There were two famous pubs in OlKalou. One was called Gitiyo, meaning Respect and the other one was Munyaka meaning Luck. We were too young to enter any pub, so, I do not have much to tell about Gitiyo or Munyaka. The only thing I remember is that, whenever our father was in town, he usually stopped there to met with his friends for a beer or two before heading home.
There was another pub that was not as famous as Gitiyo and Munyaka. It was called Nyandarua. It seemed upscale, just by its location. This pub was on the “Kwa Uhindi” part of town, right at the beginning of that line of “fancy” shops. We often passed infront of Nyandarua on our way to our clothes Designer Mr. Ng’atho, or going to Jirada’s Bata shop for shoes, or heading to Bhachu’s hardware for a kilo of fencing nails (mishumari) or a jerrican of Kerosene. We never entered Nyandarua, but from the veranda outside, it looked dark and quiet. It was quiet because not many people went to socialize there. It was often said that travellers to Nyahururu and Nairobi are the ones who stopped by Nyandarua, not the locals.
The locals who could not afford bottled beer from Kenya Breweries sold in the above three pubs, had their alcohol thirst quenched at Kamihehu, where they got drunk on a budget, hoping the Police did not raid their watering hole during their visit, otherwise, the police cells at OlKalou Police Station became their accommodation for the night.
