Sunday, May 16, 2010

Kenya Days 1 & 2: What goes up must come down

Day 1 - Up in the air

Day 2 - Off to Kenya

Day 2 - Flying into Kenya

Day 2 - A Tusker at dinner

A 13-hr flight to Dubai followed by a 5-hr flight into Nairobi. I had the entire row to myself on the way to DBX, so I got to stretch out and sleep. And also watch a whole bunch of movies: An Education, Public Enemies, Leap Year...

I arrived in Nairobi bleary-eyed and excited/exhausted. Finbar met me at the airport - it was my first time ever to be greeted with an official sign with my name on it. Exciting! Jorot drove us from the airport to the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden where we'd stay for the next two nights. As I arrived, Jacki and her family pulled up right behind us, followed by Paul & Jim, who had been there for a few days already and had a safari under their belt (Amboseli near Kilimanjaro).

We had tea with a friend of a friend, an old British lady of the monacle & pith helmet safari era. Horrifying and hilarious at the same time. Fin left us with instructions for the next day and we moved to the restaurant for a group dinner and the first of my many Tuskers. I decided to try to find my roommate Robyn, who I only knew by name and through email. We hit it off right away and after dinner, we moved to the bar with Jim & Paul for more drinks. I asked for an order of kilifi oysters, which at 450 ksh (about US$6) I expected to get a mere half dozen. What arrived instead was a mountain of 20+ on a platter of ice and seaweed. YES!!

We went to bed with mosquito nets drawn and fits of laughter, excited for our first full day in Kenya.

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