Nairobi

We took a trip to Nairobi today -- and in the process decided to check out the much-hyped matatu experience. We have this travel book lying around our house that describes matatus as minivans that are "luridly painted, covered in slogans and flashing lights, pounding out deafening rap music and driven at death-defying speeds by aggressive young men, the result of which was one of the highest road death rates in the world." The book says things have improved, but that description is pretty accurate. On our way there, they crammed twenty people into our little minivan (one man hung onto the back of the van). It was ridiculous.


At every stop, a number of people would shove bags of various fruits and corn into the van through open windows and yell at you. Jason has trouble saying no and ended up with a bag of extremely bitter (what Kenyans call sour) plums. In the middle is Michael, one of the interns, who is the only reason we dared to try taking a matatu.


Don't let the peaceful picture fool you. Nairobi is crazy. Too many people, too many cars, and with all the matatus whizzing around, it's a wonder we didn't see anyone get run over today. That being said, it's a cool place. Isaac and I plan on spending another day here before we head back to the states.


Michael says that this is a famous building.


After walking around downtown a while, we reached the Maasai market. Thank God Michael was there to protect us from the hordes of salespeople harassing anyone white (which includes me and Isaac). If you look closely, you can see that Jason has already been captured by one such salesperson.


These Maasai women were mad Jason took their picture without paying.


Lots of cool stuff and lots of negotiating. Reminded me of a night market in Taipei or Beijing.


Afterwards, Michael left us to go sleep at his brother's place (he was post-call) and we were left to our own devices. We took a matatu to Longata to find this restaurant called Carnivore (quite a feat in itself) and walked in only to find that their famous exotic game meats would not be served until late in the evening. Unfortunately, Nairobi and even the road to Kijabe aren't safe after dark, so after a long discussion about whether or not we wanted to be robbed we decided to find a way back to the matatu stand downtown to catch the one matatu that goes to Kijabe.


While we were still stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic back in the city, Jason made up a game where you get points for reaching out the window and touching other cars. The game ended tied at 1-1. It's a lot scarier when the cars start moving faster and people tend to look at you funny when you're reaching out at their car.


I guess our day sounds boring but it was quite the adventure. Matatus are scary and uncomfortable, especially on a bumpy dirt road at night. I wouldn't be devastated if I never rode a matatu ever again.

Unfortunately, Isaac is on call tomorrow so we'll be back in the hospital. It's unbelieveable that we are leaving in just ten days -- it seems like we just got here.