So I lazily pull into a sleazy Nyeri town in the cover of darkness, lined with muddy streets after a heavy downpour. I have been driving down from up north where the dusty Samburu desert lies.

Driving a Land Rover 110 Defender in the rain at some crazy speeds can really chill u to the bone. And as I wait for my Land-rover to rest its wipers, cool its turbo, and clean out the snorkel after after a mud dive……i get this sudden craving for tea. Tea wit lots milk and sugar.

Now Nyeri and they way its residents work like bankers, no hotel is open this late……and me n my broke shadow cannot afford the likes of Outspan and Batian, besides they never get the concoctions right….what with all the tea bags and all. And then charge me a fortune and a half for it. Its about 8.30pm, everyone is home by now keeping warm, save for the taxi drivers and the delinquents of the town.

So I go to the only hotel that opens this late in the heart of town………….619 Hotel Nyeri.

It feels like its been a few millennia since i was here but truly, its been a few years. This hotel is a hall.

And its got a new look!!!! The tables are sturdy and don’t move spilling your tea in the process, they now have a menu that is even laminated!!!!

The walls now have mirrors, and a fresh coat of paint and are painted in two tones.
Crates with eggs and Broadways bread are still stacked on a shelf on top of which sits a new LG 21″ tv.

The big chalk blackboard with the menu is still there advertising the price of single toast, double, and plain toast.

The fat white Tabby Cat has curled itself on top of a shelf somewhere near the television, looking at the patrons of the hotel in half-closed eyes.


But the one thing that hasn’t changed over the years is their tea. It is still the same, with that addictive aroma, with good natural milk in excess and moderate to heavy sugars…..the old man who owns it, still sits by the fridge at the corner, wearing his big brown Stetson….we chat and he tells me that his cows are still in plenty and that he would want to sell me one…he also wants me to carry him one of these days in my ‘big fat car’…we laugh away the evening and my fifth cup comes and he tells me its all on the house!

Tea here is 25/-