Nairobi – first impression

Nairobi is my first stop in Africa when I arrived here but I didn't get to explore it until this Sunday. There are some other GSB friends working on their GMIX in Nairobi, so I had a small get-together this afternoon with Ziad and Abby.

It's a nice Sunday afternoon. We did a walk around the central city area, passing by the City Hall, the Judicatory, etc. People on the street seemed quite relaxed. There was a group of well-dressed people passing by the City Hall – we guessed that they must have come from a church activity. Near our hotel, there's a big green urban park area, where people rest, picnic, chat, etc. The atmosphere was good. In the central downtown, there is some nice combination of skyscrapers (much shorter ones than those in China) and colonial buildings. We took photos in front of what seems to be the tallest building in Nairobi and a mushroom-like building. Later we were told that the tallest building is Kenya International Conference Center.

But overall, you can tell the British didn't do much good to build its East African colony.

We strolled to a nice hotel in the heart of the city, where there's a thorn tree that you can put message post on it. We decided to write a short message for the future GSBers who'd visit this place. Finally our meeting ended with a chitchat in the hotel bar, with drinks and hot chocolate.

Traffic in Nairobi is bad. A small vehicle problem can cause a huge traffic jam. I have been riding taxi for many times, and every single time, I would get stuck in the traffic for a while, ranging from 10 minutes to a good hour.

Ziad, Abby, and I, in front of KICC

Message Board at the Thorn Tree Cafe