Kenya Re

After my excursion to Lake Nakuru, I returned to Nairobi for the weekend. The journey was surprisingly simple. 🤓 For only 700 KES (4-5 EUR), the hotel arranged for me the pickup by a „matatu“ that would go straight to the capital and drop me off at Westlands (where my hostel was). The trip took only 2-3 hours and was - despite the warmth in the spacious minibus - much more comfortable than my last experience in a „matatu“. 😊
Back in the Jabulani Backpackers Hostel, our small group that had left Nairobi a couple of days ago, was reunited again. Lisa & Nic had returned already a day earlier and Rhett came back only a few hours later than me.
Lisa & Nic had been with some other backpackers in a Casino 🎰 in the night before and found out that there was free food and drinks - as long as you gamble. So, we went that evening again. The food was surprisingly good. It was a buffet consisting of fish 🐟, chicken 🐓, pasta 🍝, rice 🍚, salad 🥗 … there was even desert. 😋
During dinner an older guy (60+ years) sat at our table. It turned out that he was a retired math professor from the U.S. who’s main subject was statistics 📊 He revealed to us the intricacies / strategies for black jack and admitted to us that he is counting cards (in Kenia the casinos seem to be less strict as long as you do not win too much). He seemed to know what he is talking about since he left the casino that night with a big surplus. 😜
I set my budget for my entertainment that night at 2000 KES (13-14 EUR). First I tried my luck at the roulette table but I didn’t hit anything until my last attempt. I put my chips on the number 23 (Michael Jordan’s number) which already had brought me luck in a similar situation some years ago. 😃 Like back then, I hit the exact number and my money was multiplied with 150. Suddenly, I had 4500 KES (30 EUR). 🥳 It probably distinguishes me from others but I had no problem with walking away from the roulette table in that situation. I joined Nic and the others at the black jack table and observed what was going on. Nic was playing against the dealer. Rhett did not play himself but had developed a pretty good feeling 🫰for times to chip in when the dealer would loose. I joined in on the fun as well and it worked - at least for a few times. 😆 But as it goes in a casino, money is equally fast lost as it is won. We left the casino a little later and I was the only one who didn’t loose all his cash. I was still going home with twice as much as I had „invested“ that night. That was a pretty good deal - considering that I also ate and drank for free. 😄

On the next morning, I met Audrey & Sofie (from the Neatherlands) as well as David (from Switzerland) in my hostel. All three have been travelling Africa already for a while and had arrived in Nairobi just a few days ago. We shared an Uber 🚙 to visit the Giraffe centre. The centre is not very big and has only a few info points as well as an enclosure for 5-10 giraffes 🦒 that could be fed with little pellets that we got at the entrance. There were many people trying to feed the animals - maybe because it was Sunday. 🤔 I awaited my turn and handed my pellets over to the giraffe „Salma“. Afterwards, we were already done with the place. It took us only 30-45 minutes - about the same time as our Uber drive to the giraffe centre 😅
We all felt hungry after our visit. So we went to the close-by „Boho Eatery“ that Audrey & Sofie had carefully picked - due to inconvenient layout of the roads in that part of the city, we took again an Uber. The service in the restaurant was slow but the food was really good - Audrey & Sofie had done a great job. 👏 I had the risotto, a Sauvignon Blanc and some coffee-flavored ice cream as desert. All in all 3100 KES (approximately 20 EUR) but I was in for a treat, I guess 😇

Besides this, I didn’t do much on the weekend. I participated in daily trips to the Sarit centre 🏬 (shopping mall) for frozen yoghurt, buying some groceries 🛒 or trying to get missing Camera 📷 equipment (that I had forgotten back home). I have also revised my future travel plans for what feels like the 100th time and booked a train ticket 🎫 to Mombasa as well as a flight ✈️ from there to Lamu on the coming weekend. After spending the past 2 weeks in Nairobi and the surrounding national reserves and parks, it was time for a change. The next 2 weeks shall be spend at Kenya’s east coast. 🏖️Read more