Hello Nairobi!

Finally arrived in Nairobi and so far it's been nothing less than surreal. Walking to immigration, the first sounds I hear aren't those of Kenyan singers, but rather Dolly Parton belting out a cheerful country song. The line for passport check and Visa went quickly. It helps to be seated near the font of the plane in order to beat the rush.

After purchasing a Visa and filling out a Swine Flu form, I headed downstairs to collect my giant duffel bag with the sounds of "Islands in the Stream" playing prominently throughout the terminal. Just outside the baggage area, I saw the biggest crowd of hired drivers I've ever seen!
Here's a picture of JUST HALF of them:


One of those drivers was there for me, but I wasn't aware of it. Shortly after taking this photograph, a flood of passengers from my flight came streaming out and I passed through the line of drivers to the back to get out of the way.

After a few hours, I figured perhaps I had typed 6pm instead of 6am in my correspondence with Peter. An information officer directed me to the Internet cafe across the parking lot and I was able to email Peter and see that he had also emailed me yesterday to let me know that his driver was going to pick me up. Of course, I didn't have Internet access then.

We found each other, and were finally on our way. The drive over from the airport was about 30 to 40 minutes and there's a lot here that reminds me of my trip to Trinidad 10 years ago. Same beautiful lush green flora, same Nestle plastered fence advertisements...

Weather: the temperature here is perfect, and surprisingly doesn't feel nearly as humid as Santa Barbara. It's raining at the moment, but this is the first downpour since my arrival.

Peter went to the office leaving me with his Internet card that I'm quickly burning through with all the image uploads. When he returns, we'll be off for dinner somewhere in town. I had a quick nap earlier and feel refreshed.

That's it for now!