Hujambo!: Living and working in Nairobi, Kenya: Page 2

Nairobi’s favorite car

By Alan on December 10, 2011

A few months ago we bought a car, a pink Toyota Vitz. It’s not pretty, but the price was right and it gets the job done. Cassandra mostly uses it to get to and from work, but it’s really convenient for things like grocery shopping, dinner in the evening, etc, or simple when matatus or taxis are a pain wherever it is you’re going.

: Cassandra’s pink Vitz

Ironically, I had never heard of a Vitz until well after I moved to Nairobi (apparently they’re called “Yaris” in the US), but now I see them everywhere. A buddy of mine even quipped, “It’s Nairobi’s favorite car,” most undoubtedly because of its price, small form factor, and the way it sips gas (as opposed to gulping, of course).

Anyways, living in Nairobi these past two years has been a wildly-different experience than living in Tala. Unfortunately I never had the experience of driving around in Tala’s favorite car; just lots of run ins snakes, scorpions, and satanic goats. ;)

Posted in Kenya | Tagged Car, Cassandra, Kenya, Vitz, Westlands | 1 Response

That time of the year

By Alan on November 25, 2011

It seems the city council’s efforts to introduce a proper drainage system to the junction of Church and Rhapta roads have failed. As we’re now in Kenya’s “short” rain season it looks like I’ll have to get used to tip toeing around this small lagoon for a few more weeks.

: Church road flooded

This is the time of year to remember what it used to be like before you got a car… be courteous to all the people on the road! Slow down!

Posted in Kenya | Tagged flood, Kenya, rain, Westlands | 3 Responses

Fish are boring, we got turtles

By Alan on November 9, 2011

The pet store in the Westgate shopping mall sells terrapins (a small turtle species from Northern America). As we’ve had mixed luck with fish, we decided to get a few. They’re really cute, and a hell of a lot more interesting than fish…

: Our small red-eared slider, “Smalls”

This particular species is a red-eared slider, but it seems there are a handful of related terrapin species. They were apparently a delicacy in North America in the early 1900s, but high demand and over capture led to their near extinction after a only decade or two. I think I’ll pass on the turtle soup, thank you very much!

Ours are in a good home because Cassandra has gone to great lengths to make them feel comfortable. She even lets me take them out so they can walk around the house (they need air every once in awhile)!

A few more pictures

Here are a few more pictures from the day we got them. Before all the turtle rights activists get up on our case, their tank has grown in size considerably then!

: Terrapins waiting to be moved

: A happy Cassandra

Cassandra’s set up a blog to collect and disseminate information about the feeding, cleaning, and care of turtles in Kenya. You should probably go check it out if you’re interested in that kinda stuff:

Turtlets in Kenya

… the pictures alone are probably worth your while!

Posted in Kenya | Tagged Cassandra, Kenya, Nairobi, pets, terrapins, turtles | 5 Responses

Four years in Kenya

By Alan on October 26, 2011

Depending on how you count, today or yesterday marks four years since I’ve been in Kenya; I left the United States on October 25th, 2007, and arrived on the 26th. In those four years I’ve taught computer science classes, learned Swahili, traveled Eastern Africa, fainted and whacked my head on the floor, became a small-scale farmer, and bought a flat screen TV; what an adventure.

Here are some photo highlights (in no particular order):