The Bad Boys of Kisumu

When we first arrived in Kenya we were warned about the dangers of being mugged. An indication of this is that Nairobi is at times jokingly referred to as “Nairobbery” (or at least it was in my travel book). We were told that we should even be careful in Kisumu and not to be out walking after dark.

After being very cautious in the early going we’ve pushed the boundaries as we’ve come to feel more comfortable here. So far there has been no problem, but on Saturday night we were reminded that we should give these warnings their due respect.

After a couple of cold ones at the Police Officers Mess (what place could be safer) Cindi and I departed at around 9:30 p.m. for the 15-minute walk home. We hadn’t ventured far along a quiet and dark street when we passed by a soldier/policeman standing guard and holding his rifle. He was a fairly small fellow, but he had quite a big rifle. He called out after us and asked in a friendly voice why we were out walking at such a late time with no transport. He told us that we had to be careful of the “bad boys of Kisumu.” When a guy with a gun warns you about a danger I think it’s worth taking it seriously. Our walk home took us only about 10 minutes and we figured that the “bad boys” were less likely to come out in the rain.