Runda Walk

October 10, 2012
These are some of experiences as I walked the three miles from my house in the Runda Hills area of Nairobi to the nearest market.

 

 Leaving the house
Getting out is not an easy task.

At the exit to the outside world is a steel gate topped with razor wire. 

 Hardened steel padlocks with bolt locks secure the main gate and pedestrian door.

There is no way to leave the house without having a key to unlock the gate.

Prisons seem less secure. 

To relock the door from the outside, you need to feel the lock on the other side of the door

 and insert the key. The process needs to be reversed upon entry. 

This is what the gate looks like from the outside.

 

The neighborhood

 

This is the street where I live. 

This is one of the passersby.

 

The houses in the neighborhood are both private with a scattering of embassies. At a local realtor's office, none of the houses are under several million, the highest listing being $500 million USD.

Nairobi is not a cheap place to live.

The irony is that although the houses are expensive, they share the same unreliable and continually interrupted electric and water supply as the rest of Nairobi.

 

In the background is not a tree house for children to play, but an armored elevated bunker.

This the welcoming sign.

 Matatu is a mini-van bus.

Boda Boda is a motorcyle for hire.

Near the shopping center is a water park with screaming children,

a real delight to my ears.