Tribe hotel Nairobi

Kenya, the iconic acacia trees against dark storm filled skies, lifting spirits, imagination as wide at the savanna.

The traffic is Nairobi is either stopped, or racing. At ridiculous speeds, through the streets to get involved – as rapidly as possible – in the next traffic brawl. Pedestrians charge across the three lanes, momentary shadows in the headlights. I was wrecked by the time we arrived at the very smart and comfortable hotel, Tribe. My room is luxurious, if affected by traffic noise.

I have no idea where I am actually in the city, other than close to the UN and the US Embassy. The hotel is full of Americans! Met Mr Bruce and a bunch of the managers for dinner at a long table in the lounge area to catch up and start the discussions that will dominate the week.

Security checks at the entrance to the hotel and its neighboring shopping centre, a reminder of the tension caused by the ongoing intervention in Somalia.

Dinner at a Thai restaurant, some twenty minutes drive from the hotel into the suburbs of Nairobi. The menu was extensive with some interesting choices, with a random selection for the bunch of us, which included sushi; a green chicken Thai curry;a shredded lamb dish; noodles and rice. Far too much food, which was very good if a tad spicy. A fleet of taxi’s brought us back to the hotel around eleven.

At the hotel, there was the opening of an exhibition of art, which included paintings and photographs. They had digital panels that showed the art on display in other rooms, which was innovative. The most interesting to me was the depiction of wild animals, almost like block print, but paint in primary colours on gold foil, by Alexandra Spyratos.

Grey and wet. Not that it disrupted my sleep! Too much wine???

I met Trevor and Rob, whom I haven’t seen since Afghanistan days, at a restaurant called Seven, in the Village. Bruce joined us after a bit. We have all changed, but not really. As expected the chat covered everything, and somewhere along the way, I think we decided that world peace wasn’t in our best interest. Although it would be great if the next war, or disaster, wasn’t in such lousy places.

Although they advertise themselves as sea food specialists, they have great steaks. My fillet on the bone was excellent. I did find that the butter medallion was too rich, and I couldn’t mange the marrow bit that came with the steak. Broccoli added some sanity to the dish. Belleruche Cotes Du Rhone, a smooth red, perfect.