Jimzy In.......
Would it be fair if we, young energetic able bodied youth visited a new city and did not taste/tempt the party scene or did not write about it? I think not! So, what does Nairobi city look like when the shops close, bankers go home, and children are safely tucked in? A few members of the SE101 team (names witheld on request, and my writing this should/does not insinuate that I am the party animal of the team. It so happens that tonight the blogging duties fall to me) will take you on a tour of the Nairobi party scene.
TACOS: Location-CITY CENTRE. The music is great, some of the tracks were similar to those played in Canada and I clearly recall two memebers of the team singing along to some of the songs being played. This is where Alvina, Kevin and Steven took to the dance floor-details of which may be found in an earlier blog.
PAVEMENT: Location-WESTLANDS. An extremely great and a must go-to club in my opinion. Had what it takes to make a great club scene. Nice music, perfect ambience, crowd that seemed to be made up of passionate club goers and party people. I noticed the crowd was mixed (not unlike a Vancouver club scene) and was clearly a favorite for tourists/foreigners/expatriates or it was probably the theme night that seemed to attract everyone. It was a 2 in 1 club. With one section of the club playing main stream hip hop music and the other playing techno/garage sounds. The only hustle was getting into the club and the line up stretched about a block. Club cover was about 400Kes, beers 120Kes, a gin shot 300Kes.
QUEUES: Location-WESTLANDS. Also a 2 in 1 club establishment. Despite the flight of steps one has to climb to get to either, it is a fairly descent party place. Both clubs play similar genre of music but are manned by different D.J's. The top floor is an open air club/bar/pub allowing you to party alfresco. With the another club on the 2nd floor where you could relocate if you wished for warmer temperatures.
REZEROUS(not too sure of the spelling): Location-WESTLANDS. A 3 minute walk from QUEUES. Extremely jam packed on all occasions one of the team went there. A wide range of music, pocket friendly prices and great crowd. Other than the line up to get into the club, all is well at this location.
CARNIVORE: Location-CLOSE TO NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK. Yet to be tasted/tested.Though it is well known for its theme nights.
K1: Location- WESTLANDS. Excellent ambience and decor. Wood and grass thatch is the predominant architectural design theme. In essence there are close to three different pubs at this location. Fortunately, there is nyama choma and othe fast food should belly make demands for food. Beer and nyama choma is definitely big in Nairobi and a great combination too experience has proven. Highly recommended you carry along a sweater or jacket. Also a great spot on Tuesdays for Karoke lovers.
And that is it for now. Please note more venues may be added to this list in the near future. So incase you wish to stumble home at 5am the next time you are in Nairobi like........................ you know where the adventures lie.
.................Jimzy Out!
Showing posts with label Alvina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alvina. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy... (and Jill a wealthy widow)
Week one - complete! As a reward for our terrific first week of teaching, the team went out to celebrate at a local landmark restaurant, Carnivore. It's exactly as it sounds: a restaurant with a prix fixe menu of a variety of different meats, featuring one exotic specialty per evening. We lucked out with ostrich meatballs, which interestingly tasted like beef with a hint of chicken. The decor was kitsch but the food was great, and the bill spoke volumes of just how well we treated ourselves. Consensus: well deserved.
Our weekend of celebration, however, didn't start with our meat-eating binge. Friday afternoon, Kathleen invited us to a free concert at the local Alliance Francaise: the annual event was called Spotlight on Kenyan Music, and was absolutely terrific. Featuring a veritable cabaret of female vocalists, jazz bands, traditional Masai chanting and even a blind self-taught guitarist/floutist/singer, we really were treated to exceptional talent that was clearly very popular among the local youth in attendance. We certainly didn't hesitate to buy a CD of this year's featured musicians, and Jessie even had the good fortune to have hers autographed by her personal favourite - the young Masai activist who combined traditional chanting with modern beats and political messages.
Not yet ready to call it a night (and happily enjoying the 100 shilling beer), some of the team decided to take on the local wildlife and headed to Tacos, a hopping joint with a knock-off Taco Bell logo for a sign. We met up with Stephen, one of our Daystar students at Kibera, and spent the evening enjoying more of the local brew (Tusker, fyi), the company, and even a song or two on the dance floor. It seems to be the case that in Kenya, dancing brings people together; thus, thanks to his smooth moves, Kevin met a few members and even the coach of the National Kenyan Cricket team. Alvina and Stephen were met with less success, but nonetheless enjoyed the occasion to "shake what their mamas gave them", as the local expression goes. Tragically, Brent and Jim were not to be found getting their grove on, but we
think it likely they'll be dragged into it by the end of the trip.
Our weekend of festivities was dominated by trips to various animal-viewing grounds. First stop: the Nairobi Giraffe Centre, where one could entertain him/herself by feeding giraffes from raised verandahs, and (secondarily, of course) learn all about the histories and habits of African giraffes. Some of the more adventurous deigned to hold a piece of giraffe food between their lips, and as the rest of us looked on with a combination of gleeful disgust and horrified captivation, both young and old (and mostly American) stepped up to undergo the touristy rite of passage. We happily resigned ourselves to the traditional hand-to-mouth technique, even sneaking in a timid yet affectionate pat now and again. And for everyone's information, a giraffe's tongue is dark, leathery, and unsurprisingly slimy.
Our next adventure took us to the Nairobi Animal Orphanage, where a greater variety of animals could be appreciated. Although not nearly as exciting as fauna in the wild, it was nice to at least be guaranteed that we'd see them, seeing as you can't get far behind a chain-link fence. Speaking of getting behind chain-link fences, Art, Alvina and Jessie managed to sweet-talk their way into the cheetah cage, so under the extremely tight observation of a barrage of groundskeepers, they managed to score a picture. When it is up, you will notice a pained look of control on Art's face, thinly veiling an expression of sheer terror.
Last stop on our African safari: Lake Nakuru National Park. Known as an ornithological paradise, it boasts one of the highest number of different species of bird of any national park in the world. Within metres into the park, it was easy to see how it got its reputation: we saw a whack of funky looking birds (none of whose names we caught), and turning the bend towards the lake, we were immediately greeted by a sea full - or more like an entire lake full - of bright pink cheerfully squawking flamingos. I kid you not: at best estimate, there were probably several thousand of them stretching in a warbling colour mass from shore to shore, right down to the horizon. It was like the world's fair of flamingos was being held at Lake Nakuru that very day, and we just happened to stumble upon it. Very cool.
In other news, we saw the usual horde of zebras, buffalo, and even a couple of impalas fighting for domination, but other than a brief sighting of a black rhino, the flamingos were definitely the highlight. We also spotted a bunch of park visitors who were dumb enough to leave food lying around for baboons (and then panicked when the baboons came after them), but such guests unfortunately don't seem to be a rare species. Judge not lest ye be judged, though: a particularly cheeky monkey found its way into our van when we weren't looking, and managed to sneak away with one of Alvina's granola bars, which it unwrapped and consumed from a nearby treetop. We'll know better for next time.
The evening wrapped up with a bright orange Kenyan sunset just as we arrived back in Nairobi, all sufficiently safari-ed out, pleasantly tired, and looking forward to another eventful week of teaching, business plans, and the adventure that has been our trip thus far.
With Love,
The SE101: Kenya Team.
Our weekend of celebration, however, didn't start with our meat-eating binge. Friday afternoon, Kathleen invited us to a free concert at the local Alliance Francaise: the annual event was called Spotlight on Kenyan Music, and was absolutely terrific. Featuring a veritable cabaret of female vocalists, jazz bands, traditional Masai chanting and even a blind self-taught guitarist/floutist/singer, we really were treated to exceptional talent that was clearly very popular among the local youth in attendance. We certainly didn't hesitate to buy a CD of this year's featured musicians, and Jessie even had the good fortune to have hers autographed by her personal favourite - the young Masai activist who combined traditional chanting with modern beats and political messages.
Not yet ready to call it a night (and happily enjoying the 100 shilling beer), some of the team decided to take on the local wildlife and headed to Tacos, a hopping joint with a knock-off Taco Bell logo for a sign. We met up with Stephen, one of our Daystar students at Kibera, and spent the evening enjoying more of the local brew (Tusker, fyi), the company, and even a song or two on the dance floor. It seems to be the case that in Kenya, dancing brings people together; thus, thanks to his smooth moves, Kevin met a few members and even the coach of the National Kenyan Cricket team. Alvina and Stephen were met with less success, but nonetheless enjoyed the occasion to "shake what their mamas gave them", as the local expression goes. Tragically, Brent and Jim were not to be found getting their grove on, but we
think it likely they'll be dragged into it by the end of the trip.
Our weekend of festivities was dominated by trips to various animal-viewing grounds. First stop: the Nairobi Giraffe Centre, where one could entertain him/herself by feeding giraffes from raised verandahs, and (secondarily, of course) learn all about the histories and habits of African giraffes. Some of the more adventurous deigned to hold a piece of giraffe food between their lips, and as the rest of us looked on with a combination of gleeful disgust and horrified captivation, both young and old (and mostly American) stepped up to undergo the touristy rite of passage. We happily resigned ourselves to the traditional hand-to-mouth technique, even sneaking in a timid yet affectionate pat now and again. And for everyone's information, a giraffe's tongue is dark, leathery, and unsurprisingly slimy.
Our next adventure took us to the Nairobi Animal Orphanage, where a greater variety of animals could be appreciated. Although not nearly as exciting as fauna in the wild, it was nice to at least be guaranteed that we'd see them, seeing as you can't get far behind a chain-link fence. Speaking of getting behind chain-link fences, Art, Alvina and Jessie managed to sweet-talk their way into the cheetah cage, so under the extremely tight observation of a barrage of groundskeepers, they managed to score a picture. When it is up, you will notice a pained look of control on Art's face, thinly veiling an expression of sheer terror.
Last stop on our African safari: Lake Nakuru National Park. Known as an ornithological paradise, it boasts one of the highest number of different species of bird of any national park in the world. Within metres into the park, it was easy to see how it got its reputation: we saw a whack of funky looking birds (none of whose names we caught), and turning the bend towards the lake, we were immediately greeted by a sea full - or more like an entire lake full - of bright pink cheerfully squawking flamingos. I kid you not: at best estimate, there were probably several thousand of them stretching in a warbling colour mass from shore to shore, right down to the horizon. It was like the world's fair of flamingos was being held at Lake Nakuru that very day, and we just happened to stumble upon it. Very cool.
In other news, we saw the usual horde of zebras, buffalo, and even a couple of impalas fighting for domination, but other than a brief sighting of a black rhino, the flamingos were definitely the highlight. We also spotted a bunch of park visitors who were dumb enough to leave food lying around for baboons (and then panicked when the baboons came after them), but such guests unfortunately don't seem to be a rare species. Judge not lest ye be judged, though: a particularly cheeky monkey found its way into our van when we weren't looking, and managed to sneak away with one of Alvina's granola bars, which it unwrapped and consumed from a nearby treetop. We'll know better for next time.
The evening wrapped up with a bright orange Kenyan sunset just as we arrived back in Nairobi, all sufficiently safari-ed out, pleasantly tired, and looking forward to another eventful week of teaching, business plans, and the adventure that has been our trip thus far.
With Love,
The SE101: Kenya Team.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
12 hours in Dubai
As this is our first blog, I felt it would be appropriate to welcome you all and encourage you all to keep up with our updates for the next three weeks. At the moment, I am sitting at a Costa Coffee in Dubai International Airport with Jessie and Art. We've been here for over 10 hours and have already exhausted all possible methods of alleviating our boredom, which include: spending 2 hours finding each other at the airport, sampling moisturizers and perfumes at Dubai's world famous duty free shops, sitting and lying down in random corners of the airport and reclining in the lounge of the $50 USD per hour hotel in the airport without relinquishing a cent. We did, however, get the chance to get to know each other better since we will be spending the next three weeks working in close proximity with each other. And Art just told the 'funniest' joke ever.
Needless to say, we're pretty tired from the long flights, but we're excited about the project and are looking forward to reuniting with the rest of the team in Nairobi tonight and tomorrow!
Needless to say, we're pretty tired from the long flights, but we're excited about the project and are looking forward to reuniting with the rest of the team in Nairobi tonight and tomorrow!
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