I feel I’ve been away for months, and have neglected my reports on the neighborhood, that is Upper Hill Nairobi. My favorite walk is to turn left out of the centre, walk up the dirt road and walk along a pretty quiet road called Kiambere. Kiambere has been VERY quiet for some months now, mostly due to the fact that on the south end, it is a dead end, and the north end was closed for road works. So, the only place you really had traffic was where cars crossed Kiambere from one dirt road to another.
Well, first let me report on the BIG DIG! The Kenya Women’s Financial Trust decided to build a large structure just across from our centre. They hired the “supposedly” top engineering firm to build it. The contractors started digging the BIG DIG in October 2014 and finally finished the 70’ (yes, foot) hole, mostly through solid rock. They hauled out rock by the truckload, finally finishing that job in August 2015. There were a few diggers shoving dirt around, and trucks seemed to be bringing in many loads of dirt to replace the rock. I have no idea WHY!
The rains lasted longer than normal, and that really disturbed the progress in the BIG DIG. Apparently, having spent nine months digging the hole, they now realize they don’t know how to drain the water out of the bottom of their hole. All work has now stopped, and been stopped for weeks while they try to think of a solution. So, the Women’s Financial Trust not only owns a large hole in the ground, but probably has a big hole in their purses as well.
The end of Kiambere has been blocked by a large pile of dirt for weeks. The Bunyala Road was finally completed, but the intersection at Kiambere had not been paved. The drop off from Bunyala was about a foot. However, this week, when I walked up there, I found that the paving has been done, and the dirt removed. The only way to go from Kiambere is up, but it is a great help when coming up Bunyala to be able to turn onto Kiambere, and then a quick trip across a decent road, down the dirt road and home.
On the way back home, I pass another building that is quite high, but I’m sure it didn’t go down as deep. It is getting closer to finishing. When I drove by on Sunday, I noticed part of the metal “wall” was down. Later, I saw they had moved the entry gate to the other side of the building. I’m not sure what that means, but am keeping watch. Meanwhile, the entrance to Cassia Court (where a number of colleagues used to live) is suffering. Their gate wouldn’t keep out anything smaller than a herd of cows!
And finally, on Masaba, the dreaded triangle is almost finished. I see there are signs up now, one an innocent street sign, but the other looks like a NO RIGHT TURN sign. So, watch out or your week may turn very unpleasant with policemen ready to nab you and send you off to the local police station and later to traffic court for doing what we have been doing for years. You have been warned!
Well, first let me report on the BIG DIG! The Kenya Women’s Financial Trust decided to build a large structure just across from our centre. They hired the “supposedly” top engineering firm to build it. The contractors started digging the BIG DIG in October 2014 and finally finished the 70’ (yes, foot) hole, mostly through solid rock. They hauled out rock by the truckload, finally finishing that job in August 2015. There were a few diggers shoving dirt around, and trucks seemed to be bringing in many loads of dirt to replace the rock. I have no idea WHY!
The rains lasted longer than normal, and that really disturbed the progress in the BIG DIG. Apparently, having spent nine months digging the hole, they now realize they don’t know how to drain the water out of the bottom of their hole. All work has now stopped, and been stopped for weeks while they try to think of a solution. So, the Women’s Financial Trust not only owns a large hole in the ground, but probably has a big hole in their purses as well.
The end of Kiambere has been blocked by a large pile of dirt for weeks. The Bunyala Road was finally completed, but the intersection at Kiambere had not been paved. The drop off from Bunyala was about a foot. However, this week, when I walked up there, I found that the paving has been done, and the dirt removed. The only way to go from Kiambere is up, but it is a great help when coming up Bunyala to be able to turn onto Kiambere, and then a quick trip across a decent road, down the dirt road and home.
On the way back home, I pass another building that is quite high, but I’m sure it didn’t go down as deep. It is getting closer to finishing. When I drove by on Sunday, I noticed part of the metal “wall” was down. Later, I saw they had moved the entry gate to the other side of the building. I’m not sure what that means, but am keeping watch. Meanwhile, the entrance to Cassia Court (where a number of colleagues used to live) is suffering. Their gate wouldn’t keep out anything smaller than a herd of cows!
And finally, on Masaba, the dreaded triangle is almost finished. I see there are signs up now, one an innocent street sign, but the other looks like a NO RIGHT TURN sign. So, watch out or your week may turn very unpleasant with policemen ready to nab you and send you off to the local police station and later to traffic court for doing what we have been doing for years. You have been warned!