Nairobi sights and sounds via private tour

By Hans

Nairobi is, for most tourists and business people, the gateway to Africa. However, if one is laying over for a connection to another part of the world, the prospect of spending the day and night in a hotel, which tend to look the same regardless of town and country, can be quite demoralising and utterly lonely. Which is why a young entrepreneur has launched a new service that he has dubbed a "private guiding by residents". According to him, his service provides foreigners with the opportunity to see interesting and different sights in the ‘city under the sun’.

Njuguna’s

Peter is one such private guide. I met him at the Coast. He is not an escort or a commercial toy-boy but an extrovert who loves going out, enjoys the good things in life and apparently knows where to find fairly priced beers, foods and cultural happenings. For his services, Peter charges a nominal fee of Euros 30 a day. I contracted him to show me the city and on arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, I found Peter waiting for me with a car, which he had hired for only Sh 3.500 a day inclusive of petrol.

In the media, Nairobi is often negatively referred to as ‘Nairobbery’, a city full of street children, beggars and thieves and is, as a result, unsafe at night. But Peter was not afraid. Our first stop was ‘Njuguna’s’ on Waiyaki Way. Now that was a perfect place to enjoy nyama choma African style. We met some of his friends and I invited them to join us. To my pleasant surprise, Njuguna’s was affordable. I particularly enjoyed its unique Kenyan ambience.

Nairobi at night is also very interesting. Guys generally dress casually but the girls (all beautiful) make an effort to dress to kill!! African women really know how to style up, although a few had their outfits a size too small….

The following day, we met at The Stanley Thorn Tree restaurant where we idly watched the world pass by. Then we went to Gypsies in Westlands where I liked the mixed crowd. Next stop was Havana, a nice and cosy bar with a relaxed atmosphere. It reminded me of the bars and cafÈs in Europe.

Night Entertainment

I wanted to watch a play and, luckily for me, we found out there was a comedy at the National Theatre. It was a very funny play. It is time more people were made aware of Nairobi’s cultural scene and more efforts put into promoting cultural tourism.

After the play, I mentioned that I would prefer meeting people at a small dinner party than go to a restaurant. So said, so done. We bought take-away chicken, wine and bread and had dinner with Peter and some of his friends in a private home.

Nairobi is rapidly following in the footsteps of New York — a city that never sleeps. I wanted to see what Nairobi had to offer for night entertainment. We went to several clubs and pubs, but what has remained in my mind is the excellent show put on by Eric Wainaina at Club Afrique. We stopped clubbing at around 5.30am. Throughout that entire night, I never once felt insecure or threatened. Taking a guide is, for sure, a winning concept.