Night Out In Nairobi

Last Thursday we had a couple of volunteers return from Masai land for the Diani trip at the weekend. We took this opportunity to go out in Nairobi, first time for me. We headed to a club about 9.30, apparently it had been pretty good there previously, not so much tonight. After one round of drinks and an argument with the waiter after he gave us wrong prices then tried to charge us more, we left (we were the only people there). We headed across the road to a bar our taxi driver had recommended.

We arrived to hear singing inside and quickly realised it was karaoke night, we decided it could be fun, so we walked in, and of course had everyone stare as we were the only white people there. Everyone was pretty friendly though, and we even did a group song. As the karaoke finished we thought it was pretty much the end of the night. We started to get ready to go, paying off our tab, when a Kenyan guy named Jimmy got chatting to us. He ended up offering us drinks, so of course we accepted and stuck around. The music continued, and the bar staff started dancing. As we chatted with Jimmy some more he ended up buying us more drinks, and the bar staff dragged us up to dance with them. The only way I can really describe the dancing was a borderline lap dance, the girls bending over in front of one of the other guys, Mac, and I, rubbing their butts against our crotches. Certainly was not expecting that.

More drinks from Jimmy later, and we started to think something was odd about this. I don't think many Kenyans can afford to buy 4 people more drinks than we had bought ourselves all night. We think he may have been doing it in an attempt to hook up with one of the girls with us. Of course we made the most of the free drinks, and then tried to slip out. At this point he was offering to arrange us a lift home. We decided our best option at this point, having not already called for a taxi, was to decline telling him we had one waiting down the road, and walk quickly down to The Junction to catch one from there.

Maybe Jimmy was just a rich, friendly guy. We'll probably never know, and are probably better off not knowing, if he were to attempt anything. But thanks anyway Jimmy, I really enjoyed the Jack Daniels (doubles even) he was buying me all night!

Side note: walking through Kibera slums hungover is not the most pleasant of experiences.