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Right now, it is early Thursday morning, 29 May 08, and by early, I mean really early. It's almost 0300 and I can't sleep anymore because of jetlag, so this seemed like a great time to update my journal. I don't have internet access right this moment, but as soon as I do (probably when I get to Arusha/Kilimenjaro, I will be able to get logged on and get this uploaded.
Anyway, after having a very enjoyable afternoon at the Heathrow airport, I think the place to start now is with my flight from London to Nairobi. If anything, this was an even better flying experience than my trip to London. I still had a welcome cocktail and my own little sleeping pod, and it turned out the plane wasn't even a quarter full so it was almost like there was a flight attendant for every 3 people. I think this is a reflection of the fact that the tourism industry in Kenya hasn't fully recovered yet from the unrest earlier in the year, and honestly, I don't see how Virgin Atlantic can keep affording to fly that route when there's not enough people on the plane to even cover the fuel. Once landing in Nairobi, going through customs and getting a visa was smooth, then I collected my bag and met the driver that had been sent for me. It was an interesting drive to the hotel - traffic in Nairobi is heavy and something of a free-for-all when it comes to jockeying for position. It was quite the exciting ride. The Nairobi Hilton is located right in the heart of the downtown urban area and while old, it is appointed much like any decent hotel in the US or Europe. Another sign of the times, though - access to the front of the hotel is gated, and our vehicle was searched for explosives before they'd let us in so that I could get checked in. I admit I was glad to see there were some security measures in place. After checking in, I met up with Sally (who had gotten here the night before and who's luggage was still missing, poor thing), and we had a nice lunch at a little outdoor cafe right at the hotel. After that, it was nap-time and then we linked up with Angie when she arrived later in the afternoon.
After having a pre-dinner cocktail at the lounge, the three of us ventured into the city to a seafood restaurant that had been recommended for us by the tour operator. We went there and back by cab - it is highly recommended that foreign tourists do not walk about the area at night and being that we sometimes have a little sense, we took that excellent advice. Again, the cab rides were pretty crazy and exciting - I've never seen anything like Nairobi traffic and how it flows. I didn't get any pictures of the traffic because we'd also been warned not to flaunt camera equipment because it would likely be taken, even if we were together and in a cab, and Nairobi is a dirty, crowded city with a high crime rate, but at the same time, it's very vibrant and it was interesting to venture out for the short time we were here. Our dinner was expensive but amazing - I had a grilled shrimp dinner that consisted of shrimp the size of my closed fist, along with potatoes and veggies, and Angie and Sally had similar dinners. The atmosphere and presentation was great and we were lucky to be early and practically have the place to ourselves. We weren't dressed right - it was a fancy place and we were wearing safari clothes (plus Sally was wearing the clothes she'd been in for the past three days) but they didn't treat us any different than the other customers.
Anyway, I'm going to try to get a nap before our 0400 wakeup call to get ready for the trip to Arusha/Kilimenjaro.
Anyway, after having a very enjoyable afternoon at the Heathrow airport, I think the place to start now is with my flight from London to Nairobi. If anything, this was an even better flying experience than my trip to London. I still had a welcome cocktail and my own little sleeping pod, and it turned out the plane wasn't even a quarter full so it was almost like there was a flight attendant for every 3 people. I think this is a reflection of the fact that the tourism industry in Kenya hasn't fully recovered yet from the unrest earlier in the year, and honestly, I don't see how Virgin Atlantic can keep affording to fly that route when there's not enough people on the plane to even cover the fuel. Once landing in Nairobi, going through customs and getting a visa was smooth, then I collected my bag and met the driver that had been sent for me. It was an interesting drive to the hotel - traffic in Nairobi is heavy and something of a free-for-all when it comes to jockeying for position. It was quite the exciting ride. The Nairobi Hilton is located right in the heart of the downtown urban area and while old, it is appointed much like any decent hotel in the US or Europe. Another sign of the times, though - access to the front of the hotel is gated, and our vehicle was searched for explosives before they'd let us in so that I could get checked in. I admit I was glad to see there were some security measures in place. After checking in, I met up with Sally (who had gotten here the night before and who's luggage was still missing, poor thing), and we had a nice lunch at a little outdoor cafe right at the hotel. After that, it was nap-time and then we linked up with Angie when she arrived later in the afternoon.
After having a pre-dinner cocktail at the lounge, the three of us ventured into the city to a seafood restaurant that had been recommended for us by the tour operator. We went there and back by cab - it is highly recommended that foreign tourists do not walk about the area at night and being that we sometimes have a little sense, we took that excellent advice. Again, the cab rides were pretty crazy and exciting - I've never seen anything like Nairobi traffic and how it flows. I didn't get any pictures of the traffic because we'd also been warned not to flaunt camera equipment because it would likely be taken, even if we were together and in a cab, and Nairobi is a dirty, crowded city with a high crime rate, but at the same time, it's very vibrant and it was interesting to venture out for the short time we were here. Our dinner was expensive but amazing - I had a grilled shrimp dinner that consisted of shrimp the size of my closed fist, along with potatoes and veggies, and Angie and Sally had similar dinners. The atmosphere and presentation was great and we were lucky to be early and practically have the place to ourselves. We weren't dressed right - it was a fancy place and we were wearing safari clothes (plus Sally was wearing the clothes she'd been in for the past three days) but they didn't treat us any different than the other customers.
Anyway, I'm going to try to get a nap before our 0400 wakeup call to get ready for the trip to Arusha/Kilimenjaro.
The pics I have uploaded are of the three of us at dinner, the view of Nairobi from the hotel window, and my dinner (pretty impressively sized shrimp).
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