Faster, Nairobi! City, country, creativity – all in one place

A visit to our neighbour: Kenya’s capital Nairobi has moved to another level with a giant expressway cutting through the heart of the city. The city of five million may look more American now, but it has kept its soul.

A light-blue Ford Taunus V6 coupé, 1971, is parked in the gentle shade of an African tree giant. At the Tin Roof Café atLangata Link, customers enjoy their organic breakfast. I have set out to explore Nairobi, where I used to live and work in the 80s and 90s. Kenya and Tanzania are often at odds, yet so close. And cool Nairobi could not be more different than steamy Dar es Salaam.

Langata Link, a small retail hub with a rural feel, is one of a dozen shopping locations and malls with high quality standards (see sidebar) where Kenyans and visitors from all over the world find homemade artisan brands offering everything from handbags to postcards to local fashion. It is here where city and country meet: the Nairobi National Park with lions, giraffes and elephants roaming freely is only a few-minutes-drive away. 

The highway monster

With five million inhabitants, the City in the Sun, as it calls itself, seamlessly embraces fast-paced commerce, bohemian creativity and wildlife. Nairobi “encapsulates what is happening in Africa better than any other city on the continent”, observed the New York Times.

Kenyans love country music, beer and shopping malls – and since recently also their new expressway. China has built the 27-kilometre highway for 764 million dollars, will in return collect toll fees for 27 years. 

The concrete monster perched on huge beams cuts straight through the inner city, has created a bright upper world and a twilight underground where matatus, bikes and cars still struggle to move on. Though the expressway is an admission that the car is still king in Nairobi, most people would agree that the drastic measure was the last exit out of a decade-long horrendous traffic congestion. 

25 minutes to the airport

A trip to the airport, formerly a two-hour-plus torment, now takes 25 minutes. “It’s a game changer” says General Manager Anthony Chege of Serena Hotel; fashion designer Sabine Hüster calls it “a blessing for drivers but a visual catastrophe.”

Hüster, a German living in Nairobi for three decades, belongs to a new tribe of crafty settlers, some of them second or third generation expats, completely in sync with a life between savannah and concept stores. Masai-fashion icon Anna Trezbinski led the pack; creatives like Hüster with her company “Off cut” and Barbara Tyack with “Shake the Tree” have followed. The documentary filmmaker from Cornwall lives in Karen Blixen’s (“Out of Africa”) former coffee house. Monkeys are playing in guava trees, when we visit her. 

With lace and embroidery, Tyack gives jeans and safari jackets a third lease on life. She sources her raw material at Nairobi’s mitumba second-hand markets. Hüster and her husband, employing around 50 workers in their garment factory, have a similar business model, tailoring trendy unisex shirts, blousons and shorts from old duvets, curtains and tablecloth, sometimes from prominent sources like Jennifer Lopez’ homeware collection. 

The city’s image has drastically changed in the last five years or so. A silhouette of ultra-modern sky-scrapers has superseded the long prevailing 70’s look; some real estate bubbles burst but growth is still there. Often I hardly recognise where I am. Alternative bars like the rooftop club cinema “Unseen” and top-class international restaurants co-exist. More United Nations agencies will move to Nairobi; a state-of-the-art garden city “Enaki” is being built in Gigiri.

High-rise versus old charm

Do the many new high-rise buildings destroy the city’s former charm? Arjun Malhotra, 30, has placed his craft beer club in a typical British bungalow, built before independence in 1963 and now a rare sight in sprawling areas like Westlands, Lavington and Kilimani. “I wanted to keep this lifestyle alive”, says the young brewer of “Crafty Chameleon”. His oasis of calm, with garden benches and barbecue, is packed on weekends. The old Nairobi vibe is still alive.

Best of Nairobi 

Cool, dynamic Nairobi, 1,795 metres above sea-level, is the perfect get-away from hot, dreamy Zanzibar.

WHERE TO STAY
Serena Hotel: old-school 5-star with impeccable service
Trademark Hotel: convenient at Village Market

SHOP `TIL YOU DROP
Sarit Centre: has-it-all mall in Westlands 
Village Market: top mall in Gigiri 
Langate Link: offbeat shops
House of Treasures: concept store in Karen

LOCAL FASHION BRANDS
Offcut: third-hand quality fashion
Shake the Tree: revamped denim and safari jackets
Urban Ranch: high-end leatherware
Anna Trezbinski: Samburu fashion trailblazer

TOP CUISINE
Le Grenier à pain: french pastry 
Furusato: Japanese-Korean local favourite
Ezo: Michelin chef from Russia goes Japanese in Westlands
The Talisman: evergreen classic in Karen