Making my way to Nairobi
Trip Start
Apr 21, 2008
1
12
225
Trip End
Apr 20, 2009
Prague,
Czech Republic
Thursday, May 1, 2008
First thing I needed to do was figure out how much money to bring and in what form. All the countries I am going to in Africa have their challenges when it comes to changing or accessing money. For instance, I learned that cash is the only way to go in Rwanda. Outside Kigali, Rwanda's capital, it's very difficult to change travellers cheques or find ATMs. Also, they charge a crazy commission of about $20 per transaction. Meanwhile, in Uganda, I will find exchange offices but not every town has one. Furthermore, ATMs can be found but the international data link isn't always up and running. There are other challenges but I think you understand what travellers are up against when they come here. I decided to bring $1000 US in cash to start. I hate the idea of carrying so much money but I don't want to find myself in a situation where I don't have anything left and I am in a town that doesn't accept anything but cash.
Given that I wanted to buy a large sum of US dollars, I wanted to make sure I went to a place that charged the best exchange rate. I went online and found out about an office about 30 minutes from my hostel. When I took off, I noticed that the streets were pretty deserted. It was a Thursday and I didn't understand why it would be so quiet at 9 am. When I reached the exchange office, it was closed. I also noticed the post office next door was closed. It must have been a holiday I thought. When I got back to the hostel, the guy at the front desk confirmed my guess. Apparently the 1st of May is a holiday across most of Europe. It's normally used as a day to protest whatever needs to be protested in your country. APparently the city of Prague brought police from neighboring cities to help maintain control. I was going top miss the action. In the end, I was left with no US dollars. No problem. I would buy my funds at the Zurich airport where I would be making a stopover.
I took off for the airport at 2 pm - 5 1/2 hours before my flight. I took the subway and a bus - was really easy to find the airport. On the way there, I was thinking about whether the airline would ask me to go on a later flight like they did when I flew to Berlin. It would be nice to get another 150 Euros again :). Unfortunatley, an offer did not come my way.
When I checked my bags, I just sat down and started to mentally prepare myself for Africa (again). I had to forget about all the travel warning reports I read and the crazy looks I got from other travellers when I told them where I was going. My ticket was already booked so instead of focusing on what could go wrong, I thought about all the things I was looking forward to experiencing. I also tried to remember my feelings prior to going to previous places like China abd SE Asia an how everything worked out. This was going to be a great life experience just like those other trips. It's ok to be a bit nervous. As long as your nervousness doesn't take over and impacts the decisions you make while you are travelling. I need to make sure I milk as much as I can from being here. I am sure after spending 10 weeks in East AFrica, I will look back at some of the nervous feelings I had and laugh at it.
One thing that does concern me though is that VISA has not mailed my PIN to my sister's address yet. Its been over a week since I called them. I was hoping to get the PIN before arriving in Nairobi. This is another reason why I am going to buy $1000 US dollars - in case my credit card still isn't working.
My flight to Zurich was uneventful - exactly how I want my flights to be. Zurich does look like a beautiful city - from the air at least. Lots of green hills surrounding the city, exactly how you would imagine a Swiss city. I landed at 9:30 pm and I had a 12 hour layover. I decided to spend the night at the airport. I would save some money this way and guarantee I would make my flight on time. I went looking for an exchange office. I wasn't really happy to see their exchange rate (Swiss francs to US dollars). It as 1.09 when most banks charged 1.01. When changing 1000 dollars, that's an 80 dollar loss. There go my savings from sleeping in the airport. I wasn't ready to throw away $80 just like that but at the same time I was stuck and needed the cash. I decided to think about what I should do over night. I would make a decision in the morning.
I roamed the airport for the first hour or two. It's a very snooty airport. You have all the top stores present - Hugo Boss, Burberry, Mont Blanc, Bulgari, Emporio Armani and Porsche Design just to name a few. They also had a Caviar House.
While walking around, I saw the Star Alliance VIP lounge. I knew I lost my status 2 years ago when I stopped flying for work. How sweet it would be to get access to the lounge while I was waiting out this 12 hour layover. I would have free food, drinks, internet access as well as a comfortable couch to sleep on. I decided to pretend to be ignorant and see if I could get in. The lady asked me for my boarding pass and quickly said I did not have a star on it which meant I was no longer privileged to use the lounge. I was hoping she would have some pity on me when I told her I had a 12 hour layover but she didn't buddge. At least I tried.
Plan B ended up being an airport seat in one of the Terminals. This was going to be my bed for the night. Before I dozed off, I took out a map of East AFrica and the travel reports I printed out from the department of foreign affairs web site. I grabbed a pen and blacked out the areas that were considered unsafe - according to the Canadian Government. Reading the reports a second time didn't bring back any nervousness. It was quite the opposite. I now had a visual of where it was safe and unsafe to go. For Kenya, I was to avoid the top half of the country (due to the unrest caused by the current political situation) and the areas bordering Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. No big deal as I wasn't going there. For Uganda, I needed to avoid going to the top half as well as the Lord's Resitance Army still has a strong presence there. I heard they aren't very nice guys. There was one place, Murchison Falls, that I wanted to visit but after I learned 8 tourists were killed a few years ago, I decided it was a bad idea. I also learned to avoid areas bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda seemed very safe as did Tanzania. No one can't say I dont prepare myself for these trips. Ignorance can get people in serious trouble if they don't know where they are going.
As I put myself in the most comfortable position possible for sleep time, I noticed that I wasn't smelling too good. My feet were pretty stinky and my armpits could have used a swipe of deodorant. It was my first "I stink" experience". Unfortunately, my toiletries were in my checked baggage. I did notice the Duty Free shop across from my "bedroom". I knew I would have to pay it a visit when it opened in the morning so I could "sample" their cologne. If I didn't, it may end up being a very long flight to Naorobi for the person sitting next to me.
Dino
