Peterson (in yellow) has just begun setting up the beachfront corner he and his colleagues maintain during the high season at Kilifi, next door to the Baobab beach resort. A few curio shacks, some local art, a massage and salon comprise their services to the expected influx of tourists taking a break from the winter weather elsewhere on the planet. Yes, he’s on Facebook offering his ‘beachfront services’ he tells Muchiri, using both his phone and the occasional visit to a cyber to stay updated. Another gentleman, the artisan in the white shirt goes as far as to use his brother’s laptop when he can or the occasional cyber visit.
Standard rates across the country for the majority of cybers (we’ve seen some outliers) are 1 shilling a minute for browsing and 10 shillings for a printout. I’m not wholly sure I could even begin to categorize or generalize “who are the typical cyber cafe customers” yet nor can one say “Oh its the youth who are on Facebook”. Surprises are popping up everywhere. Lets see how it goes on, we’ve only just begun.