I spent 9 days in November visiting two of my closest friends in Kenya. I carried a backpack, a day bag, a camera and all the baggage I�ve managed to gather in the 33 years of my life. I say this as a disclaimer: These are my impressions of Africa, of Kenya and her people. No doubt, my impressions differ from my friends. But I�ll let them tell their own tales. This is my story.

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My first glimpse of Africa was of the languidly rolling dunes of the Sahara.

From the airplane window, the sand took on the color of dried blood. Secret and still, the dunes looked like a sanguine ocean, vast and empty. Full of threats and promises both.

That glimpse as the sun set was all I had before the moonless night cloaked us in unbroken darkness.

The plane landed in Nairobi at about 10 p.m. The city was an island of light. But I�d have to wait until morning before I could make out anything but shadows and silhouettes.

When morning did come, it was almost too much.

How to describe Nairobi?

She smells at once of pungent spices, car exhaust, sand, sweat, thin mountain air, earthen clay and smoke from burning trash.

Her music is the bass rumble of trucks and buses, the strident trumpeting of car horns, the song of Kenyans greeting one another with �Harabi!� and a handshake that starts shoulder high, swoops down and across until palms connect with a solid smack. �Mzuri!�

Shacks and stalls and stands line street right-of-ways. Their proprietors sell everything from fruits and vegetables to clothes, shoes and toys. One man, while standing in the middle of a congested roundabout, offered a shiny green and brass coat rack for sale.

On the corners jitneys, called �matatus,� screech to a stop, the sliding doors of the minivans opening before the vehicles come to a stop.

That one-day visit to Nairobi felt like a walk along the blade of a knife. To be safe, you wouldn�t be there, but then, you�d miss the thrill of it.

Nairobi is not safe. Many tourists are robbed or mugged within hours of leaving the airport. The U.S. Embassy bombing took place in the morning in the middle of downtown. Wealthy Kenyans are targets of kidnappings on a regular basis.

If you have something of value, you are advised to hide it. Well.

After Nairobi, the rest of Kenya was a cake walk.

To be continued...

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