Welcome to Nairobi

After a very early start on the 3^rd May that included dropping my very distressed dog off at 5.30am with the Animal Travel crowd and checking in at Jo’burg airport with an epic amount of luggage plus one 14 month old child – we made it to Nairobi in the early afternoon. Percy, our precious Pekingese, arrived a couple of hours later and had to wait even more hours to go through customs, a state vet check and other red tape to be released. But by 7.00pm – we were all together in our new home in Karen.

With our shipment of furniture from SA only expected in 6-8 weeks, we rented some basics to get us by. And basics they are. The house is pretty big (but it seems there is no in between around here – just the two very ends of the scale to choose from) and we have a bed in our room, a camp-cot in Evan’s room, 2 small couches and a TV in the downstairs lounge, a mini dinette in the dining room and that’s it! So we have a whole heap of empty rooms that make the house echo a little. I guess it’s like camping with some very good bathroom facilities!

In case you are fooled by some of the pics which don’t show any gates, fences etc. – I should be point out that the house is in a compound (kind of like a cluster complex) and that there are very high walls with electric fences on the perimeters and security guards with controlled gate access. So not quite Utopia, still Africa.

Yesterday was our first full day here and we had some tasks. I should start by saying that my car is also being shipped from SA, so it won’t be here for some time yet. In the meantime, Mark and I are sharing a car and a driver. Dun, the driver, picks Mark up for work early in the morning and takes him to the office – and with Nairobi’s hideous traffic (I’ll never complain about William Nicol again) that can take up to 4 hours for the return trip. Then I get to have Dun as my driver until he goes to fetch Mark again.

So yesterday we first went to arrange to have a satellite dish and DSTV installed – I need some entertainment, Evan needs CBeebies & Mark has to have Supersport. Apparently our PVR decoder doesn’t work here which means we have to buy a new one! Other than that little hitch, the process was pretty easy; in fact, I’m expecting installation today.  Next on our agenda was a visit to the recruitment agency to hire a helper/nanny for our home. All going well, they’ll have a few people for me to interview early next week and I’ll find someone who works well with us and especially with Evan.

Then came the interesting part. We went off to Nakumatt, the local supermarket, to do some shopping. I’m not sure exactly what I expected, but I didn’t think that Dun the driver would come in with me to push the trolley for me. I’ve been doing that pretty successfully on my own for a very long time now! I found it so strange to have him follow me around the shop that I forgot half of what we needed and didn’t feel I could linger and check out all the stuff that they stock locally. Basically, I flew around the supermarket pushing Evan in his pram, chucking things into Dun’s trolley at speed just wanting to get out and to not feel so uncomfortable. So my plan is that for the next supermarket visit, Dun can wait for me outside or in the car, and I’ll linger to my heart’s content and check out all the goodies on offer here in Nairobi. It was pretty nice to have someone bring in all the shopping from the car though…

And just in case you didn’t get how bad the traffic is here, it took Mark 2 and ½ hours to get home.

 The very empty & curtain-less downstairs lounge.
 

 Another empty room.

Evan and Percy on the patio.

Evan's new favourite play-place - very tough on my nerves

The road our complex is on.

It may only be temporary, rental furniture - but Percy has already assumed the position.

The back garden.

 The house from behind (back garden view)