KENYA LAND OF UNMARKED MODERNITY

Candidly standing in defiance of the stereotypes the world has woven around it, Kenya has much more to offer than animals, forests and archaic way of life—multiplexes, architectural marvels, stunning constructions, educational institutions and whatnot; writes Monjit P.

- Monjit P

From the moment the plane descended over Nairobi, Kenya began to strip away the stereotypes I’d carried with me. I had arrived with the vague, uninformed notion that Africa was a monolith—an arid continent stitched with conflict, hunger, and dust. But Kenya, with its patchwork of greens, modern highways, warm smiles, and rhythm that pulsed through even its quiet corners, was not here to confirm my ignorance. It was here to unravel it.

At Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the customs officer smiled as she stamped my passport. “Karibu Kenya,” she said. Welcome to Kenya. It was the first of many warm greetings, spoken with the sincerity that would become a theme through my journey. Outside the terminal, Nairobi wasn’t the chaotic sprawl I’d braced myself for. Instead, it pulsed like any global capital—ride-hailing apps, coffee shops, billboards of fashion brands, and people in suits hustling to work. The driver who picked me up, a cheerful man named George, laughed when I told him this wasn’t the Africa I expected. “You thought we all live with lions and carry spears?” he said. “Even our lions prefer the savannah.”

It wasn’t an entirely unfair question. Years of media coverage and old-world narratives had conditioned me to view Africa as one long humanitarian headline. But Nairobi was cosmopolitan and ambitious, with pockets of hipster cafes, art galleries, and a visible tech boom. At a co-working space in Westlands, I met a group of app developers creating a hyperlocal ride-share service. “Silicon Savannah,” they called it, with a mix of pride and mischief.