouldn't have accepted in an Australian zoo. We refused the offer to go in and pat the cheetahs or lions because we are cowards but there was also no option to donate to the improvement of the care for animals, only for the tipping of volunteer guides. Shame.
Nairobi itself was like Naples, but African style! Complete chaos on the roads, with hundreds of 'mutatu' (minibus shuttle services that are the cheapest transport) ducking in and out of traffic and pulling off some insane manoeuvres. In a city of 4 million people, 2 million live in the Kibera slums but Marja is right about the prevailing attitude. People were overwhelmingly welcoming and happy to see us and wanted to promote their city and country. I was continually astounded by the optimism and tolerance displayed by people who had very little. We struggled a bit with a common initial reaction to give us 'special' service because we were white tourists but ended up with a happy medium. Francis was taking the piss out of us by the second day and we had a ball with him. We soon took up the swahili word for 'white person' (Mzungu) and that's what Marja called me from the first day. She even bought me a t-shirt in the Serengeti with it emblazened across the front and i wore it proudly, to the amusement of our crew.
Francis recommended the K-Mart of Kenya (Nakumat) to us and fortunately, we were able to buy everything we needed for the safari there. The national museum in Nairobi is excellent - we spent 1.5hrs but you should probably plan for 3-4. I had read about the
Turkana boy and other discoveries by the Leakeys but hadn't realised that I would be able to see them in Nairobi - it was so fantastic!
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Duncan
non-member comment
come again
we are glad you enjoyed your visit here but i have a slight grudge with shell, i really wish you are not serious while saying a city of 4 million people with 2 million livnin in Kibera. for your information our politicians constantly misguide the world on kibera situation for their own political patronages. as for now the slum is being upgraded to flats but you wont hear of that......anyway come again,contact me...you know..i can be your host next time