To be secure
I lived in DC for the better part of 40 years before moving to Durham NC last year. On 9/11 I was living about ½ mile from the White House and Jeff was working in the Pentagon. I was driving back into town after a month-long road trip in 2002 when a sniper was terrorizing the citizenry.
Which means I’ve also been immersed in the changing reality of “security” in DC specifically and America in general. I thought I knew what it was like to live a life always with an eye on security.
Till I came to Nairobi.
In 1998 the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were bombed, simultaneously. 224 people died, most of them locals. In 2013 Nairobi lived through 3 days of terror when a shopping mall was attacked by armed gunmen. 67 people died.
Consequently, Nairobi takes its security seriously.
If you are meeting someone at the airport, you will wait outside for them. You are not allowed in the terminal. You hang out on the sidewalk, regardless of the weather. Speaking of the airport…
When you enter the airport property (not the terminal, when you drive on to the airport property) your vehicle will be inspected and your passengers will have to get out of the car and pass through a metal detector.
To get into the terminal, you’ll pass through a metal detector. That’s just to get your ticket and deposit your luggage.
You’ll pass through at least 2 more metal detectors before you get to your gate. Where you’ll pass through another metal detector.
Want to get a local SIM card for your phone? Bring your passport and be ready to have your picture taken.
When I got to the hotel from the airport we were stopped by a barrier at the driveway. The guards checked the trunk, checked the back seat to make sure the driver actually had a passenger, and passed a wand with a camera under the car looking for explosives.
I couldn’t just walk in off the street because the sidewalk is blocked with concrete planters filled with 7′ high bushes.
Once I got out of the cab, I still had to pass through (you guessed it) a metal detector to get into the lobby. Every time I came back to the hotel on foot or in a cab I went through the same process. If I set off the metal detector (darned underwire bra), I was wanded and patted down by a female guard. No matter that they all recognized me as registered guest.
In the hotel there were guards scattered throughout the grounds. Always someone near the elevator. Always someone between the business center and the pool.
The little street-front shopping center across the street? Armed guard.
Chicken joint on the next block? Guard.
Driving around Nairobi? Keep your windows rolled up no matter how hot it is.
American readers: how would you react if this was how things worked where you live?
Nairobi has been hurt, badly, by terrorists and they’re not taking their own safety for granted. It’s sobering.