Staying in Downtown Nairobi…

One day Rachel remarked about how most Americans only get to see the hotel, resort or safari lodge side of Kenya, but that I was really seeing it all, actually staying most nights in the home of her sister’s family.  They live in an estate in a Nairobi suburb called Embakasi.  I often noticed Kenyans’ use of the term, “estate.”  In the U.S., an estate seems to refer to a good-sized piece of land with a large house on it, or to the sum-total holdings of a person who has died.  Here it just refers to a housing development.

The Hilton Nairobi

Embakasi is also where the airport was located, so we had convenient access to it while there.  This district, according to its Wikipedia entry, “houses mostly lower middle income citizens.”  Mumbi and Wachira live in what you might liken to an apartment complex, although I know they own the property.  So I suppose it’s like a condominium.  I’d say about 850 square feet.

Like I said, I had a rather large voiceover project to do for one of my clients, and while I’d imagined setting up my mobile studio in the home where we were staying, I found that the tile floors and mostly-bare walls made for a very reverberant setting, not conducive to recording.  Plus I would have been uncomfortable asking our nieces not to make any sounds while I was recording, which would have been required.  So I was glad I had over 45,000 Hilton Honors points; I just cashed in 30,000 of them to stay at the Hilton Nairobi.

Guys pulling carts are everywhere in Kenya

Throughout my trip, I felt like a millionaire.  Things are generally very inexpensive compared to what I’m accustomed to.  But hotels?  Sheesh!  They run anywhere from $215 to $450 (USD) per night!  Good thing I had those points.

There were a couple of places on my visit to Kenya that seemed like ideal backdrops for a James Bond film, and this was one of them.  It appears to be located in the very center of the bustling, downtown area.  Oh, and I’ve been wanting to write about this for awhile.  One of the simplest and most primary differences between Kenya and the U.S., is that here…everybody is out.  I

Precious rain falls outside the Nairobi Hilton

mean any road or street you see will have lots and lots of people along both sides of it.  People walking, people sitting, people lying down, people buying and selling stuff, people pulling carts with all manner of things on them.  And pulling into the Hilton felt like I was an internationally recognized ambassador, arriving for a high-profile meeting with national leaders.

It’s gated, and since there are people freaking EVERYWHERE, there are lots of dignified Hilton employees, elaborately dressed in long, red coats, gloves and official caps, making sure no one’s getting in who shouldn’t be.  One guy checked our trunk and my luggage before letting us in the parking area.  Ultimately when these people saw my white face in the car, they immediately nodded respectfully and directed us in.  My driver, Ronald, told me this is commonplace.

Judging from the inside, I figured this hotel had been built sometime in the 1940s or 50s, but was told it was built in 1969.  Very Euro-elegant.  The service is just amazing at these places.  My theory is that a job at this hotel is considered most plum, so (as I think I wrote previously) they are trying with every fiber of their

The Concierge Lounge

being to make sure you’re happy and that they’re not doing ANYTHING that could upset you in the least.

Since the Hilton Honors certificate I needed had been e-mailed to me, upon checking in, I was given a key card for the Executive Concierge Lounge, and told I could print it out there.  I’m used to these lounges in the U.S., available for those having status as a frequent guest with any particular hotel chain.  Usually they have a few, little things to nibble on, soft drinks that are free, and alcoholic beverages available for purchase.  But here?  It seemed like a scrumptious cornucopia of edible delights!  And drinks were complimentary.  “Yes,

Our room at the Hilton Nairobi

I’ll have a Tusker, thank you!”

The room is what I’d call quaint.  Clean?  Yes.  Comfortable?  Certainly.  It’s a bit smaller and older than what I’m used to in most nicer U.S. hotels, but just full of charm.  There are fresh flower arrangements and trays of fruits and nuts brought every day.

There was a medium-sized desk next to the bed, and that’s where I set up my mobile studio.  I’m using Digidesign’s Mbox 2 Mini, an ultra-compact USB-based interface for my laptop, on which I have

The Mbox is the heart of my mobile studio

the very latest version of Pro-Tools LE recording and editing software.  I brought my Equitek E-200 Mic and a tabletop boom for it.  I also used a little Porta-Booth to reduce ambient room sound.  This thing is great!  It folds down beautifully (pictured,) and when you open it up, you just put a piece of acoustic foam in there, put the mic in front of it, and voila!  A very reasonably, quiet studio sound.

To be honest, I felt sure something was going to foul up with this.  But, other than a

Porta-Booth folded

somewhat poor cell connection when calling my client back in the states for direction, it went unbelievably well!  We recorded, I edited the TV voiceovers, created AIFF files for the production house, and sent them over the internet.  I know some would chide me for doing this while on any vacation–much more so the fact that I’d traveled across the globe to Africa.  “Geez, Jon, you’re on vacation.  Let the client find a fill-in for you.  Relax, man!”

Porta-Booth in action

I know, I know.  But I ask you:  Isn’t giving up a total of two hours and fifteen minutes of your time for $1400 worth it–even when you’re on vacation?  I mean seriously, if it meant giving up hours every day, I’d probably just drop it, but a little over two hours?  One time???  I’m glad I did it, and grateful everything came off without a hitch.

As was the case frequently in Kenya, there was a buffet.  I’ve noticed that, despite the glorious buffets they put on here, no one in Kenya really pulls off a passable, American-style salad bar.  Once in awhile you’ll

The Hilton Nairobi Restaurant

find a plate of large, stacked iceberg lettuce leaves, but that’s it.  I don’t think other countries are as fond of the salad bar concept we like.  In Kenya the food has a decided Indian influence.  There are all sorts of dishes, including spicy melanges:  meats, corn, beans, as well as various other types of salads and breads.  With only a couple of exceptions I found the breads to be dry and relatively flavorless.  (The exception were the two Serena properties we would later stay at; I’ll get to that later.)

It was so good to have a nice big bed, hot and cold running water and a nice shower and toilet, I decided to spring for a second night here on Wednesday (October 14th.)  During the day on Wednesday, Rachel and I went for a walk around the downtown area.  We found a gift shop run by an Indian man, who gave us a nice deal on a few souvenirs, we sat down and watched a very zealous Christian man, spontaneously preaching at great volume in a town square area, and even ate at Wimpy’s.

When Rachel and I first met, I questioned her about Kenya.  I was surprised that there was not a single McDonald’s there.  She told me she remembered a place called Wimpy’s, and I told her that must have been taken from the hamburger-eating character of the same name in the Popeye cartoons.  This place was quite the dump.

Wherever you go in Kenya, (and perhaps particularly when you’re an mzungu,) there seem to be guys approaching you, trying to move you to buy this or that.  I mean we’d just walked into the place.  Obviously we were going to buy something there; why the intensity?  Let us walk up and order.  But, no, a young man approached, motioned for us to sit down at a greasy, little table, and stuck some similarly greasy, laminated menus in front of us.  He pointed strongly at the item on the menu he figured I’d want.  Hamburger, fries and drink combo.  We ordered a couple.  The hamburger was not bad.  It was also not good.  It didn’t really taste like any hamburger I’d had before.  I was puzzled by the considerable portion of grated carrot on this burger.  Grated carrot?  Look, I don’t have any place telling Kenyans how to make their chapati, say, or even how they roast their goat, certainly.  But, as an American, I can say with all due confidence that you Kenyans should completely eliminate the flipping grated carrot from your burgers!  Bleh!!!

Speaking of food, Wednesday evening, Rachel’s sister Mary picked us up at

The Carnivore, billed as "Africa's Greatest Eating Experience!"

the hotel and drove us to Carnivore, the most famous restaurant in Kenya, specializing in (you guessed it) meat!  Before Kenyan law banned it, you could get lots of wild game meat here, but now its all kinds of beef, pork, chicken, turkey, sausage, lamb, spare ribs, etc.  My favorite were the ostrich meatballs; delicious!  The place functions in much the same way as one of those Brazilian-style churrascarias I’ve been to in the U.S.  There’s a flag on your table, and as long as you leave it up, guys are always coming around with meat on long Masai swords and cutting some off onto your plate.  When you are ready to “surrender,” you put the flag down so they stop coming.

From left, Wachira, Mary, Me and Rachel

We met Wachira there, and the four of us enjoyed ourselves immensely.  Mary is an attorney who works for Kenya’s National Coffee Board.  In fact she gave us a nice gift package of Kenyan coffee to take back to the states.  Kenyan coffee is some of the best in the world!

We returned to the Hilton for our second night there.  In the earlier picture I’ve posted, you’ll notice it’s raining.  The drought they’ve been experiencing has taken a terrible toll on the people here.  So while we were there, everyone at the hotel was rejoicing a bit.  “You’ve brought the rain to us!” they said, smiling.

On Thursday we would return to Mumbi and Wachira’s to get ready for our trip to the white sand beaches of Mombasa!