Back in the "Dark' Continent

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Well this is my second full day in Nairobi and so far so good. I've actually made more money than I've spent (more about that later!). 

The flight was pretty bad - didn't sleep at all really except for the leg from arlanda to rome, that was pretty empty so i got 20mins or something. In Addis I realised that, in Arlanda they hadn't given me all the bording passes I needed. Just for the first leg, which would have been fine - they were ready to write one out for me at the check-in desk, but aparenty the booking number/ticket number on my printout from sta travel had been
'refunded'!? Anyway I had to sit on the side, while she let everyone else through, then she searched on her db for my name and eventually found it! anyway, not going to use those chaps again!

I was picked up at the airport by a friend of the family's who made me feel much safer by giving me tips like:

   - Don't wear a watch on the street - ever!
   - Don't answer a call on the street, if you have to take the call, duck into a smart looking hotel or shop.
   -Never carry more than 50 USD in cash and don't carry your credit/ debit card.
   -
   -

And loads more, I had heard it was bad, but this bad!? This guy has lived in Nairobi for 22 yrs!! Anyway so far so good.

So we check out a couple of places to stay which were pretty dodgy/ empty. Then we tried a place called New Kenya Lodge pretty close to the CBD, and for just 500 KES a night. 

I'm in a dorm with a guy from Wales whose name is impossible to spell (Ieuan!?) and there have been a couple of Japanese guys.. Apparently this dirty, nasty little place is really famous over there. Even the books on the bookshelf are all in Japanese! 

Anyway so far we haven't ventured much further than a couple of streets down to get supplies. Yesterday however, after coming back from a late lunch, the guy at the top of the stairs where we're staying said he had the opportunity of a lifetime for us. An Italian movie was being shot just two streets down and they needed a couple of white extras. Why not!? I think we both would've done it for free to be honest, but they offered us 1000 KES each. The guy working where we stayed told us that we might be able to get the price up a bit if we bargained. Anyway a couple of hours later we were chilling under a blue light outside a club just chatting (that was our big role!) and another white guy had joined us - from Durham. Anyway we were basically just in the background. The film seemed really cheesy - called A New World (or the Italian equivalent) and the main (possible only) actor there was also the director and he wrote the script - i.e. an arrogant idiot.

The filming went on until midnight and were all pretty fed up by that stage, but it was all worth it because thanks to  our bargaining skills, and some generosity on their part, we got 3000 KES.  

So  that's where I've got to so far. Tonight I think I'll get the bus west to lake Victoria...

Comments

  1. JanelleJanuary 22, 2010 at 12:36 PM

    ah cool! excellent! glad you're making money. great post. take care. x janelle

    ReplyDelete

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