Kenya big three cities are Mombasa, Nairobi and Kisumu.
However, there are two cities among them which appear to be the most talked about and anything happening in the two spreads like bush fire.
Nairobi the Kenyan capital and Mombasa the famous coastal town have totally different lifestyles which mess first-time visitors to either of them.
For instance, Nairobi is always in a hurry while Mombasa has this veneer of calm and collected with those who go to Mombasa experiencing a culture shock of sorts due to the slow pace of life.
There is a saying that if you ask for fast service in service, the most probable answer would be, ‘kama una haraka ungekuja jana’ meaning if you were such in a hurry, you’d have sought the service a day earlier. Really Mombasa…?
Come to ‘Nai’ from ‘Coasto’ and the first thing on most people’s minds is where the people are rushing. Is there always a fire to put out?
It is very rare in Nairobi to see people chatting away time while in Mombasa it’s almost always ‘vuta stool nikupe stori’.
And matatus.
In Nairobi every matatu Sacco has a stage where matatus stop to collect passengers while in Mombasa every place becomes a stage provided that a passenger taps a conductor on the shoulder and says, “weka hapo mbele.”
Usiku nayo?
It’s a normal thing in Nairobi to find crowds in town even at 10pm ‘doing’ business and some will even tell you that that is the time they wake up for work.
Nairobbery is real?
Another thing is about the handbag snatchers who grab and run away in broad daylight. You might not be lucky in Nairobi as people will just look at you. However in Mombasa people are different.
Provided you shout ‘Mwizi’ by the time you finish the goon must have learnt a lesson from the public.
Don’t we make such a lovely nation?