Arrival in Nairobi

I arrived in Nairobi very late last night, plane weary, tired and sore after 32 hours of travel.  The drive to my hotel was dark and dusty, on dirt and pot-holed roads most of the way.  Just outside the airport, there was a car upside down in the middle of the road in a very fresh accident.  It didn't appear, though, that anyone was seriously hurt.  In the meantime, my iphone wasn't working and I couldn't call home or check email.

When I finally got to my room about 2 a.m., my hotel computer internet connection worked for Skype and Google Kenya, but nothing else.  Feeling isolated and somewhat uncharacteristically fragile, I made a couple of family calls on Skype, which worked like a charm, asked for an 8:30 a.m. wake-up call and tried to sleep.

This morning was another world.  Things always look better in the fresh light of day.   The grounds here at the hotel are beautiful, the weather is soft and balmy, the birds are racous and smells are strong, rich and tropical.  I found out the internet problem was a temporary systemic glitch.  I called our IT support on Skype and got my iphone working.

After breakfast, I went into Nairobi and got a local phone and a wi-fi modem.  I learned from the shuttle driver that Nairobi is in the middle of constructing a  new 50 km freeway through the city that will eliminate the round abouts with "fly-overs" (overpasses); hence all the dirt diversions and dust.  Driving appears a free for all. 

The shuttle driver dropped me off in front of an official looking group of men outside one of the downtown hotels and said to ask one of them where to go for my phone.  One of them, Michael, more or less adopted me for the duration, escorting me to a phone shop and then sticking with me at Safaricom while I got my phone and modem, time cards, instruction, etc.  He arranged a cab back for me, then called me in the cab to make sure I got back safely.  He was great and extremely helpful; on the other hand, unsolicited kindness often makes me a bit uncomfortable and skeptical about motive.  I wish I didn't feel that way and wonder how others react.

I've spent the afternoon confirming several meetings for early next week with other NGO's (non-governmental organizations) and following up on multiple email introductions.  Time for a work-out.