Adventures in Africa
I am trying to ship something home. There is no such thing here. To ship something from Nairobi costs as much as it does to courier it. It all has to do with corruption. Let me explain.
The roads here are so bad that it costs as much to ship (drive) something from Nairobi to Mombasa as it does to put something on a boat from Mombasa to Europe. THE SAME. INSANE.
There is plenty of money allocated for roads that never seem to get fixed. Yet the government keeps getting richer, corruption scandals emerge, nothing is done about them, the roads are still bad.
I mean, just think of the business possibilities for the country if the roads were improved and shipping costs could go down. The cost to export things would go down so much. More jobs could be had. People would have more money and live better lives. All from decent roads. Imagine.
This packing thing is stressing me out. I have a lot of stuff. And I want to bring things home for gifts but they take up so much space. There is so much cool stuff here. I would start an export business if the roads weren't so bad.
There are these 2 restaurants that I really love in Nairobi that I want to tell you about so that if you ever come here you can visit them. I have already told you how I love Nyama Choma (roasted goat) so if you went to any Nyama Choma place that would be sufficient. They are all pretty good. But if you want GREAT, cheap, authentic indian food there is Open House which is in Westlands across from Steers and while the food is great the atmosphere is pretty terrible (it looks like a food court). Still, you can't beat the quality and the price so that is why I love it.
The second place is called Habesha on Argwings Kodheck which has a great atmosphere - lots of gazebo little tables and outdoor stoves all over the place and unbelievable Ethiopian food. If you don't like ingera (the sponge-like bread thing that comes with Ethiopian food) because it is too sour - this place is for you - the ingera is milder than most places and it is also dirt cheap. Tej (Ethiopian honey wine) is $2 a bottle (brewed on site) and you get a huge veg or meat platter for $2 and that is enough for 3 people easily. Their goat is also the best in the city.
The roads here are so bad that it costs as much to ship (drive) something from Nairobi to Mombasa as it does to put something on a boat from Mombasa to Europe. THE SAME. INSANE.
There is plenty of money allocated for roads that never seem to get fixed. Yet the government keeps getting richer, corruption scandals emerge, nothing is done about them, the roads are still bad.
I mean, just think of the business possibilities for the country if the roads were improved and shipping costs could go down. The cost to export things would go down so much. More jobs could be had. People would have more money and live better lives. All from decent roads. Imagine.
This packing thing is stressing me out. I have a lot of stuff. And I want to bring things home for gifts but they take up so much space. There is so much cool stuff here. I would start an export business if the roads weren't so bad.
There are these 2 restaurants that I really love in Nairobi that I want to tell you about so that if you ever come here you can visit them. I have already told you how I love Nyama Choma (roasted goat) so if you went to any Nyama Choma place that would be sufficient. They are all pretty good. But if you want GREAT, cheap, authentic indian food there is Open House which is in Westlands across from Steers and while the food is great the atmosphere is pretty terrible (it looks like a food court). Still, you can't beat the quality and the price so that is why I love it.
The second place is called Habesha on Argwings Kodheck which has a great atmosphere - lots of gazebo little tables and outdoor stoves all over the place and unbelievable Ethiopian food. If you don't like ingera (the sponge-like bread thing that comes with Ethiopian food) because it is too sour - this place is for you - the ingera is milder than most places and it is also dirt cheap. Tej (Ethiopian honey wine) is $2 a bottle (brewed on site) and you get a huge veg or meat platter for $2 and that is enough for 3 people easily. Their goat is also the best in the city.
Funny, L and I dined on Ethiopian food while in New York last month. I had the honey wine and we shared a platter of yummy stuff (I like the sour taste of the bread that reminds me of carpet padding). Somehow, I imagine our experience was not quite the same as yours.