A Trip to Nairobi

So something a little different this week, I am in Nairobi instead of the Mara! We come to Nairobi periodically to get supplies and various chores done and this post will tell you exactly what that entails.

Two of our primary reasons to come to Nairobi is to see the mechanic and get more liquid nitrogen (LN2) for our biological samples. We have mechanics where we live in the Mara, but sometimes the cars need a lot more love than they can find locally. We usually drop the car off first thing when we get to Nairobi, and the car generally dictates when we can leave for the Mara. We also need to refill our LN2 tanks to keep our samples frozen. For that we make a long trek to downtown Nairobi to get them refilled, but it’s well worth it for the data they contain!

Grocery shopping is another chore that happens in Nairobi. We can get some things locally, but items such as cheese, meat, and specific fruits and veggies come exclusively from the city. These aren’t necessities of course, but it sure is nice to have bacon with breakfast once in a while! By the end of the trip our cruiser is loaded with bags and bags of provisions, and the days after a Nairobi trip are filled with delicious artery-clogging meals! (Which let me be clear, our meals are ALWAYS delicious, but having cheese again after some time without it is wonderful.)

The Hub Mall, where we go for groceries, mpesa, and more!

These three things are the main reasons we come to the city, but there are definitely a ton of other smaller chores that need to get done too. We refill our mpesa, a sort of electronic bank account, we check the mail, and we pay rent. We’re fortunate enough to be able to rent out a small cottage in the suburb of Karen, so we have a home base for all our operations while we’re here. We also have to keep our immigration process moving along, so we will frequently go to the downtown offices to make sure that’s going smoothly as well. These are all things we’ve done this trip, and there’s even more besides that! I won’t bore you with the details but there’s never a dull moment in Nairobi.

Downtown Nairobi

This trip has been unusually long, two and a half weeks, because of work that needed to be done on the car. Thankfully though we are at last heading home tomorrow. Don’t get me wrong, Nairobi is a fun and interesting change of pace to have, but after a while I just want to get back to the Mara and the hyenas! Wish me luck for a safe journey back tomorrow!