Climate & Environs

The most surprising thing I learned about Nairobi in my pre-travel research was its elevation: 5,450 feet. This is higher than my elevation in the foothills of the Sierras! I was curious to see how this would feel on the equator and it turns out to be quite lovely. February is the driest, hottest time of the year for Nairobi, but it seemed pretty perfect to me. It was in the high 70s most days and although we got some rain (which is most unusual - typically it doesn't leak at all until the rainy season starts in March) it was mostly sunny with adorable fluffy clouds in the skies.

I actually dreamed about those clouds a few times, including one where I was attempting to photograph a giant Yucca in the sky. Turns out it was a Sisal:

Anyways, back to reality. The city is actually quite garden-like, with bougainvillea abounding and all sorts of (to us exotic) house plants for sale by the side of the road. 

There are also huge cactus trees:

And tons of very large birds of prey. These are vultures above my hotel, I also saw hawks, massive crows, songbirds with long tails and an occasional bright colored or black and white robin-sized creature.

As I mentioned in a previous post, most of the roads aren't paved so there is really a feeling like you are in the country, especially in Kangemi, where there are fields in the middle of the densely-packed housing:

Given the traffic situation, I decided if I needed to live in Nairobi I would somehow infiltrate the Kangemi culture and find a place near one of these fields and just never leave the neighborhood.