Amsterdam, much like Seattle, does not know what to do with any snow accumulation, so all flights were delayed. Our plane is finally "de-iced" and off we go. We paid a little extra for a seat with an additional 4 inches of leg room on this portion of the trip. I can't even begin to tell you how enjoyable that was!!! Seven rows in the forward part of the plane with our own personal steward! Felt like first class and it wasn't even business class. So worth it!
We arrived in Nairobi at 11:30 PM and promptly queued up to obtain visas. It was heartening to feel so comfortable in the process this time around compared to 2010. Although, the lines haven't improved over the last three years. After a solid hour it is finally our turn. A quick scan of our passports and our photos from our previous visit appear on the screen and we are in...or not.
We were ready with $50 cash for each visa--$100 bill in hand only to find that the Kenyan Government will not accept American currency issued prior to 2006. Ours was 2004. Who knew it was worthless! The restrictions are evidently due to forgery issues and Treasury department signatures. I can't wait to see how they respond to Jack Lew's signature once he is sworn in as new Sec of Treasury. After the momentary panic we managed to find five twenties that will get us in. Whew!
What had seemed so foreign before (2010) is now vaguely familiar. Bags are collected.
We move to customs and I am ready to open bags filled with coloring books
and crayons for Muti primary school kids and black socks and underwear for the
boys. The customs lady gives me that radiant Kenyan smile accompanied
with "karibu" (welcome) and ushers me through without opening a bag.
And
then the pure Kenyan chaos begins... Imagine walking into a sea of taxi drivers each vying
for a piece of humanity coming out of the airport...like a shark feeding. "Mama, mama, this
way--taxi?" A slight nod from me and we are heading towards the curb with Joseph a young Kenyan
taxi driver who has captured, accosted, collected us and now is putting our
bags into the cab which is parked right in the middle of a long line of taxis. Joseph like many of the young drivers works in the city five days a week
away from their families and then returns to his home village well outside Nairobi on the weekend.
He cannot afford to commute and works long hours each day to make
an adequate income for his family.
We are staying at a hotel close to the airport and will meet up with John tomorrow. It is now 1:00 AM and we are exhausted. As we get out of the cab, Holly and I realize there are no meters in Kenyan cabs. Stupid wazungu (pl for mzungu-foreigner)!! And, oh right, you barter for everything!!! Stupid, stupid wazungu!! In our defense we were very tired and couldn't rev the rpm levels in our brains past 33LP. It was the most expensive cab ride we have ever paid for in Kenya. No wonder Joseph was so happy to leave us his phone number if we need another ride during our trip! NOT!
Hotel was oh so comfortable and the staff was so courteous we quickly forgot about our cab fiasco. Off to sleep...with great anticipation to see John tomorrow.
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