Africa Odyssey in Nairobi – The Safari Capital of the World
Emirates Flight took off from C.S.I .Airport, Mumbai in the early hours of 29th July to Nairobi via Dubai, its busy hub. As we have to wait in transit for 5 hours to catch the next flight ,we strolled in the sprawling and captivating duty-free shopping arcades ,window shopping. In the afternoon, the Emirates flight took off for Nairobi, a distance of 5500 KM and landed at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by 20.30 hours .After completing visa on- arrival formalities, we were received by our son, who has been at Nairobi as a business executive in a MNC for East and South Africa. We drove into his service apartment in Lavington area, in the heart of Nairobi. The name Nairobi comes from the Masai phrase ‘Enkare Nairobi’ which means cool water, reference to Nairobi river, which flows through the city .The city is popularly referred to as the ‘Green City in the Sun’.
Nairobi has a subtropical highland climate .At 5889 ft above sea level, night is very cool, especially in the June to August season, and the temperature can drop to 9.c (48.F). We could feel the impact of cold at night, demystifying the popular belief that Nairobi might be very hot as it is situated close to equator. The mean maximum temperature is 24.c (75.F).
The service apartment is located at 75, Isaac Gathanju road in the Lavington area, where expat communities predominate. Majority of population belong to Indian and Chinese origin. Markedly the rising influence of China was felt seeing the numerous Chinese T.V channels and infrastructure projects handled by Chinese experts. While discussing about political trajectory, came to know about one, Dr. Swarup Ranjan Mishra ,whose ‘Medi-heal‘group of medicals, has been rendering medical facilities to the Kenyan people for the last 24 years. His popularity was amply proved recently when he fought an election and won handsomely to become a Member of Parliament after taking citizenship and assuming a Kenyan name - Kiprop Arap Chelule , belonging to Kalenjin tribe inhabiting in Eldoret area in the Rift Valley .The Kalenjin tribe is regarded as an athletics tribe as most of the Kenyan Olympians are from this tribe .As per the 2017 official Gazette Asians are declared 44th tribe in addition to 43 indigenous tribes in Kenya .It was heartening to know that Dr.Mishra hails from Panchapali village of Jagatsinghpur district , in Odisha, India.
Almost a century ago when Africa was infamously known as-Dark Continent; another physician - Dr. Albert Schweitzer driven by a missionary zeal could venture to take an arduous journey from Germany through the South Atlantic sea port Gentil ,Cape Lopez deep into a French colony (Gabon), covering 320 km by raft in 14 days in the hazardous ,serpentine River Ogooue to establish his ‘Albert Schweitzer Hospital’ at Lambarene in French Equatorial Africa in 1913. Dr Schweitzer a humanitarian , philosopher ,theologian, writer, musician and above all a dedicated physician devoted his entire life in his Lambarene hospital ,to alleviate the afflictions of the poverty-stricken ,emaciated patients suffering from leprosy and other tropical diseases, until his death in 1965.However,the 1952 Nobel Peace prize was bestowed on Dr Albert Schweitzer for his philosophy of ‘Reverence For Life’ as a mark of deep gratitude for his unparalleled philanthropic service for over half a century to the impoverished section of mankind in the Dark Continent (during that time)-Africa .
As we are on a month long tour to cover the African Safari, Picturesque lakes and places of tourist importance, our tour itinerary was devised accordingly. Before embarking upon our long cherished trip to Masai Mara, we decided to begin with the local tours keeping the last leg for the much touted African safari to August end when the mass migration of wildebeest would be at its peak.
MASAI MARKET - On the following Wednesday of our arrival, our plan was to visit Masai Market for purchase of authentic African souvenirs. Peculiarly the Masai Market moves around the city on different days of the week typically operating from 8AM to 6 PM at each location. The seat of the Wednesday weekend market was at the capital centre on Mombasa road which was nearer to our apartment. We got awestruck seeing the colorful display of art ware, handicrafts, hand-crafted beaded jewelry and colorful clothing. We purchased a handful of handicrafts to keep them as memorabilia.
ISCON - Hare Krishna Temple - Next leg of our tour was programmed to pay a holy visit to the ISKON- Hare Krishna Temple. We were quite amazed , seeing some locals, most prominently Sri Conard Das , taking the lead in the Sankritan Mandali ,putting on ethnic dhoti ,kurta and smearing sandal paste on his forehead in a Vaishnavite pattern .In the basement, a sprawling restaurant,’Govinda Restaurant’ makes Prasad affordable .The restaurant is subsidizing its sacrificed vegetarian food or prasadam ,so that it is affordable to the low –income workers .The Govinda Restaurant projects a warm and welcome vibe even before you enter, with the wide eyed deity of its name smiling broadly from a colorful Ratna Singhasan.
NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK - The Nairobi National Park, 113 sq.km of forest, plains and cliffs, is unique one as it is located in the close vicinity of the capital city, so much so that wild animals were entering into the city prior to the erection of electric fencing. More than 400 species of birds are found in Nairobi National Park. One can see a herd of wildebeests, a group of zebras, towers of giraffes, a flock of Rhinos, a leap of Cheetahs, and a large pride of Lions, living wild within 20 minutes of drive from the centre of the capital city. Seeing these gorgeous animals outside of a cage, and observing them in their natural habitat, is really an awesome and surreal feeling. The park is a place of great adventure and exotic sights. These exotic sites are the reason why tourists are dreaming to go to Africa to have once in a life time experience.
GIRAFFE CENTRE - Giraffe centre is located in Langata , approximately 20 km from the city centre of Nairobi .It was established in order to protect the endangered giraffes, that is found only in the grasslands of east Africa. This Giraffe Centre, a nature sanctuary was started by a wildlife conservationist Jock Leslie Melville, the Kenyan grandson of a Scottish Earl, when he and his wife Betty captured two baby giraffe to start a programme of breeding giraffe on their Langata property. Since then the programme has had huge success ,resulting in introduction of several breeding pairs of Rothschild Giraffe into Kenyan national park .There is an information centre imparting knowledge about distribution of Giraffe population in Africa. The main attraction, for both school children and visitors, is feeding giraffes from a raised circular observation platform .We felt excited as well as apprehensive to feed the Giraffes, but enjoyed the affectionate touch of the long tongue of Giraffe while feeding them with some type of foodstuff available in the observation tower.
WESTGATE MALL - As per our tour itinerary, we visited the upscale shopping mall, located in Westland division of Nairobi frequented by the elite sections of Nairobi, mostly the embassy personnel and expat foreigners. A 2013 terrorist attack on the mall resulted in death of at least 67 people ,including 4 attackers and 175 nonfatal injuries .The mall underwent refurbishments and subsequently reopened on 18th July 2015 The dreaded Al - Shabab terrorist group operating from Somalia claimed the responsibility .
LAKE NAIVASHA - Keeping the programme to the last leg of our trip for Masai Mara ,National Reserve ,we visited the picturesque lake Naivasha and amazing prehistoric Hell’s Gate gorge on following Wednesday .Lake Naivasha is a fresh water lake in Kenya , outside town of Naivasha in Nakuru county ,which lies 91 km north of Nairobi. It is a part of Great Rift Valley with average depth 20 ft expanding to a vast area of 139 sq km. We went for a boat ride in VIP area, because the other part of the lake was for the residents as recommended by our tour guide. It was a great experience. The camp area is a beautiful place with a lovely huge lawn. We booked a boat for $50 for one hour boating in the beautiful lake .The boatman was well informed on all animals and birds of the lake. We could be able to spot lots of bird species and this is the only place where we found Hippopotamus under water near our boat in families. The boat guide was quite knowledgeable, about their underwater locations and maintained safe distance. Flocks of Flamingos were a wonderful site. There was a small restaurant and clean wash rooms. We were spellbound by the captivating and panoramic view of the lake and its surroundings. Place was so calm and serene. We had a bowl of rice with a chicken leg piece akin to Hydrabadi biryani and a bottle of coke for our lunch.
HELL’S GATE NATIONAL PARK - Hell’s Gate National park is situated to the south; 25 km away from Lake Naivasha. Hell’s Gate National park is named after a narrow break in the cliffs, once a tributary of a prehistoric lake that fed early humans in the Rift Valley. The park received its name- Hell’s Gate by explorers Fisher and Thomson in 1883.The park view is spectacular and climbing in the Hell’s Gate is very exciting and thrilling. Our tour guide with a glint in his eyes gleefully informed about shooting of Hollywood films in this picturesque and panoramic park. The topography of the park was heavily modeled as main setting of the 1994 Hollywood blockbuster, The Lion King .The 2003 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider- The cradle of Life was shot on location in this park.
Kenya’s capital city has risen in a single century ,from an uninhabited swampland , founded in 1899 by the colonial authorities in British East Africa ,as a railhead depot on the Mombasa- Uganda Railway, to a thriving modern capital and to be crowned as smart city of the year in 2017 in a world convention held at Barcelona ,Spain. Nairobi, a sprawling city, that like many other African metropolises is a study in contrast, with modern skyscrapers looking out over vast shantytowns in the distance, many harboring refugees fleeing civil wars in neighboring countries. Home to thousands of Kenyan business and over 100 major International companies and organizations including the United Nations Environment Programme and United Nations Office at Nairobi(UNON);Nairobi has emerged as an established hub for business and culture .Modern Nairobi is still the safari capital of Africa.
Mr. Gouranga Charan Roul (gcroul.roul@gmail.com)
The author, after completing post graduate studies in political science from Utkal University, Odisha in 1975, worked as a senior intelligence sleuth in the department of Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax and retired as senior superintendent. As a staunch association activist, he used to hold chief executive posts either as General Secretary or President of All India Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officer's Association, Odisha for 20 years. Presently in the capacity of President of Retired Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officer's Association, Odisha, coordinating the social welfare schemes of the Association. Being a voracious reader, taking keen interest in the history of India, Africa, Europe and America. In his globe tottering spree, widely travelled America and Africa. At times contributing articles to various magazines.
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