A night in Kenya
Wed Jan 10 7:58 am Kenya Africa (10:58pm Tuesday Jan 9 Kansas and Texas)
I finally have some time to slow down. So far this trip has been lots of flying and setting around followed by running from gate to gate and standing in airport security lines. When I first got my ticket I thought I would have more time at layovers. So far it takes about 3 hours to get from one plane to another because of security lines and complications.
I arrived in Nairobi last night at 9:30 (local time). I knew early on this was going to be the hardest part of my trip. My plane for Mwanza does not leave until 10:40am wed so I have a 12+ hour layover here in Nairobi. After much deliberation and research I decided to stay in the airport because it is cheaper. If I left the airport to get a hotel I would have to buy a $50 visa (to enter the country) a cab into the city (the airport is about 15 miles outside of town) and a hotel for the night ($125-$150 for a safe one). All told it would have cost me about $250 just to spend the night somewhere. So I stayed at the airport. Actually it was not bad at all because I did some research on the internet and found out that this airport has a “sleepers lounge” which is basically an area of small closets with beds for rent. So the plan was to stay here at the airport.
Everything went really smooth until I got here. The problem I ran into was that because I fly a very small plane to Mwanza from Nairobi British airways would only get my luggage here and not all the way to Mwanza. When the agent told me about this in Kansas City I figured “no problem I will just pick it up in Nairobi”. That’s where it got… complicated. Turns out the baggage claim is about 20 feet outside of the “secure terminal” which means I would need to get a $50 entry visa just to go the 20 feet to get my bags (which by the time I figured this out are the last ones on the carousel). So after talking to about 12 different people and getting the runaround I did what wary travelers have done for centuries. I bribed someone. Long story short I had to pay $10 for my bags. The up side is that my bags and I got a personal escort from airport personnel to the sleeping quarters.
The “duty free sleep and shower” is just a simple little area of 12 or 15 rooms for travelers. Most are single rooms about 6 feet long by 5 feet wide with a light, single twin size bed and night stand. There are showers down the hall and someone in the front “lobby” 24 hours a day. They are simple, clean, have a lock on the door, clean sheets and are perfect for catching a few zzzz’s. The cost was not too bad, $40 for 8 hours. Overall it saved me a boatload and gave me a place to sleep, relax, unwind and clean up. I slept for about 6 hours and just laid in bed and prayer the rest of the time. It felt good to stretch out after being in planes for 20+ hours.
The airport here in Nairobi is much nicer than I expected. It is old and outdated but clean, well kept, and staffed with very friendly people (especially if you bribe them). Everyone is very helpful and everything is in English which is also helpful. Having spent lots of time in Mexico it’s kind of funny how different but similar the two are. The airport here is just like many I places in Mexico, outdated, old and much worn. The two differ however in that here things are well kept, clean, and well serviced. The bathrooms here are much cleaner that the ones in Chicago where!
Well that’s about it for today. I just wanted to update everyone on how it was going. I leave in about two hours which would make it about 1:30am in KC. This last leg should have great scenery because we fly over Mt Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, and Mt. Kenya. I am really excited because I got a window seat!
Thanks for all the prayers, God is truly watching over me and making this a great trip!
I finally have some time to slow down. So far this trip has been lots of flying and setting around followed by running from gate to gate and standing in airport security lines. When I first got my ticket I thought I would have more time at layovers. So far it takes about 3 hours to get from one plane to another because of security lines and complications.
I arrived in Nairobi last night at 9:30 (local time). I knew early on this was going to be the hardest part of my trip. My plane for Mwanza does not leave until 10:40am wed so I have a 12+ hour layover here in Nairobi. After much deliberation and research I decided to stay in the airport because it is cheaper. If I left the airport to get a hotel I would have to buy a $50 visa (to enter the country) a cab into the city (the airport is about 15 miles outside of town) and a hotel for the night ($125-$150 for a safe one). All told it would have cost me about $250 just to spend the night somewhere. So I stayed at the airport. Actually it was not bad at all because I did some research on the internet and found out that this airport has a “sleepers lounge” which is basically an area of small closets with beds for rent. So the plan was to stay here at the airport.
Everything went really smooth until I got here. The problem I ran into was that because I fly a very small plane to Mwanza from Nairobi British airways would only get my luggage here and not all the way to Mwanza. When the agent told me about this in Kansas City I figured “no problem I will just pick it up in Nairobi”. That’s where it got… complicated. Turns out the baggage claim is about 20 feet outside of the “secure terminal” which means I would need to get a $50 entry visa just to go the 20 feet to get my bags (which by the time I figured this out are the last ones on the carousel). So after talking to about 12 different people and getting the runaround I did what wary travelers have done for centuries. I bribed someone. Long story short I had to pay $10 for my bags. The up side is that my bags and I got a personal escort from airport personnel to the sleeping quarters.
The “duty free sleep and shower” is just a simple little area of 12 or 15 rooms for travelers. Most are single rooms about 6 feet long by 5 feet wide with a light, single twin size bed and night stand. There are showers down the hall and someone in the front “lobby” 24 hours a day. They are simple, clean, have a lock on the door, clean sheets and are perfect for catching a few zzzz’s. The cost was not too bad, $40 for 8 hours. Overall it saved me a boatload and gave me a place to sleep, relax, unwind and clean up. I slept for about 6 hours and just laid in bed and prayer the rest of the time. It felt good to stretch out after being in planes for 20+ hours.
The airport here in Nairobi is much nicer than I expected. It is old and outdated but clean, well kept, and staffed with very friendly people (especially if you bribe them). Everyone is very helpful and everything is in English which is also helpful. Having spent lots of time in Mexico it’s kind of funny how different but similar the two are. The airport here is just like many I places in Mexico, outdated, old and much worn. The two differ however in that here things are well kept, clean, and well serviced. The bathrooms here are much cleaner that the ones in Chicago where!
Well that’s about it for today. I just wanted to update everyone on how it was going. I leave in about two hours which would make it about 1:30am in KC. This last leg should have great scenery because we fly over Mt Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, and Mt. Kenya. I am really excited because I got a window seat!
Thanks for all the prayers, God is truly watching over me and making this a great trip!
posted by Paul at Tuesday, January 09, 2007
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