July 11^thand 12^th , 2008

I tried to stay in bed as much as possible knowing what was to lie ahead. This is my 6^th trip to Kenya so the travel bit is a bit old hat other than the usual unknowns that arise with every trip. Turns out this one as no exception.

We got things around and all packed up and left Aunt Linda’s around 9:00AM to get the car returned at JFK airport by 12:00PM. Traffic was not too bad as I think the GPS routed us around the heavy parts and through some strange streets to get us there. I am either thankful to Karen (our GPS) for evading traffic or suspicious if she was just trying to run us out of gas so the rental company could fill us up for over $7.00/gallon (what a racket). We did find a station on the way there and got filled up. We returned the car and proceeded to get checked in. We made our way to the ticket counter but not before weighing our bags on their scales and getting them all within 1/2lb. of the 50lb. limit. We then went to the ticket counter to get checked in. The fellow at the counter had been there since 4:30AM and was quite pleasant for the hours he had been working. We then cleared security and proceeded to the gate with a stop-over at the food court to get something to drink. I called Lori to let her know where we were. It was good to talk to her and Malorie. Allie and I will be in Kenya for 6 weeks and I miss them already. There was a blue backpack with a hat where we were sitting that Allie said a woman left. We alerted an airport employee about the situation and he said he would call security. We waited for close to an hour to make sure no-one stole the bag and no-one showed up. Finally a woman who worked security happened to sit down at the table to have lunch. I informed her someone had left that backpack and we had been waiting for security to show up. I guess random backpacks are not that much of a concern after all. Hmmm…… Allie and I then went to the gate we were supposed to fly out from. We had been sitting there a bit when the announcement came that the 2:20 flight to WA Dulles would be delayed until 3:00. I really did not give it much thought because there was still time to make the connecting flight to London. Not 5 minutes later came the announcement that the flight was cancelled. Bummer. They were not rescheduling international flights from that counter which meant we needed to go back to the ticket counter to get this resolved along with a bunch of others. We went to the ticket counter to find out we had to be booked on another airline. They made arrangements for us to fly British Airways which I was cautious about. Last trip I made with them a flight attendant had it out for me and would not even let me get out of my seat even to use the bathroom. She let everyone else but for some reason thought I was some sort of a threat. Anyway, we had to go back down and get all our baggage and then proceed to the British Airways counter to get checked in. Things went well there and the employees were quite pleasant. We went through security again and went back to he food court to get something to eat. All this meant another 3 hours in the airport so I found a WiFi hotspot and got online to email Lori what was going on. Allie also got a chance to send off some emails to her friends as well.

Allie checking emails at JFK Airport. 

     We boarded BA flight 112 to London and arrived on time. I am excited about getting to London this time because I am supposed to meet a fellow I greatly admire. His name is Alex Weir. He has compiled a digital library of over 4000 books to help people in developing countries. The file is quite large (about 20GB) so I contacted him about hosting it on my website and he happily agreed. We have a mutual admiration club I think. When we got in to Heathrow I looked for him at terminal 5 where we got off. I did not see him so we proceeded to terminal 4 where Kenya Airways is located. I id not see him anywhere there so we went to the customer service desk and got our boarding passes. I then found a WiFi hotspot near gate 20 and emailed Alex and waited. The plan was if we did not find each other we would make our way to an internet café and use email to find out where each other was. I also emailed to confirm our housing arrangements in Nairobi and they answered back almost before I got it sent. Probably the fastest return on an email I can remember. I also emailed the fellow who was supposed to pick u up at the airport as I haven’t heard from him is a week or two. It is always comforting to confirm that a pick-up will be there as planned. One wonders if this fellow is for real or going to leave you stranded. I would not be so worried about myself but this is Allie’s first trip abroad and I want it to be a good experience for her. Alex emailed back that he was at the main ticket counter at terminal 4. We did not have access to that counter since we were already in the security vortex. Movements in and out of airports (especially Heathrow) these days is a total bummer for sure. I must say I am glad it’s that way, however inconvenient it may be. Alex and I did not get to meet face to face this time but agreed to catch up later. He and I both go to Kenya and I have found that when one does this kind of work things simply work out sometime.

     We boarded flight KQ103 on time and took our seats on the very last row. Allie got a window seat and between naps enjoyed looking down below. She was amazed at the vastness of the Sahara Desert. It is like a sea of sand that just keeps going on and on. Allie spent a good amount of time with her head on my shoulder sleeping and I think jet lag is getting to her. As we were getting close to Nairobi I let Allie know I had not heard from the fellow (George) who was supposed to pick us up but not to worry as God had things in hand. She said she was not worried (I think it is because she is with dad). I did have peace about the whole thing but if he wasn’t there I would have to call on someone else and that could get complicated. The longer one hangs out in the airport the more chance one has to deal with cruising customs or police officers.

     We made it into Nairobi on time and when we got off the plane it was lightly raining. The air was cleaner because of it but still had the telltale aroma of Nairobi. That mix of charcoal, diesel exhaust and dust. It was also cool which felt wonderful to me but had the locals dressing as if it was 50 below. We went directly to the Safari-com booth to get a new SIM card so I could at least phone someone in case George did not show up. We then filled out our Visa applications and got in line. There was quite a few people there so the wait was long. Maybe it was just because we had been traveling for over 24 hours. We cleared the Visa counter and proceeded to the baggage area. I was a bit concerned because we had been at the Visa counter so long it gives our bags a while to “cruise” around on the conveyor which makes it easier to come up missing. We got all but one bag. It was Allie’s clothing bag which had not made it on the plane. We were fortunate though as there was a bunch of people whose bags did not make it in. A whole missions group did not have any bags. We went to the baggage claim counter to find out they already knew we were missing a bag. They got a message from Heathrow and Allies bag was to be here the next morning. I needed an address for PAC (Pan African Christian College so I went out to find George in case he knew. I walked through the doors and looked at each of the signs being held up. My name was not on any one of them. I looked across the crown to see if anyone would signal me. One fellow seemed to quickly point his finger up. I went to him and asked if he was calling me over. He then tried to say my last name (Hughey is a bit difficult to say from the spelling, especially an African) and I asked him the password. He promptly said the password (no I’m not telling you, it’s a secret). It was comforting and good to know George was faithful to his word. He gave me the street name of PAC and I finished the paperwork. We then went through customs where an officer questioned me on the content of my bag. I told him it was travel clothes and a few tools and hardware I was going to use on my journey. He then wanted to know the value to pay duty on. I asked him if we had to pay duty on items for household use or that were used? He said yes. I told him the hardware items I did have had been modified and could not be sold as good items. Nothing in my bag was for sale. I then told him the value was around $50.00USD. He asked if 50 pounds sterling? I then said “no, US dollars“. He then said since it was such a small amount I could just pass. Thank God. That was the closest I have ever become to being charged duty on baggage.

     George had a driver named Barnfell to drive us since he said his night vision was not so good. We loaded the bags and left the airport for PAC. Nairobi has changed a bit since the whole election violence. The streets were very empty on a Saturday night. When I was here before there were masses of cars and people. Not this time. George said things have changed since the elections and people don’t come out so much anymore. We small talked all the way back to PAC and we got into our room around midnight. I tried to give George money for fuel and he would not take it. I will have to find another way to bless this man. He is very interested in aquaculture and an enterprising fellow as well as a bit of an entrepreneur. I will be giving him a bunch of information he can use. After they left Allie asked if I felt like things were moving. I told her it was jet lag and part of the exhaustion of this kind of travel. Some sleep will do her good. Allie got settled into her room and so did I. This leg of the trip is now done and time to get a good nights sleep.