One very important thing that Africa represents for me is dancing. Therefore, I was determined to add a dance lesson to my experiences. Yesterday, I googled and contacted a music and dance school called “Kamata”. They kindly agreed to arrange a private Afro-Dance lesson for me today. So, after a good breakfast in ArtCaffe (the coffee there is just great), I headed to Kamata school. There was Kevin, my dance instructor waiting for me. We walked together to a nearby gym where we kicked off our dancing lesson. Kevin decided we are going to practice a choreography based on a Nigerian song called Dancina.
Artcaffe
We started right away, and I felt all the endorphins shooting in my arteries. At times, I felt out of shape and inflexible compared to Kevin, who is a professional dancer. I should not be too hard on myself! Move after move, I managed to learn something that I could practice back home. It was great fun. I will definitely add this activity to any travel I plan in the future. I leave you with the end result. Like everyone, I feel a bit embarrassed about the video. Sometimes out of rhythm, sometimes forgot the steps. But who cares, right 😀 ?
and here is a video from Kevin’s dance crew
After the lesson, I headed to Pallet café where I met Eva, a Kenyan girl who lives and works as a consultant in a famous company in Munich. Currently, she is on holiday visiting her family. We had a nice conversation about Nairobi and Kenya, as well as the contrasts between Kenya and Europe. Eva thinks that one day, she will go back to Kenya. I also mentioned to her my experience in the Kibera slums. She, too, thinks that despite the bad living conditions, the people there are happy and satisfied.
The Pallet café hires only deaf waiters. So, to order your food or drinks, you need to point at items in the menu or use sign language. I remembered a KFC branch in Cairo employing the same concept.
Enough Nairobi for now. I haven’t done almost any of the top To-Do’s for tourists but I have experienced something for now. I decided to go to Mombasa, either a 1.5 flight or a 5 hours train ride. I knew I wouldn’t manage it on time to the train station, so I went to the airport and booked the flight in the Uber. Only 37 swiss francs. I found it funny that the airline is called 540. That’s right, just a number. What is nicer is that the flight is scheduled at 5:40 pm :D. However, the flight was delayed. Since there were no announcements in the airport, I went to inquire at the gate and found the pilot chilling in a chair. He told me that we are waiting for the plane to arrive. I asked about the estimated time. He said, “Don’t worry man, I am heeeere! relax, Hakuna Matata!” I thought that is the kind of pilot I want.
Interestingly, there was no life-jacket on board. Instead, in case of emergency, one should use the seat cushion, hug it and jump in the water. I found the safety information card funnily showing a smiling black woman hugging a seat cushion. This probably represents the laid back African mentality. “Emergency landing? No Problem. Hakuna Matata”.
I landed in Mombasa and took a taxi to a nice beach hotel where I will spend two days enjoying a relative luxury. But, you never know how life events unfold!