Ok, something important to touch on. I can not stress enough how careful you have to be here. Drugging is fairly common around here. I don't know if I mentioned this before but there are very many sad stories. This Belgian tourist got on a bus coming from Kampala, Uganda headed to Nairobi. The bus picks up passengers on the way but you have to purchase your ticket at an office prior to boarding. Her fellow passengers recounted that she'd chatted up two men on the bus and that at around midnight at one of the stops, the two men disembarked and went on their way. No one noticed something was amiss until the bus got to Nairobi and they couldn't wake the woman up. She was obviously drugged and barely coherent. One passenger asked her where her bags were and she pointed in a vague direction but sure enough they'd been taken as well as her passport and all her money. She mumbled out that they had offered her a banana and she'd eaten it and that was how she got drugged. She also said her name and gave her nationality which is how they figured out who she was. The camera crews were out there way before the police were filming this poor lady who was so out of it and had to be supported by fellow passengers. She was later put in a cab and taken to the police station and then they showed her finally being taken to the hospital.....that evening. So this poor woman was in a police station somewhere, conked out of her mind and they take her much later to the hospital. I don't know what happened after that.
I was talking to some colleagues who told me about one of the managers on one of our accounts who went to a very popular club/restaurant on the outskirts of town. It's right near the local airport and a nice place to hang out. He went on Sunday evening by himself just for a drink and to catch the game and woke up on Monday afternoon in his car in a very dodgy neighborhood all the way across the other side of town, his phone, wallet and shoes were gone. He doesn't remember a thing aside from ordering one drink and going to the bathroom and coming back and then nothing else. He had been drugged, probably escorted to his car by the people who did it under the guise of them taking an intoxicated buddy home, then they drove around probably looking for someone who would want to buy the car, take it to the Tanzania border and sell it from then on to parts unknown. (Fairly common practise to steal a vehicle and take it to the border which is about 2 or so hours from the city and then they scatter elsewhere. Someone mentioned seeing a car with Kenyan license plates in S.Africa and upon query of the owner as to where it came from the guy shrugged and quickly left.) So this poor manager had no idea what happened to him. The drug of choice if Rohypnol (sp) it seems. I'm not sure where they get it from but it's plentiful.
Yesterday, I was witness to this horrible crime. I joined my older brother and his friends at their fave haunt and sitting at the bar counter a little aways from us was a couple acting very strangely. Their heads were lolling about and their eyes were unfocused and they just looked drunk at first. An incredible story was then recounted to me. Apparently the gentleman in question is actually a commercial airline pilot for a major airline and he'd arrived earlier that evening with two female companions. They ordered one round of drinks and promptly engaged in PDA and then one of the females got up and went to the mercedes they'd arrived in. She jumped in and started to back out but I think she'd never driven stick before because the car jerked backwards and she was going very fast and managed to hit a car that was refueling right behind her. (The pub is built right next to a nice gas station) She tried to go forward but the station attendants jumped infront of her and someone cut her off with his car so she got out and somehow stalked off and no one stopped her. The cops eventually came and his car was towed away. Meanwhile, the staff went to find the pilot and his companion and found them looking very drunk. They knew something was up as they'd consumed nothing more than half a glass of wine yet acted so intoxicated. They kept trying to wake him up and get him to go outside because of his vehicle but he sluggishly tried to fight them off because he thought they were trying to rob him. Finally, they got him to go and see but he could barely comprehend what was going on. They were later moved up front to the bar where they could keep an eye on him while they tried to find someone who knew who he was. His phone and wallet had been stolen by the other woman and he wasn't really a regular so no one knew where he was from and who he might roll with. The girl said she lived all the way on the other side of town and didn't know where the pilot lived. They were so out of it, she got sick right there at the bar (gross) and he was talking to the wall. It was absolutely awful for the time they were there until luckily, someone came in who recognized him and immediately got them out of there.
Like I said, beware of strangers bearing gifts....literally. Another tactic is when people come up to you on the streets brandishing perfumes and spraying the air infront of you, "Would you like to smell this?" Next thing you know, you're in another part of the country with no money or clothes for that matter. Always go out with a group of friends you know and trust. You can't go to a pub by yourself unless you know the owners and staff they know you and you trust. Don't leave your drink unattended and if you buy bottled water, always make sure it's sealed with the little plastic wrap.
Other than that, lol, I'm doing fine.
Laters darlings.
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