Leading the Night

Nairobi, cool waters

94 Leading the Night Nairobi, cool waters Rei closed his mini laptop obeying the flight attendant’s rules on KQLM 566 Boeing 777 aircraft. He stuck his thumb into the button on his right hand arm rest, pushed the back of his seat slightly forward and buckled his safety belt ready for landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. He can sense this is no ordinary trip. He remembers his dispatch on Facebook just three words: “Off to Nairobi.” Many comments came in: ”Good luck!”, “localT beer”, “Enjoy!”, “Eat kachumbari and nyama choma”, “M. Mara”. Lucinda, his girl friend reminded him to take care of his money and passport. He smiled. She had told him so several times when they had dinner together. She had reminded him on their last phone conversations, and there she was on again on fb! It was as if he saw the articles all over again, there again on a screen in-front of him. Rei had a photographic memory. His notes and poems were often in his own alphabet. He sometimes wrote as if he was making real things like quilts or wall hangings. Lucinda loved him but felt she could never reach him. She had almost given up on his ways. She spoke a lot and he expressed himself minimally in ordinary language apart from when he wrote reports for the United Nations. As the craft cruised to landing, Rei was so excited that almost all the articles on Kenya he had googled on his flight swam before his closed eyes.They came dancing down his memory as he closed his eyes: 13th July: Ten tremors and uncertainty about possible volcanic action down inTanzania’s Ol donyo Lengai, “Mountain of God” in Maasai.The tremors shake Nairobi and architects say that 90% of Nairobi’s buildings are poorly constructed. In another article: Kenya’s tourism stand comes first at the tourism fair in Berlin. The world of contrasts, Rei thought. Tourists do not stop traveling because of insecurity. ‘Isn’t there danger everywhere? The idea is not to expect no risk but to rate the level of risks,’ one had written on a blog. The article was framed by photographs of herds of buffalo. Leading the Night 95 On Rei’s mind, there was that other headline. “The US issues a travel ban on Kenya.” He wished the US had issued an alert on Nairobi/ Dar bomb attacks on 3’8’98 or even on 9/11? The little rumble is on and a female voice on the loud speaker: “Mabibi na Mabwana, tumetua katika uwanja wa Jomo Kenyatta Airport Nairobi. Hali ya joto sasa ni nyusi kumi na tatu lakini itaendelea kupaa mpaka ishirini na tano. Katika eneo la Nairobi, jua litachomoka saa kumi na mbili. Mmekaribishwa sana Kenya. Kwa niaba ya Captain Musuve wa Kenya Airways na sisi sote tunawatakia wakati mwema. Asanteni kwa kuchagua kusafiri nasi. Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of Kenya Airways we welcome you to Jomo Kenyattta Airport….. Kenya, the pride of Africa. Rei’s memory screen goes on and on as the plane taxis for the next ten minutes. A stream of ideas goes through his mind. Dramatic Kenya! and always on the surface of it all, land of great potential and peace. UK lifts her travel ban but most of the tourists arriving are from America where the ban is still on. Rei jumps up to open the luggage bay. He pulls out his light travel bag. Seven days in Nairobi! There are many more tourists from Japan and Korea. China might not tour but her presence is visible at government level and in local projects. One enormous billboard at Nairobi’s main airport was testimony that caused acrimony for some time. Nairobi people know their city is called Nairoberry but they are smiling and happy as far as you can see; even in the slums. The spirit of Nairobi, a place of cool waters, as named by the Maasai at the beginning of the 20th century remains cool. The spirit of Kenyans and Kenya is: hakuna matata! Rei had to get himselfT-shirts with that logo and others if nothing else. Hakuna matata, how two words can say it all was fascinating. Lion King the movie had taken that message to the world. Many people loved Nairoberry and Rika lightly joked that it rhymed with berry and blackNberry. Rei carefully took his mobile phone out of his breast pocket and fit it in his belt...