Traffic

Traffic in Nairobi is mad(-dening). The shortest of distances can take forever by car during rush hour. I'm extremely happy to have found an apartment so close to work that it doesn't really affect my way to work. One of my room-mates has to commute to the other side of the city and it takes her 1,5-2 h to get work ONE WAY.

This is the simplest way for me to get to work. 

I walk to Waiyaki way to catch the bus from here: 

... and I can pretty much catch any bus, because they all go to town and so I don't have to wait long.

Even if the traffic looks like this: 

... it's such a short distance that it takes about 5-10 min. to get to my office. There's no official bus stop directly in front of the office building, but so far the driver stops at Eden Square when I ask. 

This is how it looks like outside the Office (check out the sidewalk, I don't understand how the local women walk on heels on these roads...):

Even if it looks wide enough in the picture, it feels really narrow, especially when someone walks toward you. Then you have to remember to pass them from the left since the left-side traffic applies for walking, too, and be careful not to get hit by that truck...

 I walked home the same way along Waiyaki Way on Monday and Tuesday and I felt like I'd be hit by a car instantly if I stumbled on the sidewalk and fell - you know, since I'm pretty gifted at stumbling... And Waiyaki Way has three-four lanes, so it's a pretty huge road. Passing it feels like a suicide attempt, but I just wait for a local to cross the road with, so that I dare to do it. :) Passing the road is also weird due to the left-side traffic, which will take a while to get used to.

Today I tried another route via Sarit Centre (you can see it on the map on top, marked with a star). It felt a lot safer, but took a while longer.

I mostly walked along School Lane and was met by a lot of kids in their green uniforms and smiley faces, which made me miss teaching...

Walking this way I really noticed how nice buildings they have here in Westlands.

Remember, all of Nairobi does NOT look this nice, even if the middle-class is rising and it seems like they're building something new in every corner. I just haven't dared to flip out my iPhone in those areas... Ü