Safety in Nairobi

"Is it safe there?" - typical reaction from friends who get to know that I am in Africa. "Is it true that there are many many mosquitoes?" – another FAQ from my friends.

Well, malaria is less of a problem than I expected, at least in Nairobi. There are few mosquitoes in the city, especially when now it's dry winter here. I have been here for almost 5 weeks but have had only a couple of mosquito bites. For that reason, I am not taking any anti-malaria medications as all the pills have bad side effects. I am using insect repellent and net to protect myself during evenings though.

On the contrary, security is a much more serious problem than expected. I thought it was just some occasional stories that have been amplified by the western news media. Not until I talked to people who live here for a while, did I realize it is a real concern for the city.

Story 1 – TG, my GMIX boss, lost his laptop a year ago when he was taking a taxi. He was sitting on the front seat of the car and the car was stopped by the bad traffic. The thief somehow opened the locked rear door of the car, grabbed his computer bag which was sitting on the back seat, and ran away.

Story 2 – The house of Ed, our friend from KickStart, was broken into two weeks ago. The burglar took away all the valuable stuff, including his fancy camera kit. It was told that the burglar had to break four guarded/locked doors to get there. And he succeeded.

Story 3 – Yuri's friend, a girl working for Japanese government in Nairobi, ran into some burglars when she went downstairs in her house. Luckily, they didn't kill her; they just roped her, took money, and ran away.

Story 4 – If you think the only robbery targets are 'wealthy' expats, you are wrong. Samuel, one of the unit managers of Vipani and a strongly built local African guy, got beaten down on the street in day light and robbed of his cash.

Fair enough. No wonder people call the city "Nairobery"!

This coming weekend, I am going to escape this dangerous town and heading to Lamu, another coast city in Kenya.