East African Business Week (Kampala)
Aggrey Nshekanabo
8 June 2009
opinion
Nairobi — As a Ugandan traveling to neighbouring Kenya's capital Nairobi, I was briefed by a workmate on more don'ts than dos while in Nairobi.
I got additional don'ts at the hotel I was staying in. Any faint-hearted individual after so much briefing ould be discouraged from so much as stepping onto the balcony of the hotel room. I was airborne for Jommo Kenyatta International Airport from Entebbe for Nairobi at 1505 hours courtesy of Kenya Airways to feel the pulse of Nairobi. And it only took 50 minutes to cover the 540 kilometres.
The first joke met by any Ugandan going through or into Kenya is about Migingo or (Migyingo for Ugandans). So, there was this immigration officer at Kenyatta Airport, who when he held our Ugandan passports and realized we were destined for Nairobi couldnot resist asking:
"Mulikuja kucukua maji yenyu ya Migingo? Kama ndio, mucukue maji yenyu, mutulekeye samaki zetu na Migingo yetu! (Meaning: Have you come to take your Migingo waters? If so, you can take your waters but not our fish and island). We laughed heartily.
He stamped my passport with a 'Karibu Kenya' [Welcome to Kenya] smile but also intimating how he has a sweet liking for Uganda's president as a very humorous man.
From Jommo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), we were driven to the imposing Panari Hotel on Mombasa Road just five kilometers away from the city centre aboard AmicabreTravel bus. I was booked on the 11th floor of Panari and therefore I had an over the top view of Nairobi under my feet.
This marshland of concrete with no hill in sight is your Nairobi. It was too flat for my liking. At least in Kampala, Uganda you can quickly find your bearing with the guide of hills! Not Nairobi.
On the second day of my visit, after work, I had to dare venture out into the city despite the many warnings from acquaintances and workmates. Even the brown damsel down at the pharmacy on the ground floor of Panari Sky Centre advised me to take note that it was now past 1600hrs.
"If you are new in Nairobi, please, you will be mugged! Don't go please! Moreover there have been shootings on Tom Mboya Street. Maybe get yourself a cab (taxi) at KShs700," she advised.
I ignored all that; dressed shabbily, put some KShs 500 in the wallet, KShs2,500 in the left hind pocket and jumped into a matatu (commuter taxi). And the matatu just flew off to Nairobi. I loved the triple carriage roads on each side with big islands in between!
Just two kilometres into the city centre, the traffic jam was hell. It took us over an hour and a half to navigate through the jam. During that time, I chose to chat up some nubile babe and introduced myself as a newcomer from Kampala! She gave me that distrustful look that made her beauty evaporate. She then clutched onto her bag like a plague!
Her Kiswahili was too complicated for my understanding, save for the ear-to-ear grins. So, sooner than later, I had to switch to English.
"How can you dare Nairobi unaccompanied? It's not safe for you. Where are you going and to do what? Where are you staying?" she quizzed. "I am staying at Panari Hotel and I want to do some light shopping probably in East Leigh," I quipped.
Her eyes nearly popped out!
"That would take you more than three hours with this heavy traffic. If I were you, I would go back and enlist company, but if you want, come with us and you disembark at the central bank," she counseled.
Traffic was too heavy to allow us reach the central bank. We jumped out and walked but this time on the road where Oil-Libya is, then through the shortcut (panya) of the rail bridge onto KenInvest and Polytechnic University College.
I could not understand why everyone feared Nairobi city but now I know. There are so many unemployed young men. In Kampala, about 5,000 such energetic men are engaged in bodaboda (motor cycle) riding which keeps them busy and earns them a decent living.
We crossed over to the Times Tower. The girl went further north and I continued up to the International Conference Centre and crossed to the western side.
It was getting dark. I turned and walked again through the rail bridge. That is when I met these cute babes in office attire munching at their maize! And my God, they were speaking Kampala International University English! In Kampala, no girl worth her beauty would dare such a feat on any of our tiny streets!
I said to myself that I couldnot leave Nairobi without buying anything. I walked along the stalls of shoes and trousers. The hawkers here speak of money as bobs and flirt with their potential customers as Sherries. I could not understand a thing. But I managed to grab a t-shirt at KShs200 and five quality tooth brushes at KShs150 (US$2) which brushes in Kampala would cost me $12.
I walked up to Nakumatt Mega and onto Shell petrol station and grabbed a matatu to my room at Panari. But this time, the taxi I took was so rickety that you could see the tarmac under your seat! And the music was so loud you would not need to go to a disco. Despite being tired, I could not leave Nairobi without visiting the Carnivore Restaurant. The rest of the team I had traveled with had already left me behind. I caught a cab to the Carnivore at a whopping KShs1, 100 ($14) to eat all tribes of meats and red wine.
The writer last week traveled to Nairobi courtesy of Kenya Airways.
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That was a nice encounter in Nrb.Very interesting.I completely agree with you Nrb has many idlers.But you just need to be brave as you did.We should make fun of the migingo issue and this should not be an issue between kenya and Uganda citizens.That was a very sweet story.