Hilton Nairobi Hotel

The Ghanaian delegates arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta Int**national Airport at 0505 hours local time. Aft** passing through immigration and custom formalities, which w**e quite smooth, we w**e welcomed by the staff of Nairobi Hilton who took us to the hotel in Central Nairobi. Getting into our separate rooms on the second floor, we had a little nap as we exp**ienced a little jet lag. Accra's time is three hours behind Nairobi's time. By 0830 hours, we came down to Tsavo Room in the hotel, the v...

The first day was a good start to our visit to Kenya. I (Dr. John) went to conduct a day-long training session for the partners under the SARAH Network umbrella. The rest of the team went with my friend and tour guide, Pauline Ngigi of Safari Market Tours, to the Lake Nakuru Park. It is about a two-hour drive to the park from Nairobi and takes one to and through the famous Rift Valley, that extends from Israel all the way down the eastern side of Africa to Mozambique. The team saw animals in ...

Last night we decided to shower before bed since we had such an early morning. Danielle turned the hot water the wrong way when she was done and since the taps are metal it was scalding hot and she couldn't turn it off. She swore very loudly when she touched it. Then she came out and asked Amanda if there was anything long to poke at it with and all Amanda could find was an umbrella. Danielle said that we should phone reception but with what phone? Eventually we got the tap to turn off but th...

We left our lodge in the Maasai Mara to drive back to Nairobi this morning. We got to stay at the Nairobi Hilton again which is very glamorous compared to our mosquito net beds in the lodges. We stopped at the Karen Blixen museum (and by museum they mean house). She is the one in Out of Africa which neither of us have seen so it was quite boring for us. At lunch we met up with the other group and got to see Tom and Vi again and Susan and Maryanne. Susan asked us if we got married to any Maasa...

Our flight to Nairobi left about on time, at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. Nairobi time. Our arrival was also about on time, at 9:00 p.m. We had a bit of a problem getting into the country. We had to purchase a visa-cost US$50 each. The officials didn't want to accept our US dollars since they did not have the new larger portraits (less susceptible to counterfeiters). Fortunately, the wheelchair pusher was able to intervene (all in Swahili, the common language for all African tribes) and we were adm...

Friday, 22 July After breakfast, we started off for Nairobi, again. We stopped at a view point where we got a great view of the Rift Valley. Our lunch stop was The Verandah, a lovely restaurant in the suburbs of Nairobi. It was set in a beautifully landscaped garden. Next door was Utamaduni, a craft workshop/salesroom opened by Dr. Richard Leakey, son of Louis and Mary Leakey (more on them later). Just outside the capital, we visited the Karen Blixen Museum. Baroness Karen Blixen-Finecke emig...

Arrived in Kenya after an eight hour flight on the lovely British Airways. We made our way to the Visa desk and were escorted to the front of the line by a security guard. (I think it was my sisters blonde hair) We literally passed up many passengers and were quickly on our way to claim our baggage. I was a bit surprised at how primitive it was. The workers were climbing on the conveyor belts and in and out of the back wall. We picked up our luggage and went to customs. We were blatantly cut ...

OK, so here I am in Africa for the first time. Now that I am ensconced in the business lounge of the Nairobi Hilton (which sounds more luxorious than it really is), I am relieved! The morning started in Zurich. I set 2 alarms to ensure I awoke at 6am. My jet lag still isnt under control and I wasnt able to fall asleep until well past 1am again. I wasnt successful in figuring out the integrated TV / internet / radio / alarm system through the funky plasma screen in the hotel room, so out came ...

Well we made it in one piece and have only made it as far as the Hilton Hotel Nairobi so far... Don't judge me!! Well it is 5 Star and has a pool... Getting a flight to Rwanda in the morning and hoping to do the mountain gorillas on Saturday assuming my chest infection is cleared up and Dave's torn ligaments (from the going away night!) has sorted itself out... Don't ask!! All very exciting though and a wee bit surreal... Still - the adventures and good stuff starts from mow on so I'll keep y...