How notorious ‘wababaz' have revolutionized Nairobi's Airbnb business

When 40-year-old Brian Joseph Chesky founded Airbnb in 2008, he had a few brilliant ideas in mind which have been simply stated in the company’s website: "Airbnb's mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere and we are focused on creating an end-to-end travel platform that will handle every part of your trip."

That's a pretty simple objective that anyone can interpret and structure their lives around. But not the lot of Kenya's notorious 'wababa', who have converted this brilliant business venture into a gateway for promiscuity and unbridled wantonness.

Anyone who has used Airbnb is familiar with the rules and regulations section that basically state out what's available and what's not acceptable by the host.

Stuff like kitchen, shared spaces, Wi-Fi, free parking and hot water are commonly offered and in the same section, most hosts have made it a rule to ban pets and parties.

Ordinarily, pets and parties have the obvious likelihood of vandalising property, causing breakages and damages, utterly dirtying spaces, leaving odours and wrecking furniture and decor.

But in Nairobi, where Airbnbs have been sprouting from every little nook and cranny, these rules mean little to these amorous - and monied - 'wababa' who have overhauled their party lives and retreated from the nightclubs to the Airbnbs.

From Roysambu to Ruaka, Kileleshwa to Kilimani, Airbnbs have become the hottest new thing in town, with hundreds of city revelers running to book these one/two/three-bedroom houses for a weekend of uninhibited raunchiness.

Here, these 'wababas' bring along their buddies, carry tons of expensive liqour, buy off an entire butchery, carry extra clothing, packets of protection and an insane amount of cash.

To cap it all, they drag along college girls; skimpily-dressed, doused in make-up, with a buoyant wig, oversized faux designer sunglasses, gaudy acrylic nails, a grossly-placed cleavage and an indecipherable accent plucked from the abyss of the internet.

Airbnbs here don't go for much; For as little as Ksh.2,500 per person, a gang of 'wababa' can comfortably book an entire three-bedroom house and convert it into some sort of sordid, satanic gallery for the next 72 hours.

A lot happens there; they arrive early, growling into the compound with their sleek fuel guzzlers, playing loud music that drowns out the entire neighbourhood. They waltz out of these machines dressed in vests, shorts and sandals, with the young girls in tow, tottering their way up their stairs with tittering laughter and annoying clinks of their stilettos against the floor.

"Wanakuwanga na makelele sana. Wanakujanga kila weekend. Wanaanzanga kuingia Friday jioni, around saa moja jioni ivi. Hizi nyumba zote actually ni kama watu walihama, zote zikakuwa converted into Airbnbs, sababu ile vituko na makelele inakuwanga huku hakuna familia inaweza vumilia, kila weekend ni vituko tu, lakini tumezoea sasa, " Steve Kyalo* (not his real name) said to Citizen Digital.

Nightclubs around these neighbourhoods have seen a massive migration of these men from their establishments towards Airbnbs as the houses offer more privacy, freedom, room for promiscuity and, obviously, beds and a ready kitchen incase hunger pangs strike at 3.15am.

"Hakuna haja ya uende club ulipe three times bei ya mzinga na unaweza tu shika mzinga kwa wines and spirits kwa bei ya kawaida, uchukue maboy wako na dem yako, mwende tu kwa Airbnb, place secluded, secure and private. Hakuna drama ya ma bouncers, sijui photographers, mko tu nyinyi tu, plus unajua pia lazima dem atajipa baadaye, " James Mbugua says with a cheeky smile.

In Kilimani, for instance, Nairobi's epicentre for all things debauchery, Airbnb hosts have given up restricting their guests from holding parties at their premises.

"I have an Airbnb in Kilimani. I know a few friends with Airbnb houses here too. We've unsuccessfully tried to convince our guests against holding parties in our houses. It's just not working anymore,” Mary Gakure, an Airbnb host, says, frustratingly.

“We have strictly spelled out the rules on our pages but still, these men come here with their girlfriends and go against the very rule they vowed to abide by. It's really frustrating but we need customers anyway, so we sort of bow to pressure.”

Parties at an Airbnb are not your regular parties - they are a Molotov cocktail of hard drugs, endless litres of gin, marijuana, hundreds of cigarette sticks, shisha, vape pens, more litres of gin and cognac, semi-nudity, brass-necked lasses and, eventually, overt sexual activities.

It's a phenomenon that is quickly eating up the city with married women at their wit's end unable to trace their errant husbands for hours on end as they live it up in a different part of town.

"Mimi bibi yangu huniona Sato asubuhi, around 6-7am. Hizi sherehe buda huwezi enda mtaa. Inabidi tu umelala. Mnaweza hata doze wasee kama kumi kwa one bedroom, things get really heavy," an regular Airbnb user tells Citizen Digital.

It's a world evolving and a world untamed by the libidinousness of a wild, depraved city.