Wandering Nairobi

Exploring one’s surroundings is the only way to truly learn a place. Thus, I got up and ran around downtown Nairobi. Unlike most African cities, Nairobi has large high rises of office space and wide, grid streets. Businesses are numerous and shops are full of vast inventories. There are dry-cleaners, ice cream vendors, bars and coffee shops, cell phone stalls and even lingerie and expensive clothing stores. Nairobi is the business hub of East Africa and many of the major multi-nationals have their headquarters downtown or in the more affluent Upper Hill neighborhood. It is great because the city is fairly compact and a close walk from the apartment.

While I walked by museums and the National Archives, my destination was a small park on the corner of Moi Ave and Haile Selassie Road. Fifteen years ago this August, an enormous bomb rocked this busy corner. The target was the U.S. Embassy but thanks to the local security guards Benson Okuku Bwaku and Jomo Matiko Boke refused to let the truck bomb past the front gate, saying that they had to go get the key from the shipper inside the embassy. Surviving a grenade and gun attack, the truck eventually detonated but both guards survived. Their actions undoubtedly saved lives. While the embassy largely survived the blast intact, a small office building called UFundi Cooperative Building completely collapsed (the middle building), trapping hundreds of Kenyans working there. The bombing left more than 200 dead including 12 Americans and thousands wounded. The memorial was small but well-kept and offered a bit of peace from the wilds of Nairobi streets. There was also a small museum next to the memorial and it had a camera from the blast as well as many pictures and descriptions. More

It was an immensely sad place, a reminder of the risks diplomats take, even in one of Africa’s most developed cities. Someone told me once they lost 35 friends and colleagues that day. Does it deter me from my career ambitions? Of course not, but it certainly makes me think long and hard about it…