Christmas Craft Fair-Nairobi

After two days of rain, today, Saturday, dawned with a slightly hazy, azure sky with wispy clouds and bright sun.  Praise the Lord for the beautiful day as we were scheduled to drive in to Nairobi and attend the Christmas Craft Fair which is held at the Ngong Race Track.  This annual affair began as a way for the white settler women to display and exchange their craft items which were made while their husbands worked.  Today the fair involves not only Kenyan crafts, but those of ex-patriots, and many well known retail stores selling Kenyan and African products.

We left at 9:00 a.m. and drove the upper road from RVA to the highway leading to Nairobi.  The traffic was not too bad considering the beautiful weather and the fact today was a Saturday.  Many of the roads in Kenya are not the best, but sections of the highway we traveled were improved by a technique used in the US.  Tar and lose stones (referred to as "chips" here in Kenya) were placed on the roadway.  Pictured at left is just such a section of road.  Note the lack of any lane or shoulder lines.   Kenya is a former British colony, hence we drive on the left hand side of the road.  Takes a bit of getting used to.

 We arrived safely at the race track;  parked;  paid the entry fee and proceeded onto the grounds.  Spread before us was a large circle of white tents each housing specific crafts and products of various African businesses.  Pictured at right are Joyellen and Megan stopping at one such tent with many in the distance waiting to be visited.  The sky was quite clear and the sun shone brightly so we visited many of the tents just to get out of the sun periodically.  We also kept ourselves hydrated with water and other beverages.

A highlight of every Christmas Craft Fair is the arrival of Santa Clause.  He comes in a variety of ways.  He has come in a gyrocopter;  he has come in a Piki (offroad motorcycle);   he has come in a donkey cart;  and he has been known to come in drunk.  Fortunately, this year he arrived sober and riding in an sport utility vehicle.  As the truck drove around the circle of tents, Santa Claus threw bags of chips and candy to the kids and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.

Midway thru our visit we decided a break would be welcome.  So the most popular option was to stop for lunch.  Pictured at the right is the large food tent which is constantly filled with craft goers eating a variety of delicious foods.  Louise and I chose Greek gyros.  Others in our party ate hot dogs and sausages.  Water and sodas were the  beverages of choice.  Once again I drank a Stoney.  The official name for this drink is Stoney Tangawizi.  Ginger is the zingy taste.  The beverage is a product of the CocaCola company.  Lunch in the shade gave everyone a second breath and we were soon ready to resume our trek of the crafts circle.

Organizers of this event knew that kids would soon tire of visiting craft tents many of which duplicated others a few feet away.  Therefore, activities for children were offered such as inflatable bounce slides, a magic show, and face painting.  After watching a magician demonstrate his bag of tricks, the grandkids decided to visit the face painting tables.  Pictured at left is Ian's Tiger face.  Megan had a butterfly painted on her cheek.

Finally, the time came when everyone was pretty much worn out.  Shopping had been complete and our legs and feet were pretty tired.  We decided to stop on the way home at a mall complex known as Nakumatt Junction.  I call the Nakumatt stores the Walmarts of Kenya only bigger.  In this particular mall was a location of a newcomer to Kenya:  Subway.  This US fast food franchise is the second fast food vendor in Kenya after KFC.  The subs were pretty good.  Not as tasty as those in the US, but good enough to warrant a future visit.  We returned home tired, but satisfied with our time spent at the Christmas Craft Fair.


Tomorrow is another busy day as ... there is more to come.