44 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | MAY 2018
THE ITINERARY KENYAGEETIKA SASAN BHANDARI(RESTAURANT),KEITH LEVIT/GETTY IMAGES(BEADS)GO BEAD WATCHING
4 p.m. Housed in the Karen Blixen Estate, the Kazuri Beads
and Pottery Centre was started in 1975 by Lady Susan Wood
as an experiment with two single mothers in the garden of her
home in Karen, now a tony neighbourhood with chic restaurants
and boutiques. Wood was an inspiring figure who worked towards
empowering women in East Africa. Soon after she started Kazuri,
she realised there were hundreds of women in and around
the villages of Nairobi who needed sustained livelihood. Over
the years, the humble experiment scaled to a profit-making
cooperative, employing more than 300 women. Today, Kazuri
makes over five million ceramic beads a year and exports them to
20 countries. Now, while you might find it difficult to tear yourself
away from the shop with its tantalising array of necklaces,
earrings and bracelets on display, the factory is what is worth
spending time in. Here you get to see how meticulously each piece
is handmade and hand-painted, from the initial shaping, polishing
and kiln-firing, to painting and firing the beads again before they
are strung and displayed (kazuri.com).UNLEASH YOUR INNER CARNIVORE
1.30 p.m. All that shopping whets the appetite and readies you
for the meal, nay, the indulgence you are about to experience.
If you are a meat eater, you cannot exit Kenya without ticking
Carnivore off the list. A local spin on a typical Brazilian
steakhouse, Carnivore has a casual rustic setting but its charcoal
roasted all-you-can-eat-meats are world class. The restaurant,
which opened in 1980, and has hosted pop icons such as Sean
Paul and Shaggy, offers fixed price meals that include game and
exotic meats, roasted in a giant pit at the centre of the restaurant,
and carved up at the table. The day we went, rump and strip loin
steak, turkey, leg of lamb, lamb chops, leg of pork, pork and beef
sausages, pork spare ribs, and chicken prepared four ways, were
on the menu, each paired with a different sauce. The exotic meats
include crocodile, ostrich meat balls, roast rabbit, and ox balls
(the only thing I didn’t sample). I washed them down with Dawa,
a Brazilian drink brought to Kenya by Carnivore—a vodka, lime
juice and honey concoction. Its key ingredient is the dawa stick—a
short bamboo stick used to muddle the ingredients and release
the flavour of the honey. Meaning magic potion in Swahili, Dawa
is served rather dramatically at the table by a ‘medicine man’
called Dr. Dawa, and is believed to help cure ailments! If nothing
else, it definitely helped to alleviate the heat and complemented
the meats. Once you’re through, take the drama a step further
by finally dropping the white paper flag at your table to indicate
you’re done. The restaurant isn’t though—they still have desserts
on offer, eight, no less. I’d recommend the Italian ice cream and
the passion fruit cheesecake. Do end with a Kenyan coffee. It's on
the house (Tamarind.co.ke).
RAISE A TOAST TO NAIROBI
- 30 p.m. Ideal to enjoy a sundowner—especially when you may not have much of an appetite post the beast of a feast at Carnivore—
Makuti, Inter Continental’s poolside bar, comes with comfortable, low cane seating. What further adds to its charm are the red check
blankets (shuka), adorned by the Maasai tribe, available as throws. Catch a game on the large screen or listen to the live band (usually
on Sundays). Under the shadow of large white canopies, the cosy bar, made even more intimate with its shamiana setting, offers a wide
variety of cocktails and liquor. Their chilled Tusker beer is just what you need to kick off the evening. A pale lager first brewed in 1929, with
the elephant as its symbol, Tusker is a hugely popular ale and goes well with pork ribs, grilled prawns, or a barbecue platter. After two
days filled with food, wildlife and shopping, Makuti is perhaps one of the best spots to soak in the vibe of this beautiful city, one last time.¾