Karibu Nairobi (Welcome to Nairobi)

   This past week, our team left for an outreach on Rusinga Island.  I remained threre the first few days, but left for more travels on Thursday.  John went home early, and Cherise and I were asked to accompany him to the airport in Nairobi.  So on Thursday, we took motorbikes back to SEEK, packed our bags, and began our travels.

   Here’s what the journey looked like:  We left the SEEK base at a three in the afternoon and took the ferry across the lake (about an hour’s ride) where we caught the bus for the two hour ride to Kisumu.  Once we arrived there, we went to the bus station and got on the overnight bus to Nairobi, and arrived there eight hours later, at 4:30 a.m.  We took the same route on the way home on Saturday: taxi from the hostel to the bus station to head to Kisumu, public transport and then the ferry back to Mbita.  Quite the journey.  Total travel time to and from Nairobi: 27 hours.

   I did enjoy our time in Nairobi, which was just a little over 24 hours long.  When we arrived on
Friday morning, we sat in the bus station until it was light enough to walk around.  We got directions and walked to the Nakumatt Lifestyles- a mini-mall centered around a grocery store (Nakumatt).  From there, we walked to the city market where we haggled for decent prices (there is definitely a skin-tax for being white in Kenya until you tell someone that you live in the country, and even then, people try to rip you off), and then ate at a good pizza place for lunch!  After taking a taxi to the hostel where we were staying, we discovered Lindsay and Andrea.  (I’m not sure I’ve mentioned them on the blog before by name, but they are on the World Race and have been in East Africa for three months.  They came to travel with us as we moved from Uganda to Kenya.  We were together for two weeks, and we all really enjoyed their presence.  They’re awesome girls!)  Their whole squad was staying at the hostel as well.  So, we were able to hang out with them that afternoon.  We went to this awesome coffehouse/restaurant where I was able to get a burrito with rice and beans, a milkshake, and a real cup of coffee.  The food was incredible, and spending time with friends we didn’t expect to see was even better!  Plus, on either end of dropping John off at the airport that evening, we were able to meet and hang out with their whole Race squad before they left the next morning for Thailand. 

   I really would have enjoyed staying in Nairobi longer, but we are going back next week with our whole team while we are on vacation.  I’m looking forward to going back, and I know the rest of our team will enjoy it as well!