Colonized by the British in the late 1800's and gaining it's independence in 1963, it is now the third largest city on the continent after Cairo and Johannesburg. It is a city of more than 4 million people with paralyzing traffic jams, overloaded unsafe vehicles and not a hint of emissions control.
It is, however, the starting point for many travelers headed to the wildlife parks of East Africa and the beginning our visit to the Kisima Academy.
Sarah and I arrived at 3:00am and were met by not one but two drivers, one sent by the travel company and one by a friend of mine who wasn't sure we had transportation. The men were friends and were standing there chatting when we arrived. They never looked at the name that each was holding.
When I saw my name(s) I thought I was seeing double which might be expected after such a long flight and it WAS 3am! I waved and they both eagerly waved back then looked at each other in great surprise. We all had a good laugh.They were great sports and said we should feel like we were being well cared for.
After a bit of a rest, we met my friend, Phillip (who had sent the extra driver) for lunch. He has been here for almost two months doing work with a couple of schools in an area east of Nairobi.
After lunch, with the aid of our driver, Sarah and I began our shopping mission. But first we wanted to see the Nairobi Natural History Museum. Our driver was very knowledgable and guided us through the museum.
The head of the school wanted some soccer balls for his emerging young team and Gerda, the inspiration behind this trip, needed expandable curtain rods for the curtains she had made for the children's dorms. (She was not going to have the luxury of the extra time in Nairobi)
Naturally, finding soccer balls was no problem but curtain rods were another story and I will not bore you with it. We couldn't find any so we changed our search and set off for bottled water and wine, two staples we knew we would need for this trip.
When that was accomplished we had a great dinner at the restaurant at the Stanley Hotel, Nairobi's first luxury hotel built by the British in 1902.
After dinner it just about,all we could do to stay awake. Next, lights out.
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