NBO

Morning arrival in Nairobi, Kenya, where I last was in 2018. By the time I’d dealt with immigration, baggage and other necessities, it was around 8am, which is precisely the time to avoid the highway into the city. However the taxi driver Richard knew some sneaky routes through random industrial suburbs. Plus, after swinging out of the airport entrance the road runs parallel with the fence of Nairobi National Park. A herd of impala skittering was a nice greeting.

I am reunited here with Gugs, of Covid UK limbo lockdown fame, as she is based in Kenya. Temporarily she’s in Nairobi and via the father of a friend has been given access to a very swanky apartment in the district of Kilimani. She and I have been fortunate in the generosity of others when we have needed places to crash and hole up.

I joined her at the apartment with its green view from the tenth floor. I was shattered from the flight as robustness in the face of overnight travel directly decreases with age.

Gugs showed me around this slice of the city, which is a confusing morass of suburbs, highways, construction and human activity. Walking to one of her favourite cafés, a wild-eyed driver yelled ‘go back to your country’, which I chose to believe was road rage because I was awkwardly trying to cross, rather than aggressive xenophobia. Racists or racist sympathisers take note that it’s not a nice feeling.

When we reached the café I chose beef rendang, which was not what I expected to be eating in Kenya as I can’t recall seeing it on menus outside of Indonesia.