EDITOR’S NOTE
I
NAIROBI’S REVENGE like to joke that my favourite thing to do in Nairobi is to get out of Nairobi. This should however not be mistaken for a dislike for the capital, though, because I’ve come to realize that the best thing about going to our beautiful coastal beaches or heading north to the mountains is that I get to come back to Nairobi. Oh my life is a paradox.
Recently, I’ve been particularly vocal about my disdain for Nairobi. I’ve mentioned how, after living here for 10 years, I’ve simply exhausted the list of things that I could possibly do in this city. Besides going out to restaurants, of which there are some excellent ones continuously cropping up, what else is left to do for a restless soul that has ticked everything off her list tenfold? In a bout of karma…wait, does it come in bouts? And when do you know when it is in fact karma instead of just a series of unfortunate coincidences? Being a Christian, I don’t exactly prescribe to that brand of spirituality, but the writer in me does quite like how that word rolls off the tongue. Anyway, in a series of unfortunate events, Nairobi decided that it had had enough and decided to exert its revenge. It struck at the right time too, when I had booked a flight out of the country and was excited about that for weeks. On the said day, I missed my flight because the road we decided to take had been blocked off for the day, and when we finally got out of that situation, it sent its agents, the police, to derail my driver for a further 30 minutes due to a minor traffic violation. By the time I got to the airport, the check-in counter had been shut off despite there still being some 30 minutes to flight time; I was simply too late. Determined not to spend another night in Nairobi, I booked the evening flight, and after hanging around the airport all day, got to the immigration desk only to be turned back due to an issue with my passport which I had used only one week prior. I then had to go back to my apartment and spend another night in Nairobi. It had won the fight, and just for the record, just so we’re back on good terms going forward, my dear Nairobi, I’m sorry for all the bad things I’ve said about you. Most of them, at least.
Wendy Watta
wattaonthego NOMAD ISSUE 21 · SEP/OCT 2019 · PUBLISHED BY WEBSIMBA LIMITED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
MANAGING DIRECTOR MIKUL SHAH EDITOR WENDY WATTA DESIGN BRIAN SIAMBI SALES VANESSA WANJIKU DIGITAL FAITH KANJA CONTRIBUTORS SAMANTHA DU TOIT, KARI MUTU, DIANE MCLEISH, SABINA VIVALDI, FAITH KANJA, MAURICE SCHUTGENS, ERIKA KOSS CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS BRIAN SIAMBI, JAMILA HASSAN EL-JABRY, TREVOR MAINGI, RAHIM MANDVIWALLA MARKETING & OPERATIONS DANIEL MUTHIANI, JANE NAITORE SALES ENQUIRIES CALL NOMAD 0711 22 22 22 EMAIL EDITOR@NOMADMAGAZINE.CO
NomadMagazineAfrica
4
DISCOVER
EXPLORE
EXPERIENCE
@NomadMagAfrica
@NomadMagazineAfrica
