Every summer it’s the same old story. As soon as someone books a flight and a transfer to Watamu, Malindi, Diani or any other corner of this coastline that looks as though it were painted by a God in a good mood, along comes a friend of a friend who ‘has heard’ the one who swears he knows someone who knows someone who was mugged three times in a week – possibly by a gang of ninjas armed with machetes and evil intentions – the one who’s seen an unambiguous video that’s gone ‘viral’ faster than Ebola, which has already done enough damage through misinformation.
And so here we are.
Because, amidst photos of mango-coloured sunsets and mojitos sipped with your feet in the sand, there are those who write to me, worried: “Freddie, is it true that in Watamu and Malindi they’ll mug you as soon as you step out of the hotel?” Or: “I’ve read on social media that it’s become as dangerous as…” And here everyone fills in the blank with the neighbourhood that scares them most. Are there African ‘baby gangs’ similar to the South American ones in Lambrate, Milan, or the rowdy youths from the Roman suburbs who, instead of going to listen to Ultimo (which, after all, does no harm to anyone), are the first to rape female tourists and stab passers-by? I mean, with all that ‘Italy’ trumpeted by restaurant and bar signs, and paraded to the tune of mangled words and clichés spouted by beach boys and street vendors of all sorts, could there actually be the same level of violence?
The question is legitimate. The answers found on the internet, far less so.
In Italy, we live alongside people who turn a metro station into a boxing ring, young lads – even from good families – who treat a knife as a fashion accessory, and news reports that, every morning, remind us that violence has no nationality and doesn’t need a visa to stay. So it’s natural to wonder whether, beneath Kenya’s palm trees, behind the smiles of the beach boys, the sarong stalls and the fresh coconuts split open with a machete, the same scenario might be lurking.
The answer isn’t a ‘yes’. But it isn’t a ‘no’ straight out of a tourist brochure either.
Because Kenya isn’t Disneyland, nor is it Gotham City. It’s a real country. With its own problems, contradictions and rules, which are often very different from ours.
In the video below, I’ll tell you how things really stand. Without scaremongering, without tourist slogans and without that catalogue-style optimism that promises paradises where even the mosquitoes ask permission before biting.
Robberies, petty theft, urban myths, mistakes that many tourists make without realising it… often just a few simple precautions can make the difference between a holiday to remember and one you’ll have to report to the police… on your return.
In short, if you’re packing your suitcase for Kenya, or if you’ve heard a few too many rumours and want to understand how much is true and how much is pure fantasy, this is the video for you.
As always, I prefer to tell you about Kenya for what it really is. Not what gets more clicks. Not what sells holiday packages, but not the sort of place to visit with your heart too lightly set either.
See you in a few seconds, below… or whenever you like on the ‘Italians in Kenya’ YouTube channel. (USE TRANSLATOR)