Nairobi Night

It is amazing how the night before I leave to go on these work trips always seem to be a little crazy. After work yesterday I had two hours of French lessons and then had to dash home and do laundry before I could pack. It meant late to bed which is not good when the alarm goes off at 03:45! I did have a little help packing my bag though so it wasn't all chaos. Wish I could have brought her with me!

My parents, who had the unenviable task of taking me to the airport, decided that they would make the best of being up so early. The car was packed with fold up chairs and tables and all sorts of breakfast goodies to be had at Umdloti Beach after dropping me off.

The flight to Jo'burg was uneventful but Jo'burg was a bit cool for my liking. It was a full 10 degrees cooler than when I left home - I'm so not used to 15 degrees. I was so glad that I had a jacket with me. I had debated on whether to take one at all but remembered how cold it always is on the aircraft so thankfully it was there and it was used.

The second flight from Jo'burg to Nairobi was also uneventful. It was an Airbus A340-200 and was mostly empty. There was no one next to me so I could stretch out a bit. I got really excited because the flight steward said the movie would be The King's Speech which I really want to see but when the movie started it was an animated movie called Over the hedge (or something like that). I ended up watching it and even though animated movies are not really my thing, I did enjoy it and the time went by quickly.

After landing I got through immigration quickly. The Kenyans are really getting strict. Previously it was just passport required, then passport and photo taken, now it is passport, photo and fingerprints of all fingers and thumbs. They are quite friendly about it all though so it is fine by me. Hopefully it keeps all of us safe. My luggage took forever to come onto the carousel but it was okay because I was watching a really old blonde labrador walking along the carousel checking for illegal substances. The poor thing looks well past its retirement age and every now and again had to be coaxed into walking but it did it all with a typical labbie smile on its face and was amusing to watch.

My hotel transfer driver was waiting for me when I got out and we headed towards the CBD. Nairobi would not be Nairobi without a traffic jam and we did get stuck in a small one for an hour. The driver was very pleasant and of course there are always the marabou storks to watch. It was just a bit hot though.


I was very happy to get to the hotel and out of the heat. I always stay at the Country Lodge Hotel when in Nairobi. It is safe, clean and no fuss. They also have free Internet which is a huge bonus! I also enjoy it that they are so friendly and organised so checking in and out are really quick and painless.


Tonight will be early to bed. My transfer to the airport is at 6am and I need to catch up after last night's lack of sleep. Tomorrow I will be flying to the Union of Comoros and staying on the island of Grand Comoros until Monday when I fly to Moheli island where the work will take place. I am not sure if I will have Internet access until Monday but will post as soon as I can.

Take care everyone and thank you for reading my blog!


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