Nairobi Has One Wack Airport
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Nairobi,
Kenya
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
I arrived in Nairobi in the afternoon. It's an ugly airport, too. I figured I'd stay in the airport overnight since I was flying to Ethiopia the next day. Ironically, I had met an English woman, Candi, on the ferry to the Lamu airport who had the same plan and was also flying to Ethiopia the next day with another carrier. She said there was a sleeping lounge in the airport which you pay for by the hour.
This sounded great to me. I was beginning to feel a bit achey and feverish on the plane. I needed to lie down for sure.
We left domestic arrivals and went to international departures. You have to go through an x-ray machine and metal detectors just to enter the building before checking in. I inquired with Ehiopian Airlines about moving my flight up. They said it was fine, and the fee was $20. When I told them I had to pay with a Visa card, the guy said that $20 was too small an amount to run a credit card. How wack is that? I have to save all my USD for entry visas, so I let it drop. I'd hang with Candi and use the sleeping lounge.
To get to the sleeping lounge, you had to check in and go through passport control. My first problem was that my flight was at noon the next day, so I wasn't allowed to check in until tomorrow. I went back to the Ethiopian office to plead for an early check in. They granted it easier than I thought. I think they were sick of me.
My next problem was that I left the building to have some dinner. They didn't want to let me in because my flight was the next day. I explained that I was sick. They called the supervisor. I argued some more. Finally they let me pass and got a janitor to escort me to the sleeping lounge, I guess because they didn't trust me.
The last test was passport control. They were only letting through people flying before 7 a.m. They didn't want to stamp me out of Kenya. I told them I was sick, and what's the point of a sleeping lounge after check-in and immigration? They passed my passport around. Now the security guy who wouldn't let me through was arguing for me. One of the immigration guys stamped me out while his supervisor was en route. I recieved a lecture about how sick people should go to the doctor, not the airport. Then he saw my exit stamp and was forced to let me pass. I'm sure he chewed out his employee pretty good for giving me the stamp. Occupational hazards I guess.
I lost Candi on the other side. Kenyan Airways told her she couldn't check in until 11 p.m. I don't know if her 7:10 flight was on the immigration list. I hope I didn't spoil the immigration guys for her sake.
I made it to the sleeping lounge which costed a big $20 per 4 hours for a 8 by 6 box with a bed. Luckily the guy took Visa.
When my time was up, I got a knock on the door. The guy asked me twice what my flight time was. I asked for an extra hour of sleep. He sympathized and I passed out again.
Again my time was up, and I headed to the gate. It was closed as were most of the gates. Another wack thing about it is that all the seats that you sit in when you're waiting for your flight are behind security which you can only pass when it's time to board your flight. Therefore, all the waiting areas are locked up and empty. You either wait in one of the shops or on the floor outside the gate.
