Saturday, February 19, 2011

A Touristy Day in Nairobi


Saturday, February 19, 2011
Today we were ‘rise and shine’ girls!! Up at 6:30, to breakfast by 7:30 and off to the Maasai Market by 8. First, there were no Maasai. It was simply a large craft market. We had to bar-gain but now there are men who meet you at the gate and go round with you to collect what you might want. Then at the end, they bar-gain to get the ‘best’ price for you. By the time we had gone only 20 metres, I was not pleased with this. I told them I was not comfortable with this system as the three of them hung over us saying we should get this and what about that? When we asked the price, they would say ‘oh we will get you a good price at the end’. After ten minutes of this I had the first “episode”. I said we were also spending other people’s money. They had sent only so much. If we got to the end and the price was too much, then we had to start over to get our friends’ items. We got a couple of prices but nothing firm. I asked one of the women vendors a question and Simon, ‘our helper’ answered for her. I was hot!! I said to him, “Does she not have a voice?!” She appeared to fear him a bit. Or maybe she was just uncomfortable with a woman speaking to a man in that manner. We continued.

I asked the price of a small child’s outfit…4500/- (about $58). It was a simple top and shorts with a stamped giraffe on it. It was worth $8 at Wal-Mart. Now I was very hot and the whole side of the market was aware of it. I told these men that I did not like their system. I could see no reason to continue as I now knew their prices were inflated and I was finished. Amber had picked out a few things but said she agreed so we headed for the gate. Apologetic men were ready to be nice. We resumed shopping and then the bar-gaining began. We separated out things. I did my items one by one. A bracelet he wanted 4,000/-; I paid 1,600/-. A necklace-2,000/-; I paid 800/=. I had managed to get a price on bookmarks so that only left the small outfit. I had said leave it but he brought it so we could come to an agreement. He gave me the ‘this is good fabric’, the ‘seamstress has spent much time’, the ‘giraffe were hand painted’, etc. story but for me, he would come down to only 4,000/-, then 3,500/-, then 2,500/-, then what do you want to pay? I said 800/-. He complained, I said then leave it. He offered 2,000/-. I said leave it. Amber was having less luck. Her dealer wanted to work in dollars and her small pile was $385. She had 16 carved animal napkin rings, 1 shuka, 2 kikois, 5 carved animals, 2 oil paintings not stretched and a couple of small things. I told her it was worth maybe $100. And the dance had begun. I’m not sure of her total cost but it was much closer to $100 than even $200.



While we were doing all of this, a young mother with a baby on her back came and whispered that she needed food for the baby. I told her quietly that we would meet her outside but when I got out money for the vendors, I palmed some. She may have seen it for she came up and asked if I wanted to see the baby again. I don’t usually give to beggars but I thought she was very brave to come to the ONLY white people in a sea of hundreds of vendors and shoppers. There was an older man selling copper bracelets. He slipped up to me and said “I have seen how you are. Can you buy some bracelets from me?” He also said I was like his mother. He asked for $20 for 8 and we bar-gained down to $12 for 8 and he was happy. Now the “helpers” were asking us for tips for all the assistance we had received. I refused and told them I still wasn’t sure the money would go to the women who were working the booths. Now we were really on the way out. I saw a rungu that Amber and I had talked about—something Masai warriors carry. First price 2000/-, final price 900/-. Now we were out….what a harrowing morning. Fortunately Amber was familiar with the markets from her time in Jamaica.
We walked back to the Hilton to meet up with our taxi driver who was taking us to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. Along the way, I asked the driver if he is Kisii…he replied that he was and was surprised that I could tell. I told him it was from the way he mixed up “p” and “b”. He chuckled and we had a nice chat on our 45 minute drive with several traffic jams on the way.

 We saw Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in uniform cleaning up the easements along the road. We got a few pictures. You can only see the baby elephants from 11-12. We arrived at 11:05, hurried back and of course, all the tall men were at the front so children and short women had problems. The Kenya Wildlife Service attendant explained about the elephants and ‘introduced’ them by name.

One was only a few weeks old. There was a large watering hole that brought the elephants great joy as they slid down into the mud. After 25 minutes the smallest were taken in and the ‘teenage’ elephants, those about 2-3 years old were brought out. At about this time, the battery on my camera died. Amber was still taking pics. We did enjoy these babies. Wart hogs were wandering about. There was a rhino in a cage so we stopped to see him and then beat the crowd out to our vehicle. Our driver waits for us when we go into these places and we pay an hourly rate for his time plus our transport rate.
Our next stop was the Sarit Centre, a shopping mall that appeals to foreigners (us) and Kenyans of some means. I had asked a friend who is working on her PhD to meet us there. She called to see if we would pick her up in Karen. The driver felt it was out of the way (by 5 km.) but he did it. We looked around the mall a bit and then had lunch at a Java House. Java House is a chain of restaurants that are a cross between Starbucks and Panera. I could tell Angeline had no idea what to order. Amber had a burrito and I had a quesadilla. We described those to Angeline and she ordered a quesadilla. She and I shared a piece of Red Velvet cake later. Our chat was very good. It was particularly nice for Angeline as she is becoming discouraged in her doctoral thesis work. Amber encouraged her, gave her some authors to investigate and explained a system of coding for her data. After a couple of hours we left. Angeline had an appointment at the Nazarene University. She had security get us a taxi…the cheapest one so far…and we returned to the hotel. She did ride into town with us so she could get a matatu to go back to where she is staying. She lives and studies in Kakamega at the university there but was in Nairobi for a conference and was using the library at Nazarene University.
There was an aggravating situation with the electronic stuff. I tried to charge my camera battery. I had a Kenyan adaptor and a convertor purchased in the US for $40. I put the adaptor in the wall, then the convertor, then the camera plug. The weight was too much so there was no connection.

 I was holding the converter with my left hand and the camera plug with my right to get juice. Amber brought a bag of stuff to prop up the plugs and that is how the camera battery was recharged. My computer plug will not fit into my adaptor or converter so I’m waiting for Amber’s adaptor to recharge the laptop. Technology!!
Our original plan had been to go to the American Memorial. It was only 4:15 now but I was too tired for a 6 block walk to and fro. We sorted out our purchases, made arrangements with the desk to hold one bag for us while we go upcountry and on safari and then Amber went for a swim and I took a nap.
She went down to the café to write more on her research. When she came back, what a hilarious story she had of some tourists from Philadelphia! I missed the funniest part of the day. Among other things…these folks are not understanding the exchange rate. Will they be surprised when they get their Visa bill!!
The plan for tonight is to finish sorting our things into the ‘take with’ bags and the ‘put in storage’ bags and get everything ‘charged up’. Tomorrow we are attending worship at Nairobi Pentecostal Church at 10 am. Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet; praise him with the harp and lyre. praise him with timbrel and dancing...praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord, Ps. 150:3,4a, 5a, 6. We may make it to the American Memorial. We leave for the airport at 5:15 am.

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