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ChickAboutTown

  Living & Lifestyle in East Africa

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Be my Guide to Your East African City #2: What’s Your Favorite Nightlife Spot?

Hi again! Ready to answer the next question about your East African city? Before we get to that, allow me first to thank all who responded to the previous question in this series (the one about your favorite restaurant), with special thanks going out to Brett Harrison of Aliens and Strangers, who despite living in Geita, Tanzania (which according to him is not big on fine restaurants) still shared his favorite restaurants in three other East African cities. Thanks a lot, Brett, I appreciate it!

As I write this post, your responses to my last question name restaurants in six cities across four of the five East African countries. Continue reading

The Joint, Mbezi, Dar es Salaam

Update (July 9, 2011): The Joint has now become Club Rockerz.

The Joint
Mbezi, Dar es Salaam
Tel: +255-(715)-854980/+255-(777)-400800
Website:www.TheJointTZ.com

The Joint LogoIt’s official: Dar es Salaam now has a new nightclub! Last Saturday, March 14, saw the Grand Opening of The Joint, a nightclub recently opened in Mbezi (near Tankibovu), on the former premises of the now defunct Club Happens. Judging from what The Joint had to offer on Saturday night, we, party-lovers, are in for a real treat with this new nightclub, especially when it comes to music. Continue reading

Did I Imagine Grant’s Gin?

Miniature Bottle Grant's GinOf all the drinks in the world, I must admit:  I am partial to gin. There’s nothing quite like a well mixed G&T (gin and tonic – especially if the gin in question is Gordon’s Special Dry London Gin), and this my family knows well (trust me, I tell you this for a reason :-) ).

The story of this post took place about a year ago, in Dar-es-Salaam, where I’d gone to visit my parents. My father, knowing my love for gin, often makes sure to have a bottle available for me when I first arrive to visit. It’s a little father-daughter thing that we have going.

On this particular visit, I was going home after quite a trying time in my life, and on top of visiting  my parents would also be finding two of my three siblings at home (yippee!). I was really looking forward to going home, and as the day on which I traveled progressed (I was  going to arrive home in the evening), I began to look forward too to the Gordon’s G&T that my father would surely have waiting for me. Continue reading

Casablanca (on a Saturday Night)

Casablanca. If you are up and about on the Nairobi social scene, then you probably already have an opinion about Casablanca. What is your opinion? Is it positive or negative? I can’t quite decide myself, which is why I resort to asking you first. In this post, I will do my best to tell you what I can about Casablanca, then you’ll have to judge for yourself.

Casablanca is a lounge bar/nightclub (do you think that is an apt description?), located in Kilimani on Chaka Road, off its intersection with Lenana Road. Located in the same complex as my favorite Italian restaurant in Nairobi, Osteria del Chianti, Casablanca was all the rage when it first opened its doors close to four years ago.

At the time, it was a member’s only (or so I was told) up-market establishment known for its great décor, swanky crowd, and interesting – though expensive – cocktails. I first heard about Casablanca from a friend who lives in that neighborhood. She was totally blown away with its beauty and all of a sudden seemed to frequent nowhere else. Continue reading

Soho’s, Westlands, Nairobi

Soho’s
Parklands Rd, Westlands
Tel: +254-20-3745710

Nairobians, where do you go when you are in the mood for some serious dancing (and by that I do not mean structured dancing like salsa)? I mean shake-a-leg dancing when you truly want to bust a move and express yourself? For me, hands down, it boils down to one of two places – Dolce on Koinange Street or Soho’s in Westlands. Today, I would like to tell you about the latter!

Soho’s is located near Unga House, not far from the crafts market across from Sarit. Continue reading

Club Afrique, Museum Hill, Nairobi

I am a great fan of all things African – African music, African people, African arts & crafts, African clothing – the list could go on and on. At the beginning of this year (or at the end of last year – I no longer remember which), friends who know how much of an ‘African woman’ I am started to call me and tell me that they had been to a nightclub that they knew I’d love. The club, Club Afrique, is located on museum hill (in Nairobi) and plays strictly African music (though I have heard some non-African music there a couple of times in the wee hours of the morning). Continue reading

Hanging Out At The Panari Sky Center, Nairobi

A few weekends ago found me at Club Liquid, a nightclub at the Panari Sky Center. A friend of mine was invited to an exclusive party there and invited some of her female friends to tag along with her. Since it was a club that none of us had been to but had heard great things about, we decided to make a girls’ night of it and go all out. We dressed the part, met up at said friend’s house, and headed out all together to have a great night on the town, just as we would have in the heyday of our university partying careers.

Club Liquid was not all we expected it to be. The deco was great, the cocktail list extensive, and the music something to write home about, but somehow the night never picked up. Continue reading