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Published: October 10th 2011
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Touchdown…
Nairobi,
Kenya!! After nearly seven hours overnight from Egypt, and arriving in at about 6am we headed straight into the foreigner visa queue, where we were hoping to get a transit visa so that we could leave overland for Tanzania in a few days time.
The original immigration officer approved this for Nicola and gave her four days to stay in the country, but in the middle of processing my application the officer changed shifts. The new immigration lady was sadly not in a good mood and stamped my visa – showing that I had to be out of the country in 24 hours! Not a great start to our Kenyan adventure which was going to be cut short at this rate.
We had a driver organised to bring us to a local hostel, where we got some rest for a few hours, since we had not slept at all overnight on the plane. Later we had some food and pondered our next move... what with the 24-hour visa situation throwing a spanner in the works!
This is Africa...
The African countries you’ve come to know today are a result of the self interest of Europeans who
created these arbitrary lines on a map; carving up countries with little regards for the people who lived there.
In the late 1800’s Europeans engaged what was known as the “scramble for Africa” - a movement driven by numerous factors: from a slowdown in European growth, to stiff competition faced by the existing colonial powers of France and Britain, from the new powerful states of Italy and Germany. The quest for power and dominance was encouraged by Social Darwinists – in an ideology based on “survival of the fittest” - the white man of Europe had no problem casting his expansive view on Africa, in what became a competitive race for more and more colonies, both for trade, settlement and power!
Over time the discovery of rich soil, under-developed mineral wealth, and a boat load of commodities; everything from gold and diamonds to coco, coffee and ivory, were all key attractions for continued expansion – all the while missionaries continued to arrive to spread the Christian faith.
Between France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Britain and Portugal - “they” literally ran the continent. While developing some infrastructure, Europeans predominantly exploited countless Nations' wealth; and where white Europeans settled
- they took over the land and pushed the native people aside.
In 1895 the British government took over the region of Kenya, and claimed the interior which had a climate that was attractive to settlers. The colonial takeover met occasionally with some strong local resistance, but after World War 1 Kenya became a locus of resettlement. New grievances were generated by the natives from time to time, but the British remained settlers.
Like all countries throughout history though - over and over again - where people have been suppressed, subjected or dictated to; the day comes when those people raise their standards and shake off their oppressors through loud protest, or in some cases, violence or even war. That date was 1964 for Kenya, when the independent Republic of Kenya was formed.
The political results of colonisation have been questionable. Post decolonisation across the continent, ancient Kingdoms and many tribal units were cut down the middle, while other religions or ethnic groups were thrown together under one umbrella to resolve their differences. This has led to a melange of civil war, social injustice, crime, poverty and corruption across the continent, with varying degrees in different countries.
Where some countries are beginning to raise their voice on the world stage, others continue to eek out a living on a few dollars a day.
Rest assured though - all Africans in the years and decades ahead will find their voice. There are vast amounts of people, energy, spirit, and hope, contained in what is “Africa”. This energy and quest for a higher standard of living which we take as a given in the west, will eventually lift hundreds of millions out of poverty and into the middle classes in the years ahead.
Downtown Nairobi
Later that evening we headed into Nairobi centre. The traffic was chronic, so there was plenty of time for talking about the history of the country with a friendly taxi driver en-route.
With over 42 tribes in Kenya, you can be sure this is going to be a political hot-potato. There were clashes here in the city in 2007, where a lot of people were killed. English is the official language, with Swahili the second. On the street you can hear people interchange between both. Radio stations and newspapers are in English, and who would have believed that Guinness as an
alcohol brand is quite visible here.
Sub-Saharan Africa is very different from Northern Africa and one could go so far as to say – that you are not really in Africa until you come down to the lower part. We found that North Africa is much more in tune with the Middle East, due to expansion and colonization. Sub Saharan Africa is what is known as “black Africa” and looking around us we could see why…
We ate in the city centre under the watchful eye of many locals, surprised by our presence. We walked to the 20th Century Cinema and got tickets for €4 each to see the cinematic masterpiece that is "
Death at a Funeral"! Afterwards a kind security guard offered to call us a cab, as it's unsafe to be walking about the city at night. Known locally as “Ni-robbery” the darkness attracts a lot of unsavoury characters into the dimly lit city… not somewhere you’d be advised to be wandering about aimlessly, once the sun goes down!
* * *
The following morning the alarm went off at 6:15am. After breakfast we caught a local bus to take us to
Moshi in
Tanzania. We were heading overland to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro before heading back to Ireland.
The trip overland took about eight hours, on mostly cracked, broken, unpaved roads, but the journey was interesting all the same, stopping from time to time for local refreshments. We saw lots of local tribes people carrying out their day-to-day tasks, as we travelled through the countryside. They were dressed very brightly, had big ear piercings - and are probably consistent with images you hold in your mind of tribal Africa.
We eventually got to the Kenyan / Tanzanian boarder about 1pm; we had to dig deep and pay a $100 entry visa (crikey!!) – and after some bureaucratic processing and detailed form-filling, we were on our way into Tanzania.
Next stop - one very big mountain to tackle...
Mount Kilimanjaro!!
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