Family day out with Kenyan cowboys at the BargainBoX

The BargainBox in Karen. Inset left a promotion poster for the event. PHOTO/JOHN FOX

What you need to know:

  • This annual craft fair was in the garden of the Karen Blixen Museum down Karen Road, Nairobi. It was a “tented village”, set out as a wide circle of tents displaying all manner of goods, from gooseberry jam to Tarzan mugs – “Me Tarzan”, for him, and “Me Jane” for her.
  • The setting was special, too. The Karen Blixen Museum was the “Bogani” home of the Danish author, where she lived for 14 years until 1931. She achieved fame through her autobiography, Out of Africa – the story of her failed struggle to grow coffee and of her rather brittle love for the English adventurer and big game hunter, Denys Finch Hatton.
  • There was a wide range of goods for sale: leather and canvas bags of all shapes and sizes; wooden furniture evoking Swahili styles; chunky jewellery; glassware, beachwear and flipflops.

Perhaps the sun was also looking for a bargain. After too many grey and chilly days, it came out and livened the weekend of the BargainBoX in Karen.

This annual craft fair was in the garden of the Karen Blixen Museum down Karen Road, Nairobi. It was a “tented village”, set out as a wide circle of tents displaying all manner of goods, from gooseberry jam to Tarzan mugs – “Me Tarzan”, for him, and “Me Jane” for her.

The marquees for food and drinks were clustered in the middle – with Brew Bistro, especially, doing a brisk selling of its pastries, as well as its draft beer.

Twenty or so years ago, a Kenyan friend asked me what would become of the KCs – the Kenyan Cowboys.

He was, of course, talking about members of the white community who had stayed on in Kenya after independence. Many of them had owned farms; some of those have trickled down South to farm or find other jobs in Zimbabwe and South Africa – joining the greater number that had flowed down just before independence.

CRAFT BAZAAR

Some flew East to Australia, another big country with similar open spaces and wide blue skies; though, as a KC friend of mine quipped, those who go there have to get over the shock that they have to shear their own sheep.

Now, I have a more informed answer. As well as finding a niche in the tourist industry or managing 4x4 garages, many KCs who have stayed on have taken to making and selling arts and crafts. Almost all the stalls in the circle at the BargainBoX were manned by KCs.

There was a wide range of goods for sale: leather and canvas bags of all shapes and sizes; wooden furniture evoking Swahili styles; chunky jewellery; glassware, beachwear and flipflops.

I met an old friend browsing the stalls. “What do you think of it?” I asked her.

“It’s OK,” she said. “But once you’ve seen one of these bazaars you’ve seen the lot, haven’t you?”

I could see what she meant. This BargainBoX was very much like the craft bazaars that revolve at Christmas times. But this one was very well organised. The quality of goods was generally high. And there were some special items on display; like the traditional carved village posts – a few from the Coast, but most of them from South Sudan. Oscar, who had collected them, pointed out that the Giriama post had a pattern very much like ones from South Sudan.

The setting was special, too. The Karen Blixen Museum was the “Bogani” home of the Danish author, where she lived for 14 years until 1931. She achieved fame through her autobiography, Out of Africa – the story of her failed struggle to grow coffee and of her rather brittle love for the English adventurer and big game hunter, Denys Finch Hatton.

The Danish government bought the house and presented it to the Kenyan government as a gift to mark independence. Sydney Pollack’s film version of Out of Africa, made in 1985, heightened interest in Karen Blixen – and perhaps inspired the establishment of the museum.

If you haven’t been there already, the place is well worth a visit. The house is an outstanding example of the colonial architecture of the “pioneering” years of the early 20th century: a bungalow with grey stone walls, an orange tiled roof, and a veranda – with a view over the garden to the Ngong Hills. The interior has been reconstructed and re-furnished in the way that Karen Blixen – and her Denys Finch Hatton – would have known it. The museum is open every day from 9.30am to 6.30pm.

... But back to the BargainBoX. The BoX concept was initiated by Anthony Lefebvre, founder of the free classified ads magazine XpatLink. Its aim, so the website at www.thebox.co.ke says, is to “federate a strong pool of quality exhibitors and promote them through special events that take place throughout the year”.

SPECIAL EVENTS

The BargainBoX, like this one, takes place in the last weekend of May; the Xplore, a travel fair for camps and lodges, happens in the last weekend of September; the XmasBoX is usually scheduled for mid-November.

If this May’s BargainBoX was typical, these “special events” make for a family day out. There was a large children’s corner, with plenty of things for them to ride, climb, eat or drink. And, talking about drinking, I chatted with a very relaxed KC guy on the edge of the food court, sipping his beer and enjoying the sunshine.

“This is my wife’s thing, the arts and crafts,” he said. “She’s enjoying some spending in all those tents. But I’m quite happy here. It’s a nice day out, isn’t it?”