Magic carpet ride to Nairobi
Trip Start
Jun 17, 2009
1
2
18
Trip End
Aug 11, 2009
Johannesburg,
South Africa
Thursday, June 18, 2009
What part of Africa is all about
Read the small print
Read the small print
Last 3 or is it a 4 hour leg to get north to Nairobi. Airbus319 was only 3/4 full and that was great because .... the captain took us on a magic carpet ride by turning right and flying past Mt Kilimanjaro 5895 m. Tallest mountain in Africa and unique as it is a free standing mountain.
Mt Kili ... much easier than the 4 day walk up!
He dropped the right hand wing as we flew oh so close to the crater, then did a hard u turn and flew back and dropped the left hand wing so that the passengers on that side could get a wonderful view. I was surprised at so little snow on the mountain ... it is winter here in Africa, barren and windswept.
Arrived in AFRICA!
Nairobi and first impressions as Andrew drove me the 30 mins to the Boulevard Hotel ...
- polluted with the diesel fumes
Soldiers guarding the local National Park
- policemen with rifles.- hawkers selling anything and everything walking between the cars just like in China. High unemployment so no wonder - they have to make an earning somehow.
Look at the sign behind University of Nairobi sign
- so many people walking along the side of the road and often no footpath.
Just another polluted crowded city
- colonial influence.
- tall Kenyans and not obese.
- crowded local mini buses.
- odd London taxi plus the usual 4 x 4's and very modern cars.
- plus so many people with cell phones "stuck" to their ears.
Andrew my taxi driver on the phone
I was able to get the quieter garden side of the hotel for the next 3 nights.
