C is for cocktail parties, conspiracy theories and car jacking

We have been getting out and about a bit in the last week or so. A friend celebrated his birthday last saturday with a "party like its 1982". A great evening despite some truly terrible music and many very wrong attempts to dress in the style of the day. They are leaving Nairobi in a few weeks so this was also a bit of an excuse to empty the drinks cabinet of those mysterious bottles that gather in the darker recesses. Blue curaçao - what is its purpose in life? As for advocat...Of course, we mainly drank coke in 1982 so Tim and I lived to party another day.

Our next social gathering was the Queen's Birthday Party at the High Commissioner's Residence this Thursday. A big celebration, privately sponsored (for those of you who worry about what your taxes go on) of UK/ Kenyan partnership with lots of Olympics and Jubilee references and the landrover used by the Queen here in 1952 in a very big marquee on a very big lawn. It was a fun, if slightly surreal evening where we both met lots of interesting people and also realised quite how many people we have already met, albeit from a very narrow spectrum of Nairobi society.

But life here is of course not all socialising, safaris and sunshine. The unexpected death of the interior minister and other senior officials in a helicopter crash last weekend has dominated the news. Conspiracy theories abound. The Minister, Professor Saitoti, was a longstanding politician who has survived under multiple Presidents - a relatively rare occurrence suggesting he was either very good or very influential or knew where the skeletons are buried. As former President Moi's deputy and Treasury Minister he was linked to (but never convicted of) a major fraud. And whilst in the UK I would discount almost all conspiracy theorists as unhinged, it does feel different here. That said, having spent nearly 4 months driving now, mechanical failure or pilot error would still be my best bet.

This week has also seen a friend of ours deal with the aftermath of being carjacked at gunpoint leaving their road in the relatively early evening. They weren't hurt but they were held for 5 hours or so (to give the guys a chance to take money from the atm before and after midnight so doubling their haul). Of course there have been numerous similar stories of crime since we arrived - it is a topic that comes up at virtually every social gathering we have been to including all the kids parties. But this is the first time it's happened to someone we know, and locally, leaving a slightly uneasy feeling. Doubt the afore mentioned landrover ever found itself in such a situation.


Anne