Nairobi!

Writing from Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya and the largest city in the East Africa region. We just arrived late Monday night, delayed by a two hour stop to fix the gear box, which wouldn't shift out of first... nothing too unsual for Africa, but a little unsettling nonetheless.

So last post, (which I realize was over two weeks ago, sorry) we were headed down to Zambia. Well, due to a missing customs officer who was less than efficient when he was finally tracked down, we missed the boat down from Burundi to Kigoma, Tanzania. The following twenty four hours are another adventure that I don't have the time to write about here, but we ended up arriving in Kigoma almost exactly one day after we'd hoped. Unfortunately, this also means that we missed the ferry destined for Zambia. With our limited time and the next ferry not leaving until the following week, we made a snap decision and hopped on the "express" train for Dar Es Salaam the following morning. So, following a somewhat grueling and less than luxurious 40 hour ride, we arrived on the East coast of Tanzania and saw the Indian Ocean for the first time. For the records, it looks a lot like the other oceans... After nearly going on a safari due to being offered a really great deal , we opted instead to hop on the next bus for Arusha, more than a eight hour ride (ended up being over 10 after the brakes failed around the halfway point, again, nothing too unexpected). We ended up spending Nearly a week in Arusha, making a visit to the base of Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest mountain in Africa), swimming under a waterfall fed by waters from Kili, and of course, going on a short safari (got an even better deal on it, not even completely sure that the operator made a profit but oh, well). And with just a day left on our Tanzanian visa, we caught a shuttle (essentially a bus, but called a shuttle) to Kenya, the fifth, and most likely, last country on the trip.


Anyway, all the reviews we've recieved, both from guidebooks and from other travellers, have been consistently less than complimentary. However, and maybe it's just because we had the absolutely lowest of expectations for this city, we've been nothing but impressed by what we've seen in the past two days. As we approached the city, I was treated to the refreshing sight of divided highways, street lights, pedestrian crosssings, and proper street signs (all things that I can't really say exist in the other countries within the East Africa region.

Gotta end off here as we're heading off to a campground just outside town tonight (near a giraffe sanctuary that we plan on visiting tomorrow) and we'd like to get set up before sundown. I'll pick this up when we get back to town!