Located along Kamiti Road, just off Mirema Drive, Zimmerman is a rumbling arc of commotion, congestion, traffic, sin and rotting dinginess. It's a never ending stretch of small businesses garishly-lit to attract passersby as the streets choke under the yoke of tiny liquor shops, selling tots of cheap gin as early as 7 a.
On one side of the road, furniture shops stretch for a couple kilometres, all selling practically the same design of couches, beds, bookshelves, and cabinets, with the traders lounging around all day, ready to pounce on the next undecided client, as his boys hammer away and scribble on books.
On the other side of the road, MPESA shops, kiosks, restaurants, dim nightclubs and pop-up markets litter the alleyways against the backdrop of old, decaying residential buildings, whose walls are bathed in dust and roofs crackle under the scorching sun. Along these battered streets, there exists an undercurrent of wantoness and avarice—a town desperately waiting for dusk before the dragons come out for blood.
Every Friday night, as the night kicks in and the drunkards come out to play, Zimmerman erupts into a remorselessly harsh concoction of traffic, human congestion, rowdy noise and chaos. Hooting matatus fight for every inch of space - lawlessly cutting into thin dusty pathways and right past the local fish lady's stand, as the cutthroat competition for the road hits feverpitch. Here, traffic can last for painful hours, as it stretches all the way from Roysambu down to Canopy - an erratic convergence of busstops, roadside hijinks and smoky, street eateries.
Little almost-burlesque nightclubs litter the backstreets and, as you enter, you're slapped with inordinately loud music as your already-drunk friend half-yells your name from across a tottering 'sina tabu'. As it nears midnight, the naughty girls too come out to play - dressed in tasteless little dresses, covered in horrific makeup, wearing cheap, sheeny jewellery and walking in crackling Gikomba stilettos. Oh, and they almost all seem to have taken a trip down the 'mkorogo' clinic as their skin tone varies in color, depending on where you look.
