Nairobi Diaries: The lion, my crutch and the Maasai’s wardrobe

2- 11 November 2016

Bernie in Kenya.

Pre-departure (preparing my bags):

Here are some key things to note before travelling to Kenya as a South African:

Visa – South African Passport Holders do not require visa into Kenya for period less than one month (http://www.kenya.org.za/consular.htm), further than that I assume you will need to organise a visa.

Yellow fever vaccination mandatory: When I returned to South Africa I had to show proof of my yellow fever vaccination by means of a valid yellow fever certificate. These certificates, which are valid for 10 years, must be approved by the World Health Organisation, and should be administered at a yellow fever approved vaccination centre at least 10 days before departure to , as the vaccine only offers protection 10 days after administration. So make sure you get your yellow fever shot ahead of time.

Malaria tablets recommended: You will need to take Malaria tablets for going to Kenya, though you will not be checked at border control for this. I had to receive a prescription from a doctor before I could buy any malaria tablets, so get that sorted also as soon as possible.

Language – Mostly everyone I met could speak English (and Swahili)

Experience at the University / Summit (unpacking and adding to my bags):

I had two agendas in Nairobi, first I was attending a Pan African Operations Research Summit for a 2-3 days, thereafter I visited the Univeristy of Nairobi (UoN) so as to be an ambassador/salesman for Stellenbosch University to encourage exchanges/collaborations between Stellenbosch Univerisity (SU) and UoN.

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But wait I think first of all you probably would like to know who am I, or alteast that’s what I hope. I am in my final year (just handed in, holding thumbs) of my PhD year at Industrial Engineering, SU. My interest lies amongst others in the field of operations research and thus my reason for attending the summit.

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The summit I attended was quite small (only 11 delegates), but was succesful none the less, with a new “umbrella” federation being set up for all the African operations research societies, which I will be an executive member (secretary) of.

Following the summit I visited the UoN, predominantly the Faculty of Arts the following week. My host there was Peter Wasamba (Dean of Arts) who has been SU a few times and is passionate and determined to see students do exhanges with SU. As you might know the Stellenbosch Post Graduuate and Internation Office has rebranded itself as Stellenbosch University International with a stronger focus on collaborations with African partner Universities.

Under the guidance of Prof Wasamba, I gave a ± 30 minute presentation, thereafter questions and answers to three prospective PhD students who plan to do their PhD at Stellenbosch Univeristy, starting January 2017. My talk was just on the environment and culture in and around Stellenbosch and what they could expect and should look out for.

I gave a similar presentation to around 30-40 undergradute students, who are enrolled under the Facutly of Arts. This was to create an awareness and encourage them to travel and do an exchange at SU.

I had about 45 minutes of very interesting questions from the students, and around another 45 minutes of pictures and selfies, which was lots of fun. I went out with a few students for some drinks on my last night (my trip was quite short) and they were sad they could not have taken me out more around Nairobi.

Experience of Nairobi:

Kenya is popularly epitomised in the West as “Africa”. For example Disney’s the Lion King borrows it’s native language, Swahili for terms such as Simba (meaing Lion) and the setting and animals in the movie. The book and movie “Out of Africa” is based in Nairoibi, Kenya.  I infact visited Karen Blixen’s (the heroine and biographer of Out of Africa) farmstead, which has been turned into a National museum.

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Uber is quite cheap in Nairobi and I used it predominantly for travelling. I was unfortunately on crutches during my visit due to a soccer injury sustained to my knee (thus the pun in the title) but I was able to get around safe and sound. Kenya did have some political and safety concerns a while ago, but it seems to be very safe to travel around. I would highly recommend Kenya and Nairobi to anyone.

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During my stay in Nairboi  I stayed in the Kenya comfort hotel, right across the road from the UoN.  Which I would highly recommend for a student or young working adult. The Kenya comfort hotel had a very nice restaurant and bar. This hotels is situated in the city. Buzzing supermarkets, craft markets, popular fast food stores (debonairs, steers), international banks and atms within a stone throw.

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The local Kenyans I found to be very friendly, always offering to help and interested to know where I was from. Almost every Kenyan I met was very surprised that I was from South Africa, most assumed I was from USA or Australia.

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Kenya has a wide variety and flair for food. This includes a number of salads, more finely chopped and artistically decorated than I am used to in South Africa. The Kenyans enjoy their meat, much like South Africans. Kenya’s unofficial national dish is called Nyama choma, which means barbequed meat in Swahili. I in fact went to a famous restaurant called “carnivore” in Nairobi, which is sort of buffet restaurant where all different kinds of meat are served, from the normal lamb, beef and pork, to more exotic meats like ostrich, camel, goat, turkey and crocodile. I enjoyed all of these but I must admit after four days of a more than usual amount and variety of meat my stomach wasn’t too impressed and I had to switch to being more of a herbivore for a couple of days.

Swahili (“Kiswahili”) terms:

Simba – Lion

Rafiki – Friend

Nyama choma- barbecued meat

Karibu – Welcome

Quick facts on Kenya:

Swahili is predominant in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The country is named after Mount Kenya, the largest mountain in Kenya with a height of 5199 m.

Kibera, sitting about 5km outside of Nairobi is the the largest urban slum in Africa

The impressive Nairobi National park, housing much wildlife is situated right next to the city.

Return to Stellenbosch (unpacking my stuffed bags):

I was not that long in Nairobi, but I sure did wish I could of spent more time there. I always enjoy traveling and have a heart to travel more of Africa, coming back to Stellenbosch made me passionate about the continent and the easy opportunities available to me as a South African.

At the summit in Nairobi I was nominated as secretary of the African fedeations of Operataions Research societies and will be ever more involved and travelling around Africa.

I suggest you put Kenya or other African countries on your bucket list instead of visiting another continent again.

Twitter: @berndtlindner @uonbi @StellenboschUni @pgioSU #AFROS #AfricaORSummit