Nairobi Friday 23 October 2009
I am really surprised at what a transportation geek I morphed into. I have been in Nairobi four days now and with what little I have seen it is stunning. I still have not got my head around the fact that I am actually here.
The smells, the sounds, the light are a treat. The air smells of musty red clay combined with the scent of the flowers with a little tinge of wood smoke. I am sitting out on a patio listening to all the birds as the sun sets and there are few white clouds against the blue sky and I can see the changing colour of clouds as the sun is setting.
The whole car thing here has really bothered me since we arrived. I was trying to be respectful, not being too judgmental about it and trying to understand it, but all the accumulation experiences of cab rides are starting to inform a perception of Nairobi. Continue reading Improving safety of pedestrians and bicyclists in Nairobi: Japheths Ogendi, part one →
First full day in Nairobi and still jet lagged. They have not had rain in here for over a year and last week they got a welcomed downpour. The city has come alive with hues of green and orange clay. There is a pleasant musty smell in the air.
Ravi, my brother in-law arranged for Anita and me to take a “Jim cab” to the conference (ICUH). It is a more secure company than some of the other taxi companies and security is an issue here. I wanted to take some photos out the car’s window but was advised that this would be unwise; there is chance the camera could be grabbed from the open window. Anyways, I captured some images from inside the car.
The roads are clogged with cars. There are a handful of pedestrians on the roadside, but most are waiting for Matatus. Matatus are commuter vans that hold around 8 passengers, although some seemed packed beyond capacity. The name Matatus is from back in the day when it cost only 3 schillings for a ride. The drivers of Matatus are notorious with the other divers for their risky driving practices.
story about matatus and pop culture.
The roads are busy with vendors selling flowers and newspapers with pedestrians crossing where they can, however, the main users of the roads are cars and the matatus. I did see a couple of bikes. The musty smell of the wet clay soon gave way to the suffocating reek of diesel fumes. Continue reading Matatu, gridlock, diesel fumes, Nairobi’s built environment and the 8 Millennium Development Goals →
Heading towards Nairobi for the International Conference Urban Health (ICUH). The conference started yesterday with a key note address from , former mayor of Bogotá, Columbia, Enrique Peñalosa.
I read an online a report from the Daily National by Steven Bull entitled: “Man who transformed Bogota’s infrastructure gives tips to Nairobi planners.”
The main point of Mr. Peñalosa’s key note address was that transportation planning can address inequalities in civil society, which will have an impact on crime. Creating better infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclist has a powerful effect on the reducing of crime and addressing social inequalities in civil society. Peñalosa is quoted as saying: “Up to 95 per cent of people in under-developed cities do not drive to work, and almost as many don’t even own a vehicle, so why are we so focused on expanding roads for this elite five per cent? That’s not democracy,”
The main point being by spending on roads for cars which only serve the very rich of most developing countries is direction in spending priorities and allocation of national resources.
Mr. Peñalosa was mayor for only three years and the was a huge change in the transportation infrastructure and a significant change in the crime rate.
Rats, sounds like it was a real inspiring talk. I heard Gill Peñalosa, Enrique’s brother and also Commissioner of Transportatin when he was Mayor, give a talk at Vancouver City Hall before the report on lane allocation on Burrard Bridge which was stunning in its impact. All the bike advocates on our side of the gallery were falling out of seats with amazement.
We are hanging out in Schipol at the moment waiting to board our flight. No free wifi here so I will have to wait till we arrive in Nairobi to post the story. It is a ten hour flight and even after two days in Amsterdam I still on Vancouver time.
museumplein amsterdam
Everyone is taking a nap after a brutal night. Here all the images from first day.
Seriously Jet Lagged in Amsterdam
Arrived safely in Amsterdam, but seriously feeling the time difference. I must have blocked this from my memory or perhaps being stuck in 100 square feet with an 11and nine year old all night makes jet lag all the more poignant.
Okay, vibrant animated public space is something all cities strive for, but basketball at 2 AM is too much. When we arrived at the hotel at 9 pm there were kids playing football on the street. Where were all the fussy bourgeois Dutch when you need them?
Everyone is taking a nap as I write this after a largely sleepless night. We went to bed around 9 PM. Saffi could not keep her eyes open at the restaurant. Then we wake up at 1 AM to the chimes of the church across the street. The church (will find out the name today) was so beautiful in the afternoon light with its gilded clock against the blue grey sky, but last night chiming every half hour and then Malli asking: “what time is it in Vancouver?”, was mediaeval discipline that I could live without at night. Fussy noise adverse West Enders could not hack it here. Continue reading Seriously Jet Lagged in Amsterdam →
I have extricated myself from Vancouver. I made few last calls on Friday to ensure the projects that I follow as President of the West End Residents Association (WERA) are not going to Council when I am away. I have handed over the codes for WERA’s secret weapons to Christine Ackermann who is going to take the point for the group.
I am on my way to 2009 International Urban Health Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference was in Vancouver last year and my partner Anita was the President of the International Society of Urban Health and responsible for the 2008 conference. The whole family is headed to Nairobi: Anita as well as our daughters Saffrin and Mallika. We are going to stop in Amsterdam enroute to Kenya. Anita and I were in Amsterdam in 2006 for the same conference. We had such a wonderful time and just fell in love with the city. We told the girls that we have to bring them there one day and it is finally coming true.
My plan for the blog is to document this trip with photos and post them here, but also to pick up info that could be interesting to Vancouver. First observation: free wifi at YVR rocks.
Hendrik Beune, Hope in the Shadow calendar vendor