Journey to Kenya

We caught the 1.30pm flight from Glasgow to Heathrow (BMI) and then the 7.00pm flight to Nairobi which departed at 7.30pm. We made-up time and arrived on time at 6.25am this morning. Kenya is three hours ahead of the UK so the total flight time from London to Nairobi is 8½ hours. We travelled on Kenya Airways which was fine.

When we arrived at Nairobi Airport we had to buy visas. This seems a bit of a scam since you can't pay by credit card (or Kenyan Shillings - only US dollars) some of which presumably finished-up in the pockets of the officials.

We drove from the airport to the Holiday Inn during early morning rush hour. Nairobi is a dump. The car polution is terrible, the roads are poor and the driving is crazy. I was glad to arrive at the Hotel at 8.30am. The Hotel was an oasis among the poverty-stricken streets of Nairobi. There were security guards at all of the entrances. We didn't venture out.

The hotel had thoughtfully provided a complimentary bottle of wine, presumably because they knew that it was our Silver Anniversary.

We slept for a couple of hours in the morning then I spent the rest of the day at the pool and in the gym. The gym is excellent - but hot making it very hard work to exercise. I listened to the radio while working-out. The presenter was complaining about the police arresting people on suspicion of carrying-out crimes - no evidence just "hearsay" as the DJ put it. This is legal in Kenya. It looks like corruption is a problem in Kenya.

The Equator runs through Kenya - which means that it doesn't really have seasons. The weather is pretty constant the whole year round. Nairobi is in the Highlands and is "cool" - but you could have fooled me. Today was boiling (about 25C) and I got sunburn. So we've just left one country (Scotland) which gets four seasons in one day and arrived in another country (Kenya) which gets one season all year round.