Arriving in Kenya… African Journey Pt. 2
View part 1 here if you haven’t already…
The flight went well - I love flying, and its even more enjoyable with BA - and with the banter and a good book and some in flight entertainment, the nine hours seemed quite short… well as short as they could be. With the earlier delay I was heading into Nairobi quite late. It must have been half 9/10 or so. Then comes immigration where I have to pay $50 to get a holiday visa - a bit of a rip off but how and ever. Said the goodbyes to the people I’d met and wandered out to collect my luggage. Now, I’m not afraid of flying but I am afraid of what happens next - baggage collection…
So I headed towards the decidedly barren arrivals section to where the collection starts. This is always the most anxious part of the journey for me… and my fears aren’t comforted as I see the way some of the bags are being flung around. Or that there are so many people standing around. After a wait of about 15 minutes my bag comes towards me… and lo and behold there’s a piece of paper stuck to it which reads - “SORRY”, so fearing the worst I take a look at the bag. It appears that one of the back supports has been torn from the bag. Not a huge deal really and I suppose I should be grateful for the note…
Onwards to the arrivals/pick-up area without much hope of my taxi being there to collect me. I head towards the set of public phones to see if I can call them on the mobile that they have here. But a couple of shouts from the crowds mean that luckily I have a lift. I was told to meet a taxi driver named Michael who would give me a lift to the apartment that the girls had been renting while working in the hospital. But again I’m surprised to find two quite hilariously white faces waving at me from the crowd. My girlfriend, her friend Roisin and Michael the taxi driver had been waiting since I was supposed to arrive earlier. Luckily there’s a pub in the airport so they’re not short of anything to do while they wait!
Michael seems friendly and I learn he drives them whenever they need a lift at the weekends in Nairobi. He shares the taxi with another chap who brings them to and from the hospital every day, and between the two have been taking the girls everywhere at whatever time they want. Its dark now so traffic is light and we start the 15 minute drive to the city proper. About 5 minutes in though we hit an obstacle, a police checkpoint. The girls tell me not to look at the policewoman at the checkpoint as it may start something and I may have to get my first taste of Kenyan corruption. After a brief stop in which altogether too much talking is done by Michael and the policewoman, we head on our way and I get told a story.
About a week before this on a journey out to one of the pubs on the outskirts of Nairobi, they were stopped at checkpoint - a regular occurrence when there’s white people in the taxi… - An argument started between Michael and another policewoman in Swahili. Eventually after being stopped about five minutes the argument stopped and the taxi moved off. The girls, wanting to know what had happened asked Michael, who told them that the policewoman had demanded that Michael buy her dinner. In other words, wanted some money! Michael declined her “offer” and this is why the argument started. Now at first I was sceptical about this story but learnt that it was indeed the way of things.
So we arrived at the apartment to be let in by the apartments “askari” - private security guards who had a fire set up in the parking lot. And up to the apartment for a few litres of the local beer(Tusker Beer - So very very strong) as a kind of welcome. I doled out some of the many items that I was asked to bring with me - King/Tayto Crisps, Barry’s and Lyons Tea bags, along with an Irish Times and some magazines. Some food was also eaten before heading off to sleep quite merrily.
