I have written two version of each item so if you are in a hurry read the short version.
If you like detail skip the short version and read the long version further down
Short Version:
The flight to Nairobi was quick and uneventful. We exchanged some money after passing through customs and waited for Taryn and Deon to pick us up. Lady luck was against us it seemed as we had two flat tyres on the way back to the backpackers where we would be staying. The day was spent running around for paperwork for our visa, applying for them and swapping our vehicle with the one already at the mechanic so it to could be serviced. I spent late afternoon sleeping and then had pizza for supper followed by a nice chat with the manager of the establishment and then Rhoda. Afterwards I headed to bed enjoying the silence around me
Long Version:
After boarding, we settled in. I found out that Simon Clark (who is 6ft 4) surprisingly has issues with flying so has to take a pill to reduce apprehension. The flight itself was smooth and with a headwind we arrived a full 30min ahead of schedule. The whole flight was only 3hrs 30min to Nairobi, Kenya. I was quite surprised and impressed that they served supper (although they called it snack) on the flight. I had pre-ordered vegetarian and the food was rather good considering. Since there was a spare seat next to me I curled up across the two and dozed for a quite a while although I kept getting bumped by the cabin crew walking by. Even sitting ups straight I got bumped...i guess the isle are just too narrow :P!
Arriving early we passed through customs without hassle and into the baggage area. Simon C went to get out luggage while I made a bee-line for the toilets and then afterwards we exchanged some money which turned out to be a really good rate in the end (74 Kenyan shilling to one dollar, or about 9.75 shilling to one Rand). Having investigated the various shops we headed to the cafeteria as Simon C was craving some coffee. I decided not to fast on this day as I was traveling and feeling dehydrated :)! I promptly demolished a couple of the rusks that Taryn's mom had cooked.
We proceeded to wait for Taryn and Deon to arrive which they did on time about an hour later at 7 am. It was nice to see them again and they certainly seemed to have transformed themselves into genuine African adventurers' especially with their dusty Landrover complete with rooftop tent, an extra wheel on top and all sorts of equipment inside and on top. Camel man eat your heart out!
I was really impressed with the airport which was modern and neat. As we left I could see the contrast of urban and rural Kenya straight away as outside of the airport were vast areas of scrub-land. Our first bit of adventure was literally just around the corner. Taryn (who was driving) took a bend and nearly rolled the Landrover and I held my breath as she fought for control as it swerved back and forth. It turned out that it was not her driving to blame but a flat tyre. Pulling over to the side of the road we all climbed out and proceeded to change the tyre which meant learning how to use a hi-lift jack on the fly. I was very glad I was not alone as those tyres are rather heavy when considering my torn disc (well hopefully its healed a little bit :P). We also had to try and locate the spanner which was a challenge in itself when considering how much stuff was packed in and on the vehicle.
We made our way through the suburbs with Deon and Taryn working together as a team, Deon the navigator. We arrived at our first destination with a loud clonk as we went over a pothole and sure enough it turned out that the tyre we had just put on had a slow leak and it to was now flat. Deon and Simon C went off to do some photocopying while Taryn and I replaced the tyre with great efficiency.
After some more driving by GPS we arrived at our accommodation, the Upperhill Backpackers. This backpackers was located in a leafy area of Nairobi (which is at 8000feet/ about 2500m I think).
Its probably worth describing Nairobi at this point (well at least the little I have seen). My first impression were that it was dusty, not become of dust but simply because there is some much dark red earth visible despite the large about of vegetation and trees. It really does come across as African even though it is urban. In contrast I believe Cape Town is very different from anywhere else in Africa. The buildings seem to be built mainly of neat, cement brick but I immediately yearned for some strong colour of which I am so used to in Cape Town. Still they certainly have perfected using different coloured cement bricks to great effect.
On arrival at the backpackers Taryn was very eager to introduce me to the manager, a lovely woman by the name of Jessi. Her reason for the eager introduction though was because apparently I had being giving Jessi a hard-time with all my emails trying to organize accommodation for the various MAPA teams. After our chat we unpacked all our gear into a small 3m by 3m wooden construction with one queen-size bed inside with walls and ceiling of unvarnished laminated board and floors of rustic open slatted timber. Although the room only had one small, unglassed window the weather was temperate, so it inside it was very comfortable We were told that this room would be where myself and Simon C would stay. Looking at the single queen bed we quickly decided that we were not THAT close and that we would need another bed.
Fortunately we found out a little later that we actually had other accommodation which consisted of 2 bunk beds in a similar 3 x 3m structure. We moved our stuff there and then I took a walk around the place. Its situated in a really nice area, on a hill; and allows for dorms, camping etc. It has a big recreation and sitting area and provides good food at very reasonable prices. For example my large, extremely filling and yummy vegatarian pizza was R30. The base was thick but crispy and they really piled on the toppings.
During the day we drove around by GPS to pick up the Toyota Landcruiser which was in for service and to drop off the Landrover which also had to be serviced. We also made two trips to the Ethiopian consulate to obtain our visas. They require the vehicles passports to which is why it was so critical that I bring the new one in from Johannesburg. The stuff were very pleasant and Taryn had a nice chat with them as I succumbed to my tiredness and dozed on the couch.
Money is important on any trip and so on our return we split the money Simon C and I had brought and had them sign-off for it. In the late afternoon I caught up with my prayers and headed to bed while the others went out to the internet and had supper. I woke up later and joined them. After they all headed to bed I started typing up my blog. A little while later I had a nice chat with Jessi the manager who has quite an inspiring story in terms of being a single mother who loves travelling while still finding the time to do amazing community work. Our conversation was cut short though when one of her customers complained of our talking. After doing some more typing Rhoda tried to call and on about the 7th attempt I finally got to chat with her for quite a while... I hope her bill is not to high :P.
Which reminds me. The prices here just show how we are being ripped off in South Africa by the cellular providers. To phone to South Africa via my cellphone prepaid is R4 a minute! The maximum Internet charge for 3G is 80c a minute and it drops drastically if you buy a small bundle. You can get a free HSDPA modem with a 2 gig prepaid data bundle for R400!
Anyways enough ranting. After my call I headed to bed around 1am to the sound of silence. Tomorrow will be another day of logistics and hopefully we can start out trip to Ethiopia!
Thinking of you all
Simon
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