A WEEK-END OF GOODBYES

It works out exactly 3 weeks before I head off for an overland trip of 2.5 months, well not counting the week that I am back in Nairobi in November, it is actually 4 months including my trip back to Australia….holy cow…… 4 months is a long time to be away from home, but then I need to pinch myself and just enjoy the ride that has been offered to me and after getting a few lovely messages from friends in the last few weeks I love to say I am an ordinary person living an extra-ordinary life.  It came at a cost, but it is how we pick ourselves up and make the most of our opportunities.  I believe if I can pay it forward then I am giving back what I can to people who don’t have the same opportunities that I have had all my life.  To pay it forward is a term describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying it to others instead of to the original benefactor.

This was a busy week-end of saying goodbyes and it is a sign of the coming weeks to come as I pretty much sign off out of Kenya for the rest of the year.  I got a message a few weeks ago from a travel buddy that I met and shared a room with on an Intrepid tour of Morocco 2 years ago.  Susan was coming to Nairobi to do Intrepid's Gorilla and game Park tour and she sent me a message asking of I wanted to catch up.  I LOVE catching up with people from previous trips and I think over the next few years as people pick Africa as a destination, I will be seeing more of my fellow past travellers than I would ever had dreamed of and it is a wonderful feeling.  It will be an even better felling when I finally have my own set of wheels and I don’t have to pay a 40AUD taxi to be able to do it, but I am not going to think about that at the moment as I only have 3 more weeks of taxis and then when I come back I will be buying a car-so I am just sucking up the costs for now.  As it works out my peeps from my Kenya Safari tour were due back on Saturday and some of them had donated some pillows and blankets that they had bought for the tour, that they didn’t want to take home with them to me, which I in turn will pass them onto the Halfway House for the pregnant women who stay with us at The Nest.  Luckily Susan was staying at the Intrepid hotel so I was able to kill 2 birds with one stone.  I was hoping to see the truck come in, but they were due in at 12 noon and I wasn’t getting there till 3pm, so I missed the guys coming in, but I was catching up with Nic on Sunday for dinner at Carnivore but unfortunately I wouldn’t get to see the others.

I arrived at the Kivi Milimani at 2.50pm and waited for Susan in reception.  While I waited I asked about my ‘goodie’ bag that had been left and after 10 minutes they finally found the ‘missing’ bag and the book that I had to sign the goods out of-but typical Kenya-the bag was only dropped off 2 hours before, you would think the staff would remember it.  Anyway I got it in the end and it was perfect timing as Susan came in and she looked like she hadn’t changed a bit!  She had a pizza in her hand and said that her roomy (who she only met today) was outside and would we mind joining her.  I said of course not and I was introduced to her roomy Sarah.  She has been working in Ethiopia for the last 3 months (can anyone else see where this is going to go??).  I told her that I loved Ethiopia and that I had an Ethiopian ex-boyfriend.  She asked what his name was and when I said Zeme, there was a pause and we carried on talking.  As the conversation continued about my travels and how long and many times I had been to Ethiopia and why we broke up (money), Sarah just came out and asked if his surname was Moges?!  Well you could have knocked me over with a feather.  Basically she did a 2 week trip in Ethiopia and he was one of the drivers on the tour.  I tell you it is a small world-really it is and she showed me some pictures with him in them and there was no mistake, it was definitely him!!  Sarah has an Ethiopian boyfriend and after telling her my story/saga with Zeme it put her a little down, second guessing her relationship with her Ethiopian man.  I told her that just because I had a bad experience with an Ethiopian guy doesn’t mean that hers will turn out like my relationship had but my advice was to just be careful and to not give money, no matter what. 

While I was talking to Susan and Sarah, Linda (from my Kenyan Safari) was walking past and heard my laugh, so it was nice to see her and get some goss on the second week of their trip and the group.  She was looking for Janice and Smokey, and I told her when she found them to stop back so that I could say goodbye to them all.  Smokey and Janice were flying out that night and Linda was following tomorrow.  So I caught up with the 3 of them, got some photos and with the promise that I would come to visit them in South Africa, we hugged goodbye.  I felt like Miss Popular, knowing the guy at reception from previous trips, meeting Susan, running into Linda and then Smokey and Janice, it looked and felt like I was living in Nairobi, oh that’s right I am!!!! It would have been cool to see some of my previous guides and that would have been extra Miss Popular points.  So that was goodbye number one.

After speaking more with Susan and Sarah it was time for me to head off as I had Steve waiting in the car and I had to hoof it over to Katie’s place.  So I asked Susan when she was back from tour and have marked it in my diary and we can see if we can make it out to the Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe sanctuary.  It is going to be 3 days before I leave so I just need to see where I am placed, but you can never get too much of the ellies and giraffes!!!!  I LOVE meeting up with past travel buddies, it is part of the reason I travel, to meet new people and I have always been super lucky on every single trip that I have made some very good friends.  So it was great to see Susan again and it was also very random meeting Sarah and as she said-we were meant to meet for a reason today, having Ethiopia in common, a little random, a little scary and for me it was more justification that I am well and truly over Zeme but I am glad for him that he is getting some work.  So with a few photos and promises to keep in touch I said goodbye to Susan and Sarah.  Goodbye number two.

I’m still getting my bearings around the city and I didn’t realise just how close Katie’s place was to the Kivi Milimani Hotel.  Being a Saturday, traffic was light and we made it in just 15 minutes, if that, getting me there just before 5pm.  It was great to see Katie again, as she has been travelling (a lot) and this was the first week-end in 4 weeks that we were both in town, which was great because we were having dinner with Jo and Jess tonight and it all worked in perfectly.  At 6pm, after Katie and I decided that we weren’t going to drink tonight (shocking I know) and drove the 10 minutes to Jo and Jess’s place and what an amazing place it was.  Jo was in Nairobi doing a maternity leave post and her time had expired and she was heading back to South Africa.  While she was here, she was living in a corporate sponsored accommodation and I got a glimpse into how the other half live here.  Her lounge room was as big as my whole place-it was massive and beautiful and I can see now how the ‘corporate’ people live in Nairobi!!!  There were pineapple and mint cocktails waiting for us when we arrived and after a bit of dip and breads, we decided to have Chinese for dinner (Ethiopian was crossed off as a choice as Katie is not a big fan), but how many Ethiopian things want to pop up today?  We only drove 10 minutes to ‘For You’ Chinese Restaurant.  I had been here a few months ago with Laura and Claire and knew that the food was delicious, but we got there late when we went, whereas today we were there 7pm and I have to say it was one of the biggest Chinese restaurants I have ever seen.  There was the main building, which looked like a converted house, and then out the back there were 2 large marquee tents, and then there were 2 outdoor sections with tables-it was very extensive, but not cramped and the food service was quick considering how many people were arriving after us and the food did not disappoint.  We ended up eating 2 spring rolls for entrée, shared 4 dishes with rice for main and we all had a drink each, including tip it came to 1100KSH (13AUD) each!  Can’t argue with a cost like that and there was enough left overs that we took home for at least another 3 meals!!  The downside to getting there early was that we were parked in with 2 cars behind us but that is apparently the way they park the cars in off the street and when cars need to be moved they walk around the premises with a magic board with the number plates of the cars that need to be moved and the people who own their cars have to leave dinner to move them right away.  I guess it is a system that works, but you either get there early and be blocked in or you get there later and you just may have to move your car more than once which is a little bit of a pain.  It didn’t take the guards too long to find the car owners and after around a 10 minute wait we were in the car and driving back to Jo and Jess’s.  Everyone was a little knackered, so we said out goodbyes to Jo, as she heads back to Durban next week, and we wish her all the best and know that we will definitely meet up with her again sometime in the future.  Jess is here for another 3 months.  But for the third goodbye, later Jo and safe travels to you and good-luck.

I stayed at Katie’s as I was catching up with a travel buddy I met last week on my Kenyan Wildlife Safari and it was going to be cheaper to catch a taxi from Katie’s to Carnivore than heading home to my place and then back again to that side of town.  Not one to miss a movie opportunity, Katie and I went to the movies on Sunday morning and we were shocked that this is what a Sunday morning looks like without a hangover!  We left home at 9.30am and had no worries finding a park at Junction (this is a bonus in itself) for a 10am showing and after we had paid for our movie ticket, a popcorn (it is never too early for popcorn) and a drink all for the grand total of 750KSH (9.30AUD) each and we walked into the movie theatre.  The cleaning crew were still in there cleaning up from the night before (and it was a mess with popcorn everywhere) and there was a door open down the front.  We were asked to take a front seat until they had finished, which they did just as the pre-views started to play and we were able to move to some different seats.  We were the only ones in the theatre to watch 2 Hands with Denzel Washington and Matt Damon and it was a great movie and far better than the last one that we saw-Man of Steel (it was crap).  After the movie I took the opportunity to have KFC for lunch.  There aren’t many KFC stores around my part of town, so it is a bit of a luxury to be able to get it and after getting a 2 piece meal for 750KSH (9.30AUD) we headed home for the afternoon.  I got a message from Nic at 5pm that she was on her way to Carnivore and it was time for me to say goodbye to Katie, and it just may well be for the rest of the year!!!  With her travel commitments and my trip away, if we Katie isn’t here for my week back in Nairobi in November then it will be late December before we are both back in Nairobi at the same time.  Crazy town hey!!!  So with hugs and promises to keep in touch via Facebook, Katie was my forth good-bye for the weekend.  I’m going to miss my African BF and I wish you safe travels and a postcard from Timbuktu.

To top odd what had been a very busy weekend was catching up with Nic at Carnivore.  I haven’t been here since Cris was here in March, but I do love the place, even if it is a little expensive, but it worth bringing visitors to Nairobi here and Nic and I had arranged this meet up during our trip last week.  As it worked out I only arrived a few minutes before Nic and it was like catching up with an old friend.  Our booking was for 6pm, so we took a seat at the bar and had a drink as Nic filled me in on the second week of the trip and all the goings on with the new group and they do sound like a little bit of a nightmare!!  We moved to our table a little after 6pm and we let the meat fest begin. 

Carnivore is an open-air restaurant and as the name would suggest, its specialty is meat, and features an all-you-can-eat meat buffet.  It is very popular with the tourists and in 1999, the restaurant seated 350 people and the restaurant's 330 employees served over 1000 people per day.  The Carnivore opened its doors in September 1980 to instant success. The food, service and atmosphere are strikingly different from anything ever seen in Kenya. The Carnivore is a meat specialty restaurant and it is referred to as 'the ultimate 'Beast of a Feast'.  Twice voted amongst the world’s 50 best restaurants by an expert panel in ‘Restaurant Magazine'.  The Carnivore since its inception has played host to over 2 million customers from across the globe. 

So what is the secret?  The meat is constantly basted and turned until cooked to perfection, making the meat succulent and well flavoured. The Carnivore doesn’t conform to the familiar restaurant traditions of passing out menus and waiting for people to order. Diners simply take their seats on the Zebra striped chairs and the movable feast begins.  First comes the soup of the day then a sizzling cast-iron plate is placed in front of each guest along with a plate of home baked brown bread and butter.  Then an army of carvers wearing zebra striped aprons and straw hats then move from table to table carrying the Masai swords laden with different prime meats deliberately carving unlimited amounts onto the sizzling, cast iron plates.  The beast of feast begins with whole joints of meat - legs of lamb and pork, ostrich, rumps of beef, sirloins, racks of lamb, spare ribs, sausages, chicken wings, skewered kidneys, crocodile and ox balls-are roasted on traditional Masaai swords over a huge, spectacular charcoal pit which dominates the entrance of the restaurant when you arrive.  The Carnivore was inspired on the Rodízio concept of the Brazilian Churrascaria steak houses.  There is also a small selection of side dishes and an exceptional array of sauces that are made from the Carnivore’s own recipes and stacked on to a double storey-revolving tray in the centre of the table.  The feeding frenzy doesn’t stop until defeat is declared by the over-fed guests who signal that enough is enough by lowering of a carnivore paper flag that is perched atop the central tray and when you think there is no room for anything else dinner is then followed by dessert and coffee. The full meal including a soup course is at a set price of 3250KSH (38AUD) which is expensive, and you can get something similar at other places around the city cheaper, but they are not ‘Carnivore’ and I think it is worth paying the money at least once to dine here on a visit to Nairobi.  The atmosphere of The Carnivore combines the rustic feel of a rural environment with the feeling of a medieval banqueting hall and is accomplished by the use of streams and tropical gardens throughout the restaurant, and by using rough-hewn beams and local woods. 

Another famous feature to set the tone of the Carnivore experience is the house cocktail The 'Dawa' (which means medicine or magic potion in Swahili).  In other words, a Dawa is said to be so potent that it will cure whatever ails you!!!  Since moving here and first tasting the Dawa, I am a BIG fan and I am always introducing the potent drink to anyone who is keen to give it a taste.  The recipe is based on a famous Brazilian drink that was introduced to Kenya. It is now one of the most widely consumed cocktails in the country today.  There are 4 main ingredients including vodka, lime, sugar and honey and when you get your drink at Carnivore it comes with a ‘Dawa’ stick and you spend the next 5-10 minutes mixing in the honey and sugar that has settle in the bottom of your glass and crushing the limes-but it is certainly worth the wait and is my most favourite cocktail!  I have fallen in LOVE with this drink.  So the next 3 hours was spent eating as much meat as we possibly could, drinking 4 Dawa’s each (I think we were the clients of the night) and I also got to keep all the dawa sticks including an extra one from the Dawa man, adding 9 more sticks to my collection to have when I make own my home made dawa’s.  It was a great way to end a great week-end even if it was full of goodbyes and for the fifth goodbye of the weekend, Nic caught her hotel’s taxi, that we just fluked as we were coming out of Carnivore with 2 businessmen that were staying at the same hotel as her.  Jammy, and she text me later to say she didn’t have to pay a penny as it was already paid for by their company!!!

So it really was a week-end of goodbyes, some people I will see again, others maybe not for a long time, but I wish you all safe travels to where ever it is that you are heading and again I thank-you all for being a part of my life/adventure.