Food here, there, everywhere…
Heck, EVERYTHING grows here. No shit! Everywhere I go, there’s a banana tree here, a mango tree there. Rice growing over there. Fish from Lake Victoria over thar. Good lords, I doubt peeps starve in this country. LOL. You have to be HERE to SEE it for yourself. And food is a heck of a lot cheaper than even Kenya.

Uganda @ work…
And then there’s the huge investments in the energy sector by the government. You’ve got the massive Bujagali hydro project in Jinja and other hydro projects in the works. {I’ll add more info here l8tr!}

Oh no…OIL!
And don’t forget the oil that was recently discovered in Lake Albert by the DRC (Congo) border. If this country can harness these potentials, god damn it, but look out East Africa! Seriously, if these peeps can use that oil locally to SAVE a big chunk of foreign coin from importing oil, they eventually WILL surpass Kenya in terms of economic development.

Kenya is on fire…
And although Kenya’s humming along economically — Safaricom & its virally innovative & addictive M-PESA mobile money/banking service; Kenya Airways (aka KQ) is flying high; Nakumatt has taken supermarket/department store shopping to a whole new level of convenience (for Africa); The Nation Media Group is king of African media; Kenya Wildlife Service is attracting lots of tourists; Bamburi Cement is a major supplier to a majority of the commercial/residential real estate development projects cropping up all over the country; Equity Bank with James Mwangi as its innovative CEO is hauling ass by ‘out-innovating’ the competition & even has branches in Uganda & Tanzania; Kenya’s tea, coffee & flower farmers are raking in the dough; Nairobi is headquarters for the United Nations in Africa; massive road projects thanks to the Chinese, etc. — politics (ie. post election violence of 2007/2008, hypocritical ICC drama, corruption, etc.) will always be her Achilles’ Heel. I hope I’m wrong though because East Africa has literally taken off like KQ’s brand new Boeing jets.  

Folks, ya heard it from me first: The East African Community (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda & Burundi — maybe Southern Sudan & Somalia in a few years?) is THE place to BE if you wanna see where Africa is heading. And once they harmonize their currency (East African Monetary Union), this region will be untouchable, leaving the rest of Africa in the dust.

Ooops, back to Uganda…
So yeah, I’ve now visited Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania. And I gotta say that each country is supremely unique. I think Uganda’s gonna surprise a lot of peeps though. I was walking down Kampala Road in downtown KAMPALA and I was blown away by all the computer hardware shops selling PCs, laptops, printers & the works. I’m guessing there must’ve been over 50 computer shops I passed by. I hope they’re all making money.

Mountain views everywhere…
Kampala is a hilly city (think San Francisco) and the views are spectacular. Again, trees are everywhere so you feel like you’re in a city that was carved out of a forest. I had the pleasure of taking the boda bodas (motorcycle taxis) everywhere. And their rates are el cheapo, too. I think Kampala is built on 7 hills so you can see fabulous real estate from various vantage points.

Safe Kampala…
I feel so safe when I’m in Uganda. Actually, I’ll have my guard up when I cross back over to Kenya. Sorry, but that’s a fact. Police are everywhere! Yes, I know this is an election year and some shit is hitting the fan with rivals trying to usurp President Museveni’s reign, but it’s so safe in this country compared to Kenya. Seriously! Is this because food literally grows everywhere so bellies are not grumbling? LOL.

To be continued…
Pics coming soon!

Sometime in April, my good buddy Rolf Schmid of Rolf’s Place saw a lion attacking a baby giraffe and he and his staff tried to rescue it. But alas, it was too late.

If you ever get a chance to experience fine dining at Rolf’s Place, you just might see about 6 tall giraffes hanging out on the other side of Maasai Lodge Road munching on leaves from the tall trees bordering the park. I hear they never sleep…always on the lookout for predators. This would annoy the heck out of me. I value my sleeeep.

After all, everyone knows that Chef Rolf makes the tastiest dishes (I can’t get enough of his lemon cheesecake) in all of Nairobi. So I guess we can’t blame this croc for feasting on a hyena that he probably ambushed at the ravine. Many thanks go out to our dear friend and artist extraordinaire, Theo Stone, who identified the unlucky prey. Rolf thought it was a pig. Enjoy!

Instead, we were invited on to the complex for a bite at its Village Market-like cafeteria. My first impression of the complex is simply this: Wow, it’s bloody massive!! That’s gotta be 50 to 80 acres of buildings (offices, gym, cafeterias, library, etc.), green landscape, conference facilities, etc.

In addition, the 3 cafeterias have a wide variety of vendors serving tasty dishes — just like the Village Market. And the prices are amazing since you don’t pay VAT. I also hear that peeps who drive UN red plated vehicles get something like 30% off their fuel costs if they fill up at the UN gas station. And they also get to shop in the duty free stores — no VAT ever! Damn.

In short, I had a great time at the UN today. It’s such a peaceful atmosphere and you get to see citizens from all over the world who are (ahem) “trying” to make a difference. But alas, what a fu!ked up world we live in. Ooops, sorry for the negativity. Here, I’ll smile for ya.

I fondly remember my dear pal Anne Holmes (aka The Vigilante Journalist and photographer) who used to get her web stats via GA until we met up — as a result of being roomies in Lavington. Back then, I introduced her to StatCounter because she didn’t like GA one bit. Heck, she even subscribed to the paid version of SC.

BTW, this Franco-American gal travels the world like no other person I’ve met in a while. One moment, she’s living in Bangkok; the next moment, she’s hanging out in Chad, Turkey or some other “hot spot” doing the journalist thingy. And then she’s back at her Bangkok pad once again…with occasional trips back to France — probably to see her love: goood French wine. Aah yes, she’s a true Frenchie.

Anyhow, peek these links:

• Google Search (StatCounter vs Google)
• Statcounter vs. Google Analytics
• Iterating.com – StatCounter review
• Iterating.com – Google Analytics review
• Free Stats: StatCounter versus Google Analytics

[Diani Beach, Kenya]
GREETINGS FROM the the tranquil, escapist shores of Diani Beach – just around by the 40 Thieves beach bar and the famous Ali Barbours restaurant!

So, you’ve dropped by for a visit, eh? Well, come in…make yourself at home. I don’t blog as much as I should (or could) because I’m here in East Africa (primarily Kenya) where data services can, sometimes, be challenging – although that’s rapidly improving thanks to Safaricom’s speedy 3G broadband plus about 4 undersea fibre optic cables landing here at Mombasa on Kenya’s fantabulous, picturesque Indian Ocean coast.

Anyhow, I’m over here exploring, so you might as well explore with me. Right? Go to my Welcome page first because, really, I’m glad you decided to drop by and I want to roll out the red carpet for YOU. (continue reading)

Some quick links around this site:

About Me | Contacts | my IT-related posts | my entire blog Archive | my Africa experience | I LOVE Music | I’m very Opinionated | my Travels

Don’t hesitate to leave a comment or feedback. I plan to seriously overhaul this site with some kool WordPress stuff once I get some spare time and my lappie fixed. Cheers!

I promise to put up my new scuba diving pic thanks to the fab Charlie Claw’s team. Well, that’s if the couple I met from Switzerland on the Charlie Claw’s dhow emails the darn pic to me (crosses fingers).

Oh, I’ll soon be visiting Kenya’s famous Diani Beach (aka South Coast) in a few days. I hear it’s 11 kilometers of pristine white sandy beach with tons of kool attractions including the infamous 40 Thieves beach bar. Yippie!

All I can say is that when you leave Nairobi for the coast, all of a sudden, you feel sooo RELAXED.

The new Tuskys super market is super kool and it’s stocked with everything under the sun. Plus, Barclays, KCB, and Equity banks have set up branches in this thriving town. Again, Ongata Rongai should definitely be on your list if you want to get away from the city sprawl of Nairobi that’s on the cheap. I wouldn’t think twice about moving here. I see BIG opportunities for entrepreneurs here to open up cyber cafes, bars/restaurants, retail outlets among other possibilities. And this area feels safe as hell thanks to the new police station nearby.

Oh, a cobra…
So my good pal Pippa lives up here with her son and 2 dogs (Shenzi & Mtokutu). When I saw her last week in Karen, she told me that she had to rush Mtokutu to the vet because she got sprayed by the venom of a spitting cobra that “hangs out” in a particular bushy area of the back yard. Yikes! I’m sure you’ll understand why I was a little hessitant to drop by for a visit, right? What’s more annoying is that no one has seen the damn snake, but there’s a general understanding that a cobra visits the back yard once in a while.

Anyhow, I saw Mtokutu and she had some green ointment in her left eye to prevent further damage. Unfortunately, these 2 dogs don’t really understand the danger of its slippery neighbour. This sort of freaked Pippa out, and her good friend Dennis Matthews (a snake guru/catcher) from Kitengela told her to call him if anyone spots the “king” of the backyard.

Cobra ahoy…
Now check this out. My pal David dropped by to visit me and show me the plans for a golf course his peeps are planning on developing. We’re chatting out in the back yard and low and behold, we see this brownish-greyish cobra sloowly slide right on by us about 8 feet away and into the bush everyone suspects is one of its many homes. It’s like the cobra said “Hey guys, just ignore me…continue with your meeting…I’m just sliding by into this lovely bush you got in this yard. Carry on!”

I looked at David and said “Aah, so that’s the cobra I’ve been hearing about.” I then ran into the house to notify Pippa and also to make sure the 2 dogs were not outside. In no time, Dennis Matthews and his kids came by for a “snake outing.” This was going to be my first time watching some dude capture a 4 1/2 feet cobra.

Hide & seek…
So Dennis puts on his glasses – for obvious reasons. His 11 year old son also got in on the action as father and son proceeded to search the bush for the cobra. After a while, everyone was getting a little antsy and wondering if the cobra probably slid away some where else. Then Dennis’ son and Justin had a bright idea. They started to throw rocks into the bush like fire bombs. This definitely did the trick. Our slippery visitor was flushed out, and decided to head in the opposite direction away from all the falling debris. Smart fella. In the open grass, Dennis snared it before it got away. His son assisted and eventually it was placed in a bag.

Goodbye Mr. Cobra…
After a nice chat, Dennis and his entourage got into a land rover with the snake. He’s going to release it far away from this area so that it won’t ever come come back again. Well, hopefully. He said that cobras were territorial and there’s no chance of another cobra coming by for a visit. I hope so.

All in all, it was quite a afternoon. David’s spontaneous visit was quite a revealation. If he didn’t show up, we would not have had that meeting in the back yard so no one would know that the cobra had returned for a temporary visit. All I can say is “good riddance.” By the way, Pippa is thinking of getting a pet mongoose from the KSPCA to hang out in the back yard.

Related links:

• New species – largest spitting cobra found in Kenya
  
• Photos: world’s largest spitting cobra discovered in Kenya
  

Bye bye expensive cybers…
Heck, in Karen (an expensive Nairobi suburb), everyone charges KSh 2 per minute to surf the Net. I remember this one cyber on Langata Rd. near Bomas. They were charging KSh 3 per minute. Can you believe that? What are they smoking? Please, somebody call the police for Information Super Highway ROBBERY. Gees. Anyhow, I’m just waiting for those fibre optic cables to connect at Mombasa in late 2009 or so. ISPs keep saying that prices should drop by 75%. I’ll believe it when I see. it.

Trim city…
By the way, this Diamond Shopping Plaza is one heck of a place. Why? Because it has tons of womens hair salons everywhere. It’s like the Golden Computer Arcade in Kowloon (Hong Kong) where you’ll find tons of computer hardware for sale at great prices. The only difference is that they’re tons of hotties working in this 3 floor plaza doing a fabulous job making their female clientele look hot too. Any how, don’t take my word. Just drop by for a “pleasant” visit.

The price is right…
Again, Faith Cafe only charges 50 cents per minute. Heck, that’s only KSh 30 per hour. How in Heaven’s name are these peeps making coin? In fact, most of the cybers in this area of town charge this rate. Some even dare to charge KSh 1. How rude.

All in all, I like coming here when I’m in town because the staff knows me, and they really take care of me. That’s why they keep getting my business.

Happy web surfin folks!