[Kenya] Last day

Safari #2
Since I took the bus to Mombasa ("Modern Coast" it was called), I decided to take the train on the way back. The train takes a longer time and is more expensive (Train: 1950Ksh/14 hrs Bus: 1200Ksh/11hrs) but I was told by a backpacker I met earlier that the train offers a whole different experience that is well worth the price (plus I wasn't all that excited about riding the purple and yellow bus again). With breakfast included and a sleeping couch, I look back and feel that it was the right decision.

The ride was from 7pm to 9am (initially), and there was an option to add dinner to that. Having a dinner on a train restaurant did sound appealing, but I decided to skrimp on that considering there's breakfast included in my purchase. So anyway, my 2nd class couch had 4 people in each room, but it wasn’t a full ride so it was 2 French men and myself. I don’t know if its just me but over half the backpackers I meet seems to be French.. anyhow, it was nice chatting with them and looking for animals from the window (3 grown up males looking for a giraffe is rather a rare scene).

So throughout the 14 hour trip, we were able to see giraffes, buffalos, wilderbeasts, deers, and zebras. So even though I spent 3 days in the Masai Mara safari looking for the “Big 5” and other wild animals, half of them I could of seen just by riding this train. So good that I didn’t see hippos and lions, cus then I would of sued the tour agency.

The Restaurant
…was awesome. Not like my expectations were particularly high, but I think the restaurant (breakfast) experience was well worth it. It also depends on what satisfies you. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the meal to anyone expecting the perfect service and the tastiest meal. But for those who thinks perfection is, well, boring (as it is), and that each happening or accident shapes your own experience, then you might find it quite enjoyable. For instance, the person sitting next to me at the table said this to me after asking me whether I knew why the train stopped for 20 minutes last night; “It’s cus in the restaurant we were having soup, and the train needed to stop for a while so we can drink it”. Does that happen anywhere else? Certainly cannot image it in Japan.

Also, the fruit salad served in breakfast, was in fact the leftover of last night’s desert. The egg was dry and the sausage had to be the world’s crispiest. If you can’t handle that, then don’t take this train.

Otherwise, the scenery, the coffee, the sleep, and the overall ride was good and I definitely don’t regret the choice.

Score! Noma Noma
After arriving in Nairobi (2 hours late), I wondered the city for couple hours. Kenyans are just the most warm, welcoming people. Literally stopping every 15 minutes to talk to some random person on the street (though half of them were trying to sell me stuff), I ended up with 10 to 15 names, emails, and phone numbers that I must later contact. Even those sellers and taxi drivers were usually friendly and I realized it was wrong to just completely shut them out, assuming they were trying to get into my wallet.

Anyhow, after walking around, looking at street shops, and talking to random Kenyans for about 2 hours, I spot a café from a distance away. Though it was couple streets off from the main street, for some weird reason, I decided that I wanted to walk by it. So without thinking much wondered off towards the café, little did I know at the time that I would spend 4 hours there.

Why? Easy, IT’S THE ONLY CAFÉ THAT OFFERS WIFI. Score! Noma Café is the name (thus the title). The sign said that minimum of 350ksh must be ordered in order to access but I really didn’t give a d*mn. In the end I only ordered a house coffee (90ksh) and no one came to say anything, so I walked out of there at 8pm (4 hours later).

Don’t do this
Seriously. Don’t pull this on me. During the time I left Noma Café until I met Brian back in the village, the Kenyan people have completely changed my mindset not once, not twice, but three times. That's like once in 20 minutes..

1. The waiter: His name is Kenny. During the 4 hours in the café he was very kind and understanding. Most waiters wouldn’t allow someone to just order a coffee and sit at a 4-people table for 4+ hours. But he didn’t say a word, in fact he kept asking if I was okay and even helped me find the bus station by drawing a map. Plus if it wasn’t for him, I’d probably would have had to buy another 290ksh worth of food.
2. The nurse: Thanks to Kenny I found the bus station. Now challenge: getting on the right bus and getting off at the right stop. This is actually the hard part..since its nearly impossible to figure out which bus is yours without any signs or staffs. This nice lady walks up to me and offers me help. Turns out she’s waiting for the same bus and is getting off just a station after mine, so she grabbed me and took me to the right bus. Honestly, I was a bit worried if I was really on the right bus (trauma from India..), but she even negotiated with the bus driver to drop me off exactly where I wanted to and asked the person in the front row to switch with me so I can get right off. During the 45 minute ride back, we talked a lot about African history, some issues of African politics, and a bit about each other. The 45 minutes passed like a flash, and before knowing, I was off the bus, exactly where I got on 5 days ago.
3. Its been a while since being in the neighborhood, so I wasn’t completely sure of the way back to Brian’s house. By this time it's a bit past 9pm, and its pitch dark outside. Trusting my slight memory and instinct, I started walking towards the direction I thought Brian’s house was. Within 3 seconds I was stopped by two guys who both got off the same bus as me. Ready to scream any moment, I paused and waited for what they were going to say. I feel bad now for being that scared because this is what they said (or something close): “It’s dangerous to walk alone here. Where are you going? Here, use this phone..” and after I borrowed his phone to contact Brian, they waited with me until he came. Wow. Is this a joke? Amazing. I was speechless..

So yeh that was my crazy 1-2 hour experience that completely changed my perspective towards…people in general, and especially Kenyans. Whatever view I had towards Kenyans were obviously wrong because I've been shocked continuous times by how they are and how they treat me.

Last night with Brian
I’m actually falling behind on this thing..I’m currently writing about the dinner with Brian 3 days after it actually happened, which means less detail and accuracy but ehhh bear with me.
When I got back to the village around 8:30pm I invited Brian for dinner. We promised to have Kenyan beer together before I left (which I deeply regret after drinking the dirt juice/beer in Masai village). So we went to this nearby hub that Brian supposedly goes to whenever theres a huge football match going on. He ordered us meat and ugali, which is similar to rice for asians. Basically flour mixed with water...eaten with salt. I told him that I'll treat him a beer, but I think he didn't understand me and thought that I was paying the whole bill. I didn't want to say anything so I just ended up paying for it. Didn't want to end it on a bad note with him, and he did let me sleep at this house twice so yeh.

The dinner was fun and we came home around 11 (all stores close at that time), and pretty much crashed right after that.