Never Kiss A Giraffe

---

Day 1 - London - 30th July

Finally, I somehow manage to arrive on the African continent. I say somehow as due to packing fiascos; have I packed enough, have I packed too much, could it be repacked better, forgetting to pack stuff (I own 3 pairs of sunglasses but managed to pack none!) and other little dramas along to way I somehow manage to arrive in Nairobi.

Even when my standby ticket was confirmed and having 20 minutes to get threw security, to the gate and onto the aircraft; not even having to run and step round people like Cristano Ronaldo does with a football managed to stop me!

However, I manage to arrive but my luggage didn’t, wait for a couple of hours to be told that my bag was still in London …. The joys of flying standby!

Day 2 - Nairobi, Kenya - 31st July

Never kiss a giraffe, that’s the moral of today. Defiantly don’t eat giraffe food as its not that tasty Spent this afternoon at the giraffe center, which was actually quite enjoyable. My taxi driver, John, dropped me off and waited outside whilst I went in. Inside I walked up onto the feeding tower to get up, close and personal with the giraffes. Here there were some Americans from Texas, who after feeding it decided they were going to get a giraffe kiss by holding some of the food in their mouth, beckoning the giraffe forward, it inched forward and extended the long grey slimy tongue.

Now, I can vouch for how slimy a giraffes tongue is by the fact I got a kiss as well. After the guard assured me that the giraffe wouldn’t get any of my germs and after I had accidentally swallowed a piece of giraffe food (not nice honestly!), I stuck 3 pieces of food into my mouth, out came to tongue and not content with taking the food licked half my face leaving a stringy saliva trail as he pulled his tongue away. Lovely! The centre not only acts as a conservation center for the giraffes but acts as a local educational centre for kids to learn about their local wildlife.

On the way home John, took me to a phone store to get a Zain SIM card for the rest of my journey. He dropped me back of at my hostel; they were in the process of taking out all the furniture. Later on it transpired that the hostel was under new ownership so the old owners were moving their stuff out and the new owners moving their stuff in. The rest of the day was spent chilling and to get out of the way I decided that I would take a wonder down to the local supermarket, Uchumi. Simple enough directions... right, left, cross Mombassa Road and right. However when I got to Mombassa Road it turned out to be a 6 lane highway. It was easy to cross the first 3 lanes as the traffic was at a stand still due to the Friday night rush hour, on the central reservation (a grass verge) I got coated in a puff of thick black smoke from a passing van. Obviously not overly healthy, like most of the cars in Nairobi. The smoke engulfed me for a few seconds which seemed like a lifetime; forget swine flu I’m sure that could have killed me!

Back to the hotel with a few snacks and a few Tucker Beers, I was asked to help with tuning the television and the digi box in, when I started it I was left with the task; however I was rewarded with a free dinner! John picked me up to take me to the airport but he told me that he had to go and drop some luggage off to the Minster of Social Security’s house. This to me wasn’t a problem.

The hostel I’m staying in is in South C, a residential area of Nairobi; as yet I have not been into the city centre. The off-putting thing is that barring the way to the residential streets were gates with watchmen, if you drove up to one you would have to explain who you were going to see and just standing in the streets are security guards with guns (that look like AK47's to me but I’m not a gun expect so I could be wrong) and people tell me that this is a safe neighborhood! After this we drove up to the airport where my bags were waiting for me, we got back to the hostel and I discovered that my sleeping bag was missing, probably taken in the move!

Day 3 - Nairobi, Kenya - 1st Aug

In the afternoon, John came to pick me up and take me down into central Nairobi. John Thairu is the taxi driver that I first met yesterday when he took me to the giraffe center. He is I would say at a guess mid to late 40's, father to a 4 year old son and a mechanic and former driver instructor as a result we have talked a lot bout cars, bad drivers, speed humps and cameras plus other bits and pieces. He seems like a top bloke!

The drive down was largely uneventful and quite boring due to the Saturday afternoon traffic jams; however, what was eventful was my morning. Upon checking my email’s I had found out that apparently I had cancelled my tour when all I want to do was cancel my rebooked accommodation at the Kenyan Comfort Inn. After a few phone calls back to London this was all sorted out and I would be on the list when I went to the pre departure meeting later on that day. Anyway back in the cybercafe. I got propositioned by somebody offering to cut my hair for 300 shillings - approx $3US, bargain. I was expecting to be taken down to another shop but this guy lead me behind the counter and sat my down in the barber’s chair. To be honest he actually didn’t do that bad of a job!

When I was in central Nairobi, my first job was to find a new sleeping bag, apparently John knew of somebody who sold them and told me to stay in the car whilst he got the price lowered. With the price lowered John took me into the shop and I paid for the sleeping bag. I got dropped off at the National Museum and had a quick wonder round, not really having much time to do it justice as I had to go down to Hotel Boulevard for my pre departure meeting. Got to the meeting and discovered that I was not still on the list but the guy knew about me so it was OK! John picked me up and I wanted to take him for something to eat; John refused but he said that he would be more then happy to accept a few beers, so we found a bar and I started spending the night drinking with my taxi driver!

---

Photos

Welcome To Kenya
It Would Be Better If British Airways Hadnt Lost My Bag

Dont Feed The Giraffe
......