Arrival! (Finally...)

Jambo!  I am finally here.

Granted, it was no small feat.  Things were going along as scheduled until we were preparing to board for our flight from Newark to London Heathrow.  As it was, we only had a bit more than one hour in London to connect with our final leg to Nairobi.  Our flight from Newark was delayed 40 minutes!  Then, as we approached London Heathrow, the aircraft was directed to take a holding pattern, adding another twenty minutes to the flight.

Suffice to say, we arrived at London Heathrow after our flight to Nairobi had already left, at about 11:00 AM London time.

Our fearless leader, Jim MaKinster, worked some magic, spending quite a bit of time at the ticket counter, and was able to secure three flights to Nairobi leaving at 8:00 PM London time.  Unfortunately, there are five in our party.  We probably broke one of the most important rules of traveling in a group:  "Never separate!".  Two of our party, Nancy and Courtney, were to take a 9:00 PM flight from London to Doha, Qatar, then transfer and arrive in Nairobi at 1:15 PM local time.  (It is 1:45 PM as I type this.)  With any luck, they will be arriving shortly to the hotel.

As we rode from the airport to pick up our Land Cruiser, I felt as if I was on another planet.  We've all seen poverty on television, but it doesn't prepare one to see the living conditions that some of the people here live in.

Coincidentally, today was the annual Nairobi marathon, so traffic was rerouted around the city.  As we rode, there were countless corrugated steel shacks and stalls, selling everything from unevenly cut lumber, to concrete blocks.  Sprinkled throughout were advertisements for Coca-Cola, the local cellular phone providers, and other goods and services that seemed as out of place in this environment as I felt riding through it.

I am currently in the hotel lobby as I type this.  We missed our planned "good night's sleep" in a hotel bed last evening, but were able to secure our rooms for a few hours today.  After a well-needed breakfast, nap, and shower, I am ready for the 250 km Land Cruiser ride from Nairobi to the Mpala Research Centre.  Hopefully we'll arrive early this evening.

Due to the speed of the internet connection here and my limited time, I will need to post pictures later.

That's all for now.  Until later, Kwaheri!