On our flight from Qatar, we were lucky enough to have 6 seats to ourselves, allowing us to spread out and sleep through our six hour flight. We arrived into Nairobi early in the morning, and were greeted by signs announcing the 2007 World Social Forum. After obtaining our visa, and witnessing a European man fly off the handle about the requirement that he pay for his visa with exact change while impassive Kenyans bounced him from supervisor to supervisor, we got our bags and looked for a cheap way into the city.

At the World Social Forum table, we were told that they could arrange transport for us for $50 into the city. Saying that was way out of our price range, she said she would do what she could to get it down to $20 each but that there was no other cheaper transportation. Dismayed, we started changing some money into Kenyan shillings when we decided to mosey on over to the taxi counter, and were quoted $20 for the both of us. Uh huh. So much for solidarity.

As we sped into the city, we picked up a paper and read all about the World Social Forum speakers, activities, and events, and even saw LGBT issues highlighted. We read on about US soldiers fanning out around the coast of Kenya trying to locate a few Somalian militias who had jumped the border, and decided we’d be the wiser to keep grabbing a paper every few days to stay on top of new developments and register with the US Embassy here in Africa.

We managed to find a great hotel downtown in a pretty nice area for a good price (the Downtown Hotel). We dropped our bags, showered, napped, and headed off to the Stanley Hotel to meet up with Marjona, my good friend from my Jobs with Justice days who would be traveling with us for the next month. We found her reading at the Thorn Tree Café, and rejoiced that we had finally “made it to Africa” after months and months of planning.

Beth and I were handed an unexpected invitation for our other JwJ friend’s wedding (congrats Carrie and B!), and were thrilled to see that this auspicious occasion would be held after our return to the States. This was the second wedding announcement we’ve received since we’ve been gone (congrats, Meredith and Brian!). Is there something in the air over there?

Marjona joined us at our hotel to bring down the costs, and we proceeded to walk around Nairobi to get a feel for the city and try some food. We had our wits about us, having read all about “Nairobbery” in the travel books, but were pleasantly surprised to find a quaint, yet busy, and very accessible capital. (Beth: I think its called Nairobbery because everything there costs about the same as it does in the U.S.)  We walked around the streets, running errands, shopping around, and trying bits of the local cuisine.

That’s pretty much how we spend our 3 days in Nairobi, save for the day that we checked out the World Social Forum, a massive gathering of thousands of social justice activists from around the world. We watched a few passing marches and a press conference, checked out the 2 workshops we could find (they ran out of programs the first day, so few knew where events were being held), and talked to folks that we knew who were there. We were all a bit disappointed to find that there was a lot of disorganization, but were impressed with the turnout. The best part - and perhaps most inspiring part - about the WSF was just walking around and seeing all the different people from so many different countries who have dedicated themselves to creating a more just world.

One night after dinner, we were walking to check out a few bars and ran into our friend Olivia walking down the street. Despite protests, we managed to drag her out to enjoy Tusker (delicious Kenyan beer that rivals BeerLao) and our newly discovered favorite, Masala Fries. We caught up and discussed the forum, 2nd and 3rd wave feminism, and the general state of the world until late into the night before catching a cab back to our hotels.

Ah, and one other unforgettable moment in Nairobi. I’ll let Beth tell this one…

Beth:  In Kenya, people drive on the wrong (left) side of the road.  Despite having just been in India, where it’s the same, I still wasn’t used to looking right-then-left (instead of left-then-right) when crossing the street.  So at a major intersection in Nairobi, I stepped out – right in front of a huge, speeding bus.  Lauren screamed my name and jerked me backwards, off my feet.  I hadn’t landed on the ground yet when the bus went speeding by.  People for several blocks heard Lauren scream and were staring at us.  Lauren, possibly quite literally, had saved my life.

Our next stop was to be Mombasa, on the Kenyan coast.  The three of us decided to spend some extra cash to take a night train there, a famous and very old colonial route. We spent the few extra bucks to secure a 2nd class sleeper, which included bedding, and two meals served in the dining car with “white glove service.”