Bead factory, Giraffe centre, Karen Blixen
Post written by Laura
Kenya’s capital city was the beginning and ending of my ‘Kenya Wildlife Safari’ a tour I had arranged with travel company Intrepid. I had booked an extra day at both the start and the end of the tour which enabled me some extra time to explore the city.
Nairobi is home to nearly 5 million people and became the capital following Kenya’s independence from the British in 1963.
This post documents how I spent my time in the city both before my safari and afterwards.
As my first time in Nairobi I was surprised at how much more affluent it felt when compared with Cairo or some of the Asian cities. Many of the cars were quite modern and the driving was fairly steady and, while busy, it wasn’t chaotic as I had anticipated.
When I arrived an Intrepid Urban Adventures tour guide was in the Hilltop hotel reception. Before long he had organised a tailor made private tour for me where driver Michael would show me some of the key Nairobi places of interest. Perfect!
Kobe Bead factory
Located in the Karen district of Nairobi, I began at the Kobe Bead factory which employs Maasai women to produce quality bead products entirely by hand.
A few other tourists had arrived and all of the women workers joined in with a Maasai welcome greeting.
Once the welcome had finished I was shown around the factory by Elizabeth who explained each stage of the bead making process.
Having been molded into shapes the beads are placed in a large round kiln where they are baked at high temperatures and then they are all individually painted by hand.
I don’t usually buy souvenirs but on this occasion I wanted to support the women who work there. I brought a Christmas tree decoration, a fridge magnet and a pretty bracelet made with hand painted blue beads.
Giraffe Centre
The Giraffe Centre was an interesting experience. This sanctuary was set up to protect the Rothschild giraffe and as well as being a centre to breed and protect giraffes you can also visit and feed them.
Visitors were each given a bowl of giraffe food and were shown how to feed the giraffes. We were able to walk around without a guide.
Standing on a tall giraffe size platform, these huge animals gently extended their long tongues to take the food from your fingers.
Karen Blixen Museum
The 1985 Hollywood movie ‘Out of Africa’ starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford was based on the memoires of Danish author Karen Blixen. Coming from a wealthy family Karen arrived in East Africa in 1914 and set up a coffee plantation.
Karen’s original house and coffee plantation are located a 30 minute drive from Nairobi and the entire neighbourhood ‘Karen’ was named after her.
As he did at the Giraffe Centre, my driver Michael sorted my entrance fee to Karen Blixen and I was shown around the house (which is now a museum) and gardens by a guide called Oliver.
Oliver was very knowledable and explained the history of Karen’s life and the legacy she left behind in Kenya.
I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside the house but I recognised some of the original items from the Out of Africa film which I happened to watch the previous day on the flight to Nairobi from London.
I ended my visit with a tasty cup of Kenyan coffee and a slice of carrot cake sitting in the shady Karen Blixen coffee shop.
Michael was patiently waiting outside ready to drive me back through the affluent Karen neighbourhood with its big houses nestled amongst tropical flowers and foliage. Many of the houses are owned by expats from the UK.
The advantage of a private tour such as this was that I could choose my start time (i.e. once I had settled into my Hilltop hotel room) and decide for myself how long to spend in each location.
***Fast forward one week***
Crowne Plaza Refresher Package
My flight home was scheduled for midnight the day after my Intrepid trip had finished so I had one final day at my disposal. After considering another day tour I chose instead to spend the last day as a chill day and discovered the Crowne Plaza airport hotel offered ‘refresher’ packages which, for 70 USD (£52.56) offered a free airport shuttle, use of their pool and spa, spa shower facilities and a buffet meal.
I arrived by Uber at lunchtime and began with a Margarita in the ground floor bar. For 1000 Kenyan shillings (£5.81) this tasted amazing! At last a decent cocktail as I relax and do some blogging after an activity packed week. I gave this Margarita 8/10, having deducted a point for no salt around the rim 😂
The rooftop pool had a laid back vibe and it was preferable to spend time here with the soft chillax background music than the noisy kid-fest that was the Hilltop hotel pool.
I spent a couple of hours sitting by the pool and making the most of 27 degrees before I’m back to cold, dark and rainy December UK tomorrow…
I could have used the gym but I didn’t have my gym kit with me 🤷♀️
Buffet dinner
Following a refreshing shower in the spa with white fluffy towels and lovely scented toiletries I headed downstairs for the included dinner. Which was fabulous…
Following soup, then a small fresh and tasty salad I had a little mix for dinner. The masala jackfruit and melt in your mouth fish was delicious 😃
The dessert I had (as above) was also amazing! A lovely serene environment with some classic Christmas songs gently playing in the background 🌲
I had excellent service in the buffet restaurant as to be expected in a 5 star hotel. For example, my plates were cleared quickly, as I sat at my table I was offered naan bread to go with the jackfruit curry and at the end one kind lady offered to make me a camomile tea so I would be relaxed ready for my flight.
After a week of plastic orange camping plates and washing up afterwards (which is documented in forthcoming blog posts) this felt a real treat at the end of the trip!
The advantage also was that I was very close to the airport for the included shuttle transfer ready for my flight home.
I was very pleased with my choice to end my trip at the Crowne Plaza and will keep this in mind for my next visit to Nairobi, i.e. when I come back to do another overlanding leg of East Africa and head south to Tanzania and the Serengeti… at some point 🤞
Getting around Nairobi
As well as a private tour, Uber is considered a safe option for getting around the city. I used Uber twice and as an example, my 15 minute ride between the Hotel Boulevard and Hotel Hilltop was under £4 and this included a tip.
In Nairobi a thing called Uber Chap Chap is also available and for this you get a smaller car and an even cheaper ride than the ‘comfort’ one I had taken.
Uber drivers often scam tourists by taking you on a longer route so that afterwards the app asks you to pay more. This probably happened to me. During the journey I was following the route on Google maps and thought the driver had taken a different turning due to heavy traffic (which was actually the case). So he may or may not have scammed me. But either way he got me to my hotel quickly and safely at an incredibly low cost so it wasn’t really an issue.
Money matters
Kenyans use both Kenyan shillings and USD for cash although cards are widely accepted, even Amex in some places. In fact card is often preferred, for example, I tried to use cash in the bead place (but card was preferred) and the Karen Blixen coffee shop wouldn’t accept any cash.
Thankfully I had a mix of all 3 options which worked well overall.
Accommodations
I spent the first night of my trip in the comfortable Boulevard hotel.
I arrived at about 11.30 pm following my flight from London and was delighted to enter my spacious clean room with its king size bed and pleasant smell of fresh laundry.
The following morning after a tasty buffet breakfast with freshly cooked omelette I checked out from the Boulevard at 10 am and took an Uber (as mentioned above) to the Hilltop Hotel.
The Intrepid tour was to start from the Hilltop hotel and they kindly let me into my room when I arrived from the Boulevard at 10.30 am. I spent the first day doing the private tour with driver Michael.
Welcome meeting
At 6 pm our Intrepid guide Henry introduced himself, gave us some information about the trip and I met my fellow Intrepid travellers for the first time. As a group we had our first meal together in the Hilltop hotel restaurant where I enjoyed a vegetable curry as we did some initial group bonding.
Up next
After a great start to my Kenya trip, we begin our wildlife safari first thing in the morning where we drive north west to Lake Nakuru.
frombluetogreen.com 