Adham's Blog

Qatar World Cup 2022, #1: First Impressions

A few weeks before the World Cup in Qatar starts, I started hearing voices calling to boycott the world cup because of “many reasons”. When I started to talk to people, I found many of them forming strong opinions against Qatar and FIFA. We navigated these opinions in different conversations. I mainly wanted to understand how such a moral decision is formed since I had Zero moral conflicts knowing that I am traveling to Qatar to watch the World Cup. This essay, however, is not about morality but rather an account of my experiences on this trip, which has already introduced me to interesting encounters even in the first few hours. Regarding morality, I would probably write a dedicated opinion at the end of the trip.

The trip started with a lovely farewell from a lovely lady at Zürich airport. The first flight was to Istanbul, where I met my brother, Morad, who flew from Hamburg. We took the next flight together to Doha. The flight was packed with football fans, many of them were supporters of Morocco. My seat was between two Moroccan passengers, and we spent 4 hours talking. They are flying to Doha without having tickets for the match, but are full of emotions since Morocco made it to the round of 16. During the flight, fans started chanting, standing in the aisle, and cheering for morocco. The whole plane started clapping and singing. Even Spain supporters (the team that will face Morocco) joined the singing, and the atmosphere was already festive.

We landed in Doha. The customs and luggage-claim were extremely smooth and efficient. People who worked in the airport were of many different nationalities. I think only the customs officer was Qatari. Nevertheless, everyone welcomed us with smiling eyes. I asked Morad, why is everyone here so friendly and happy? Morad couldn’t answer, since he lives in Germany 😀

We drove to the fan village and checked-in in our container room. It had two single beds, a bathroom, a fridge, an air conditioner, and a water boiler. It is surely overpriced, but we were happy to be able to attend this event for the first time. Here is a video showing the fan village where we are staying. It is also full of food trucks that are open almost 24/7. We slept to get ready for the first day, Tuesday the 6th of December.

***

We woke up without much rest, went for a coffee, and decided to have one stop before heading to the stadium. We took the metro to “Souq Waqif” which translates to “standing market”. It is a traditional market with plenty of restaurants and traditional shops. On the way from the metro station, we passed by a modern quarter with many fancy modern buildings and businesses. The streets were full of art installations and things related to the world cup to interact with visitors. It was packed with supporters from all countries wearing different flags, hats etc. Music is everywhere and people are having random conversations with each other on the streets. A real festival. We strolled and explored the souq and kept being impressed by how modern, organized and lively this place was. We visited an art center where many artists were busy creating new pieces. Here are some photos taken by Morad.

Before going to Qatar, some German friends were complaining that the whole competition was organized in one city. I didn’t actually understand where was the problem back then. Well, here in Souq Waqif, I realized that this was a beautiful thing. We saw supporters from almost all the countries with their flags and tricots roaming around the city, a truly global festival. When the next versions of the world cup will be distributed in many cities, you will see in each city fans mainly from a couple of countries. Like this German tourist says about his experience in Doha:

https://youtube.com/shorts/kgwIz_jrY9w

We had traditional Qatari food for lunch and shared the table with a random Kuwaiti visitor who seemed not to be poor at all, as well as two guys from Columbia and Peru. Nice conversations and tips and tricks for where to visit when we are not world-cupping. The Kuwaiti rich guy offered to pay for our lunch, but we paid and thanked him. It was time to head to the stadium to watch the game. Morocco vs. Spain.

We took the metro to the stadium. From the moment you leave the stadium, the road is prepared and studded with helpers that tell you where to go. They are from different nationalities, men and women, and in general, all are smiling and joking. A great atmosphere. The ticket was installed on an App that detected our location and activated the ticket. We entered smoothly and enjoyed the perimeter of the beautiful stadium. Many stages with live music, food stalls, and places to take photos. Always with an abundance of helpers. Probably redundancy.

In the end, we were in the stadium to attend our first live world cup game. Big emotions and a nice coincidence that an Arab team was playing. The game itself was entertaining, except for the very loud Moroccan fans that started whistling every single time the Spaniards possessed the ball. This was tiring by the end of the game. I will spare you the football details. But Morocco won. A primer in football history that an Arab team makes it to the quarter-finals. Great emotions that were later dimmed by Switzerland losing to Portugal 6-1. We watched that second game in a hall of a hotel since we needed some quiet peace. At the end of the day, we went back to the fan village and lodged in our container, hoping to be shipped to dreamland preparing for tomorrow.

Love-hate affair with Egyptair

I flew today with my mom from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Cairo on Egyptair. The trip turned out to be eventful. Pretty much like everything that happens in Egypt, I was reminded.
When I mounted the airplane, I found the crew very polite and friendly. During the flight, I found them going the extra mile to help the passengers to an extent that surprised me. I also wondered how they are not pissed off by the actions of some passengers that defy logic and basic social conventions.

During the flight, I saw a passenger addressing a crew member with urgency. I understood that there is a medical emergency since I remember seeing this passenger with her mother and her mother didn’t look very well. However, I stayed in my seat and waited. The Chief of the cabin crew moved steadily and hastily prepared an oxygen cylinder to go to the back where the “patient” was sitting. A flight attendant went back and forth to the patient and to the front of the airplane, and they asked for doctors on board. Besides me, there was a general practitioner. We went to the lady and examined her “shortness of breath” assisted by the cabin crew. We asked for the medical equipment that they have and were provided with a stethoscope, an electric blood pressure measuring device and a non-functioning device to (not)measure blood sugar. No pulse oximeter, which is the first thing I needed in this case. We examined the lady with what we had, and we were relatively assured since she was alert and aware. Later we discovered that she is a retired doctor herself. We landed shortly and provided a short written report to the crew and thanked them for their professionalism. In my heart, I praised Egyptair. Well, the meal was also not bad 😀

However!

With so many old and sick passengers onboard (there were at least 10 passengers in wheelchair boarding the plane), we found only 3 wheelchairs waiting to pick up the passengers. Then it took a loooong time for them to organize more wheelchairs, they gave up and just drove us from the airplane to the terminal. Still, no wheelchairs there. We waited a bit, then the customs-officer asked to stamp our passports and was kind enough to personally ask a worker there to get us a wheelchair. Meanwhile, I picked up our luggage (including our own shipped wheelchair). Still, no one showed up. So, I had to push the wheelchair with one hand and the luggage with the other hand. I was fuming and started stopping anyone who looked like working in the airport in any rank. No one seemed to be able to help. Until I found the responsible guy at the exit door. Kind of too late.

I contemplated. So much time was lost because of a simple protocol that I witnessed in numerous other airlines/airports. 7 wheelchairs in = 7 wheelchairs out. Simple information that is spelled by the cabin crew once they open the door or even before they land. It is all noted in the system anyway. But in Egypt, nobody seems to care.

So, I guess my conclusion is, the people are nice. But there is no system. No efficiency and no protocol. I am sending this post to Egyptair. Maybe it changes something. Oh.. and please Egyptair get a pulse oximeter.

A Deadly Accident in Hamburg

Warning: this post describes a deadly accident that I have witnessed today. Please do not proceed with reading if you feel unsure if you can handle descriptions of violent deaths. I write here to cope with what, I hope, does not remain inside me as a trauma.

It is Hamburg, I left Morad’s apartment heading to the airport to fly to Zürich. Due to some construction work unaccounted for in Google Maps, I missed the direct Bus by 20 seconds. I had to take another route. A bus, a tram and then finally here I am waiting for the train that will take me to the airport. The sign showed a delay. The train didn’t show up. The next one is scheduled in 5 minutes. Meanwhile, another train arrived and unloaded many people. Its sign read “Bitte nicht einsteigen”, please do not mount the train. And it set going.

I heard a lot of screaming.. I turned my head to see a human body stuck between the moving train and the platform. It was the upper half of the body. The train kept on moving and led to more hits to the body. It seemed forever. In the first glance I had goosebumps. I turned my head away because I know two things. There is no way this person will survive this accident, and what I will see will remain with me forever. I kept looking away.. Wanting to shout: “please don’t look”. But then I was also looking back at the victim, wondering if there is anything to do. We shouted “STOP”! but in vain. There was no way the train driver would hear any of our shouts.

The train was gone. Some people approached the body on the tracks. They carried him to the platform. It took me a couple of seconds to remember that I am a doctor and the possibility that the poor victim might still be alive. I joined the people, identified myself, and thought I felt a pulse in his carotid artery. A passerby who seemed to be a Spanish nurse started reanimating. He was shouting that we have to respirate him. I saw a woman calling the emergency. I shouted that we needed a defibrillator and a woman came to me saying that she will fetch one from 100 meters away. We alternated the pressing, there was no chest wall because of the trauma.

Meanwhile, we were a big group of civilians that had rescue backgrounds, a nurse, a firefighter, and a first-aid worker. I checked his pupils, which were wide and not reactive. The defibrillator came, we put the electrodes on the chest, “no shock advised”. The defibrillator didn’t detect any pulse. We kept on CPR till the ambulance team came. After the body check, it was clear that it is too late. May he rest in peace.

I turned my head to find another collection of people. An Arabic lady seems to have collapsed and lost consciousness, affected by the whole scene. She was twitching with closed eyes. A strong pulse. A policeman was holding her legs up. I tried to contact her until she came back to her senses.

I looked around me, the station was full of people on duty. Policemen, first-aid workers, and other helpers. I gave my contacts to the police and asked for permission to catch my flight. I spent the rest of the day with a heavy sadness. As a doctor, we are used to injuries and death. But witnessing the whereabouts and the events is a heavy load. I wrote this here to clear my head and my heart, and as an attempt to cope with what happened today. I apologize if I made you sad.

Update: here is the news covering about the accident.

https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/hamburg/Radfahrer-stirbt-am-S-Bahnhof-Ohlsdorf-Mordkommission-ermittelt,ohlsdorf214.html

and the person who pushed the victim was caught:

https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/hamburg/Toter-Radfahrer-Polizei-verhaftet-mutmasslichen-Schubser,ohlsdorf220.html

Tulips and Cobblestones

In an early Saturday hour, it was just me and the cobblestones,
an empty old town.
One lonely goose in the river.

It is the farmers’ market today.
I bought tulips from the oldest woman.
I smelled them. I smiled. I quivered.

It was then, I thought of you.
I knew we won’t be two,
if you never show up,
if you keep on hiding in the future.

In case, we don’t fall in love forever,
and our hearts of petals keep on flying apart,
blown everywhere by the indecisive winds,
I will love the thought of you.

And while waiting for eternity,
let kindness prevail,
in our fragmented stories:
unique and unmatched
they pave our paths,
like Cobblestones!

Kenya 2022 | Day 13b: My First Flying Lesson

5 Yankee – November November Echo
This sweet code will remain in my memory for a long time.

I have been dreaming of flying for a long time. Probably like a big percentage of humans. Today, I took the first step. When I landed in Nairobi from Diani a couple of days ago, I found few flight schools around the airport. So I knocked on their doors and asked if they could organize a test flight for me. I wanted to know how I would feel on a plane before I invest the time and the thousands of dollars needed. 99Flying was the name of the school, and Presley was my contact person. He, himself, was a student pilot who works in the school to finance his learning costs. I liked Presley’s attitude. He kept saying: “Whatever it takes to get my dream. Money is just paper the government is printing. We will shake it, man”.

A student on a simulator
Looks like a more sophisticated simulator

I have already arranged the date and time. They were waiting for me. My instructor is a young, funny guy called Rodriguez! His father liked football so much and named him after some player in the 90s.
So, here we are. Rodriquez and I in the one-engine, 30 years old airplane called 5Y-NNE, 5 Yankee November November Echo. Each of us has a headset and is ready to flyyyy.

Before taking off

Rodriguez started by making a thorough check of the gear, communicating with the tower, and asking permission to take off. One of the most exciting things about today is listening to the whole thing in my headset. I felt like a badass going to save the world.
Rodriguez was sitting comfortably as if he were sitting in an old Mercedes. The take-off was smooth. The tower asked us to fly 6200 feet high. We headed in a straight line to the “visual landmark” which is a big building with a red roof. There we communicated again with the tower and turned to another visual landmark, a bridge, in each step, Rodrigue`z communicates with “someone” saying the sweet, 5 Yankee, November November Echo.

Taking off

The dashboard
Rodriguez explaining things
The view from my seat

He explained to me the dashboard, the steering of the airplane, how to use the GPS, and also the landscape that we saw. It was all surreal for me.
Our direction was the Kilimanjaro mountain. Some people like to climb mountains. I am too lazy for that. A few years ago, I flew around Mount Everest in a small touristic plane, and now I wanted to do the same with Kilimanjaro.
We were now out of the control zone. So we announced our progress on an “unmanned frequency”. We started to see the silhouette of the Kilimanjaro, but also the clouds that covered its peak. My initial agreement with Rodrigues was to fly till we see the mountain, then we head back. So, since we realized we will not see more of it because of the cloud, we turned and started heading back.

Kilimanjaro expectation
Kilimanjaro reality

Landing

There were some moments of pure happiness on this trip, and this was definitely one of them. Happiness, joy, excitement, or fulfillment, probably a mixture of all this. Sometimes I think languages are unfair and insufficient to describe the scope of human feelings and experiences.
I have decided to pursue this path in the near future.

Rodriguez with the “beast” of 180 horsepower

After my flying experience, I went to meet Theo in the afternoon for dinner. I waited for him in “Que Pasa bar”. He was more than half an hour late, but one thing I have practiced in Kenya is “No hurry in Africa”. His excuse was “Sorry, I was cooking. I slaughtered a rabbit yesterday and I wanted to try this Italian recipe while it is fresh”. I was entertained! We chatted for a couple of hours about my experience in Kenya and the contrasts with Europe. Theo’s family lives in London now, and he has been to a few parts of Europe before. What I noticed is that strangers could join tables even if they had other people, “This is how you make friends”, said Theo.

I retreated early to the hotel to relax and contemplate my trip. Tomorrow, Saturday, I fly back to Zürich full of renewed energy and new resolutions.

Kenya 2022 | Days 12 and 13a: In Kenya’s National Hospital

Theo, the psychiatrist my new friend, promised to take me to Kenyatta hospital for a tour. It is the biggest national and university hospital in Kenya. He is not on duty there, but he had a few errands to run. One of them was to see the MRI scans of a patient he saw two days ago. The patient was referred to him because of a speech disorder and walking difficulty. Theo noticed also some rigidity in his right arm, and therefore he sent him for an MRI. We met the daughter and Theo showed me the printed scans that showed clearly bilateral Subdural hematoma, a medical emergency. We took the scans to the radiologists and asked the daughter to bring the patient for further procedures.

Theo then took me to the neurology ward to see if I can join the morning round, but it was over already. They said I can join them tomorrow 8:30. I borrowed a lab coat from Theo, and we separated to meet tomorrow for dinner.

The rest of that day was relaxed. I went for the COVID-PCR test, which surprisingly came out negative, I spent a couple of hours wandering around the city and in the hotel gym.

The following day, I showed up on the ward at 8:30. I found the residents diving in the patients’ files, and I asked if I could join the rounds. I joined the “handover” where the night shift doctor was discussing the patients that were admitted to the ward at night with the ones on duty during the day. The first surprise for me was that the night shift was carried out by an intern alone! The intern looked at me with some sorrow in her eye and said, “I am just an intern”. Theo told me, later, that he had to perform multiple cesarean sections in one night as an intern in some rural hospitals. I listened to the handover. Thorough and competent. My impression, in general, was that the colleagues there were competent and well-educated.

After checking all the new patients and organizing the transfer to proper departments, we went to see the neurological patients. A wide scope of diseases, that I was surprised it could be diagnosed here given the scarce resources. Especially for my medical readers: half of the ward was occupied by HIV-positive patients that had cryptococcal meningitis or toxoplasmosis due to their immunosuppression. Some Strokes, some bleedings, a GBS, a PML with HIV. Tough cases. A few of the cases have refused further medical diagnostics and treatment because they can not afford them. We passed by a patient while having a generalized epileptic seizure. Unfortunately, the hospital does not have an EEG. They have to send the patients to another hospital for EEGs. There is one MRI in the hospital and is obviously completely booked. These conditions make it hard for doctors to do their job and also to advance their knowledge. Sometimes they would wish to know how the MRI of this or that patient looks like, but they can’t because the patient can’t afford it.

Needless to mention, the conditions of the hospital. I promised Theo that I won’t take pictures. However, what can I say? very sick patients beside each other, each bed has a plastic washtub underneath, that the patients use as a toilet. You can imagine the smell of the ward. I refer you to one link that has a photo of a ward here.

After discussing the cases, I thanked my colleagues and wished them all the best. In this place of hope and frustration, holding the post and doing this job is something I respected. I was also thankful for where I work in Switzerland. I think I will approach my daily routine differently when I go back to my daily life.

I left the hospital for my next adventure that day; to which I will dedicate the next post.

Kenya 2022 | Day 11: Helmuth’s Art Gallery

A young German gentleman called Helmuth once booked a one-way flight to Cairo. After a couple of days, he traveled up the Nile across to Sudan, following the river further to Uganda. He slept on huge floating ships that served as markets, buying goods from villages and selling them along the river banks back and forth. Helmuth decided it would be nice to come work a bit in East Africa. Since he was in a pharmaceutical branch, he got a job managing the medicine supply chain. A contract after contract, years have passed until he retired with his dutch wife in Kenya. After retirement, he decided to follow another passion of his and be involved in the art scene. He hosts art exhibitions in an art gallery in his house. I stated “You have contributed to the evolution of Nairobi” he smiled: “of Africa”.

Earlier today, I woke up in West Wood hotel which is on the verge of the forest. They even have a forest view deck where you can observe the monkeys that naturally live there. Since the Breakfast buffet is in the yard, monkeys try to snatch the fruits here and there. Which I have observed as soon as I emerged for breakfast. I decided that today I want to explore the art scene in Nairobi. I am a humble collector of paintings and chess sets from my travels.

You know my trick, I use dating apps to meet interesting ladies for nice conversations. I matched with an intriguing lady nicknamed “Firefly“. I sent her the link to my blog, and you know what? She informs me that she started reading “The Forty Rules of Love” one week ago. What are the odds? I asked her for a recommendation for local art galleries and come to know that she is an artist herself. She recommended the Red Hill Art Gallery. I called Helmuth, the curator, which told me that they are preparing a new exhibition that will start on Sunday. A pity, I won’t be in Kenya by then. I told Firefly that. A few minutes later I got a call from Helmuth that I can visit the gallery today if I want as an exception. Firefly has asked him.

After a long Uber ride, I arrived at the Red Hill Art Gallery. Helmuth welcomed me in his garden between his house and the medium annex that serves as the art gallery. He prepared coffee and cookies, and we spent a couple of hours conversing. I started by touring the upcoming exhibition by an 80 years old British-Kenyan dancer that decided to resume painting two years ago. It is her first exhibition! I give a lot of respect to those who decide to take a new path in life, not to mention in such an old age. She hired one dancer as a model and painted him in different choreography moments. I thought it takes a lot of talent and bravery to depict the human body during these movements. The artist risks painting the wrong muscle anatomy. I thought she did a good job.

The Exhibition in the Red Hill Art Gallery

We had a long conversation. Helmuth told me a brief biography, including his experience in the healthcare field in Africa. We discussed the healthcare problems in Kenya in particular. He also told me a lot about the art scene. He then showed me his private art collection, as well as a tour of his house, which was studded with beautiful artifacts and artworks. During these minutes, I felt my heart racing and my happiness spike. I decided to dedicate more time to this passion of mine.

Helmuth showing my some of his private collection

Earlier that day, I was strolling in one of the many shopping malls in Nairobi. It seems a feature of hot countries to have shopping malls as a way to avoid the heat. There I also encountered an exhibition of some local artists in some abandoned space in the mall without any sign of human life. Here are the most interesting paintings I found. I have contacted the artist for the prices and each was around 150 euros.

I also found this epic painting of the last supper but in Movember, hehe

Kenya 2022 | Day 10: back to Nairobi ❤️ 🇰🇪

I headed to my last breakfast in this hotel. There I observed the other guests: two Italian families with adults and a few mixed couples. This is a frequent scene in Diani, mostly older white people 👴🏻 coupled with younger black ones 👩🏿 . Somehow, when I see a single white man somewhere in the city, I think that he might be a fugitive. In general, Diani is a good place to disappear if you are internationally wanted by the Interpol.

I checked out and headed to the supermarket 🛒 to get come aloe vera to heal my burnt 🔥 skin. Unfortunately, there is no cream for the wounds of the heart 💔. Maybe only cream brûlée 😂😂😂.

Since the coffee in the hotel was the usual bad (horse piss 🐎 as my brother says, or aqua sporca as Andrea says), I decided to go for a decent cappuccino ☕️. However, Café Apero apologized to me because they had no electricity ⚡️ at the moment. I don’t remember having experienced this before, but I was also not surprised.

The zebra is eating fire and the lion is surprised

I took a small plane from Ukunda airport to Nairobi. This might be the second-smallest airport 🛫 I have been to, after that in one of the Galápagos Islands 🇪🇨 🏝️. We landed gracefully in the smaller Airport in Nairobi. I spontaneously visited some offices to inquire about some new adventure I am planning. Then headed to “Nairoby street kitchen” which I chose just because of the name! When I entered, I was welcomed by a modern and smart-looking young lady that explained the concept. It was a big hanger with many well-designed stalls, trucks, or vibe-full cafés. I was somehow euphoric by the modern design and the creativity. I love to see this in Africa 🌍 . There were also paintings displayed there for sale by local artists 🎨 . I wished I were a bit richer at that moment. I went to some stall and ordered tasty chicken wings 🐔 , as well as cassava roots (called Mhogo). I also found a huge bar on the rooftop with a big screen 🎦.

The African cup of nations ⚽ started two days ago. I have squeezed a couple of games in my not-at-all busy schedule, but today Egypt 🇪🇬 plays against Nigeria 🇳🇬 . I thought it would be cool to watch it with some Egyptians, so I tried to call the embassy in Nairobi. However, all the phone ☎️ numbers were out of service! This also didn’t surprise me! I decided to watch it in the rooftop bar. In that game, Egypt lost and I was sad/grumpy. The team’s performance was miserable. Maybe it is better I didn’t watch in a group after all.

P.S.: using emojis in this post was inspired by Cäcilia. I will probably not do it again 😀

Kenya 2022 | Days 8 and 9: Burnt in Diani

I read the above words on the beach in the morning and decided to go for a beach walk. It was after breakfast around 10 am. Since I didn’t find sun cream, I have bought a hydrating cream from the supermarket. I creamed my skin and thought: there are two possibilities; one is that this cream will protect my skin if it prevents the sun rays. The other possibility, it might contain some oil that will absorb more heat and make my skin worse. My bet was the first theory.
During the walk, I was approached by numerous locals who want to sell me “anything”. Coconuts, souvenirs, safaris, water sports. “aaaahh.. brotherrr from another motherrrr, where are you frrrrom?” I enjoyed the small talk and the jokes. Some of them talked only till they found out that I am not a good client. One guy just rotated around his axis and walked away in the middle of the conversation. Bakari, though, said he would walk with me and just chat anyway. He told me he gets to know tourists and makes friendships with the regular ones. He is told me about his devout friend Rashid, a Moroccan in France who sells drugs and Heroin there and comes twice a year for holidays in Diani. I found that entertaining. He told me how he cares about sending his children to Madrasa, a school for learning religion. At some point, under the mighty African sun, I started to feel the burrrn. He also noticed it and said “brother, you need aloe vera”. He ran in one direction and brought aloe vera leaves and cut them open where a moist gel was inside. I wiped my skin with it. I realized that my theory about the hydrating cream was wrong and that I am starting to cook like a properly marinated and seasoned chicken, well or a lion, hehe. I commissioned Bakari to make me a bottle of aloe vera while I get some money to support him and his family. He got many leaves and sat on the beach extracting the aloe vera into an old miserable-looking bottle. I found it a pleasant coincidence to see the spiky aloe vera leaves, from which we were extracting medicine. Just like the quote above. We agreed, he would take me on a tour of his village and I would like to check the local mosque in the village.

Around 3 pm, we walked to the village for around 15 minutes. I think this has accounted for more of my cooking time, which I realized later in the evening. We walked through some fields until the humble houses started to appear. This reminded me of the Kibera, the slums, except that the houses were dispersed and seemed to be spacey. No electricity or water infrastructure, though. The families there, which were mainly the women and the children, were lying on the ground outside getting their siestas. Some houses were made of metal and some were made of mud. The mosque was built out of concrete and had some water infrastructure, which was not working because the pump needs electricity, and they don’t have electricity in the village! I asked Bakari to take me back to the beach. He wanted to take me to his house, but I have seen enough. Already now, every time I meet someone here, I wonder if they live in slums. I wanted to go back to my luxury and to aloe vera.

A photo of aloe vera (from the internet)

For the evening, I joined Keisha and Hasani for dinner and a bit of music. However, the party was kind of ruined since we got the news that one member of the previous party a few days ago tested COVID-positive. Shit! I went back to the hotel. There, there was a game room with table tennis and billiards. I found a girl who works there, playing against some smart-looking African young guys. I came to know that they were from Rwanda. It was a pleasant time before I retreat to the bed.

The next day I was mostly indoors. I kind of wanted to isolate myself in case of COVID, I wanted to avoid the sun, and I was doing some remote working for my research. I now understand the feeling of home-office, which is not necessarily a bad thing if you can also be doing it on the beach somewhere else in the world.

Diani was some little paradise and I loved my time here. But now I was saturated with the sun, the ocean, and the sand. I decided it is time to leave the coast side and booked a flight for tomorrow to Nairobi.

Kenya 2022 | Days 6 and 7: Diani’s Animals and Meeting Theo

My trip to Diani, a little beach town on the southern coast of Kenya, was a one-hour Matatu ride. This ride was studded with observations that are followed by a usual question: why? Why is this cow here? Why is this guy collecting dirty draining water in a bucket? I saw so many wonders that I don’t know how to document here. Seeing Africa or India or countries with some significant amount of Chaos is something that can’t be replaced by stories.

I headed to the backpacker’s lodge called “Stilts”, which is located in the forest. As soon as I entered, I started seeing black-and-white colobus monkeys everywhere. They looked elegant and were around the whole place. I have initially booked a tent (see photo below) as a new experience for me. I have camped in my youth several times in the desert. Camping in a forest is novel to me. Jenny at the reception welcomed me and in the process asked me if I was “sure about the tent”? They also have tree houses. They showed me both options. While I was making the tour, I heard snakes. “Bakari, are these snakes?”, “yes, but they are the green ones, they are not dangerous”. Given the circumstances, I opted for a treehouse. Back to the reception where Jenny said “you don’t look like a tent person”. This is true. Not in a forest where all these animals can play tag with me. Well, I also discovered later, that the green snake is called the “eastern green mamba” and has a rapid-acting venom.

I would have slept there (Photo from booking.com)
but I slept here (Photo from booking.com)
because I was afraid of this guy (photo: wikipedia)
Colobus Monkey in the forest (photo from internet)
I took this photo

I spent the afternoon at the beach, mainly reading and interacting with the locals. I got twice the same comment that they were happy I was talking to them like a friend since many white guys completely ignore them. To be honest, I also understand the white guys. If you are asked 10 times in 100 meters if you want to buy coconut or souvenirs, you would also not be nice all the time. However, I spent around one-hour bargaining with Frank on the price of a coconut. Frank knew I wouldn’t buy it, I knew I wouldn’t. But I got the feeling that people here appreciate good fun.

At 7 pm daily, the Stilts backpackers feed bushbabies (Galago). What are these? They are some weird nocturnal animals, that have super-cute big eyes. They come every day at 7 pm for their usual meal, which are some bananas offered by the hostel and its guests. This was one of the cutest things I saw in a few years. However, we came to know that they pee on their hands. I am happy I didn’t touch them!

The night continued with me getting in touch with Hasani and Keisha, which I met in Nairobi. They told me about some beach party in the Soul Breeze Resort. I arrived earlier than them and was approached by Luciana, I think she was a prostitute. She asked to sit with me, gave me a couple of compliments and asked where I was staying. I said, “in a treehouse”. Do you want to show it to me later? I said “no”. After she was leading the conversation like a green mamba, I interrupted her stating that I was uncomfortable with this conversation and that she had to leave my table. I was soon rescued by Hasani and Keisha.

There we had dinner and bounced on the tunes of Afrobeats and came to meet more and more friends. After the party, we moved to another hostel for an extended party, where Hasani and I were literally the last men standing at 3:30 am. I think Afrobeats is included in my DNA.

During this night, I had the pleasure to encounter Theo, a Kenyan psychiatry resident on holiday, showing Diani to his visiting Nephew. Once Theo knew about me being a neurologist, we had a looooong conversation about the human brain and what makes us human. This was Theo’s specific question, actually. This very interesting conversation extended to free will, consciousness, and divinity. As Theo says: “choose a delusion and stick to it”. Theo told me about the difficulties of the healthcare system in Kenya. There are in total around 4000 doctors in the country, which is 1 doctor per 10,000 people! Just for comparison, Switzerland has 40 doctors per 10,000 people. We exchanged contacts, and hopefully, we will meet again in Nairobi before I leave Kenya.

The next day I left the Stilts backpackers to a 5-stars resort :D, I know I combine contradictions in my traveling as I do in life in general. But for me, everything makes sense. I spent Saturday as another beach day. Probably the highlight was playing a beach football game with some local tribesmen mixed with a few tourists. We agreed to meet again tomorrow.