We woke up on our first morning in Nairobi at about 5:00 am because of the 5 hour time difference from Shanghai. RY had already told me that he intends to do a lot of the cooking during the trip. He and DY made a delicious breakfast of pancakes with chocolate chunks (using leftover chocolate that we brought from Shanghai), bacon and scrambled eggs.
We spent the next hour or so pre-learning about Kenya’s history, culture, geography and economy by watching some videos that I selected from youtube. We watched the videos together as a family and had some deeper discussions about sustainable tourism and colonization.
Since it was Saturday, we wanted to avoid the crowds at any major attractions, so we decided on a hike in the Karura Forest Reserve, an urban forest in Nairobi. It was the forest that Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental conservationist and women’s rights activists, fought to preserve against development. Wangari Maathai was the first black African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
We brought along a picnic lunch, contents that we purchased at Carrefour the night before. We entered from Gate A and decided on the green trail that was about 5 km. All of the trails were clearly marked and the one we selected was the perfect level of difficulty for our family. It was mainly flat and there was lots to see along the way. Although we did not bring our stroller, I would consider much of the hike stroller friendly except closer to the waterfall where there were many stairs.
We were pleased to encounter quite a lot of friendly local people enjoying the natural surroundings on the Saturday morning. We even ran into a Chinese family with a little boy. The hike culminated in a lovely waterfall. Our kids commented that it paled in comparison to the crystal clear aquamarine and turquoise waters of Jiuzhaigou, where we just visited during the summer.
As lunchtime approached, we decided to head toward a picnic area near Gate C. There wasn’t much information other than indications that it was a picnic area. As we approached, we realized that we had stumbled upon an unexpected gem. The picnic area had a huge playground surrounded by shaded picnic tables that were spread apart with plenty of space for the kids to run and play. We were delighted to find very clean bathrooms with running water, soap and even paper towels. We spent a couple hours at the picnic area and playground.
The distance to Gate C was not far and we were able to call an Uber to head home. Nearby the gate, there was a fruit seller from whom we bought some apples and a large watermelon while we were waiting for the car to arrive.
Cool!🫶🏻