Dream, Plan, Travel, Repeat.

I left Lamu today and, after a short and easy flight via Kenya Airways, am now back in Nairobi. I was a little sad to leave the island—after one week, I was beginning to feel pretty settled in. Each day was about the same:

10AM:

Wake up to the happy yells of children playing in the courtyard of the madrassa next door. It’s the second time I wake up each morning—the first being during the mosque’s pre-dawn call for prayer, which at that hour sounds a lot less beautiful than its afternoon and evening counterparts.

10AM-12PM:

“Shower” by sprinkling ice cold water on those parts of my body that can withstand the frigid temperatures. (My sensitive back had not been washed properly for the entire week, but since I couldn’t see [or smell] it, it seemed ok.) Dress in bathing suit and modest clothing for my walk to the beach. The road will be lined with friendly men and women that have come accustomed to seeing me walk past—lots and lots of “Jambos” and “Habaris” (How are you?) ensue.

12PM-5PM:

Doze at beach. Watch waves. Contemplate existence. Avoid buying overpriced cold samosas or trinkets from sellers who, with the absence of tourists during low season, see me as their only potential customer and come to ask me if I’m hungry and/or need jewelry at least once an hour.

5PM-7PM:

Drink a cup of sweet, milky chai with friends at a waterfront café, and then read the national newspaper that finally arrives on the island in the evenings. Watch lots of donkeys – Lamu’s preferred method of transport— amble past.

7PM-9PM:

Relax on balcony at the guesthouse beside the rooftop’s resident turtles. Go to blog at a nearby internet café. Swat at mosquitoes that always seem to appear at dusk and find patches of my skin that lack DEET protection.

9PM-11PM:

Feast on grilled seafood with friends.

11PM-1AM:

Go to the local “disco” where the bouncer is a Masaai warrior, complete with traditional cloth wraps and walking stick, and young girls “embarrassed” by dancing dirty with their boyfriends hide their faces in scarves. Play pool against a beach boy named “Aloe Vera.”

1AM:

Crash into carved, wooden Swahili bed draped in mosquito netting, exhausted by a hard day of relaxation.

***

Leaving Lamu by air was also a treat. For the first time, I “drove” by boat to the airport, which is located on another island opposite Lamu. Then, I learned that “airport” actually meant four open-sided, thatched roof huts—1 for a “security” room that lacked a metal detector, 2 for the two airlines that depart from the island (Lamu is a pretty happening place during high season), and 1 for the “waiting room”—and a cement block building selling bottles of soda and biscuits that had the words “duty-free shop” hand-painted in shaky letters on one of its walls. Brightly colored posters highlighting Kenya Airways’ destinations hung from roughly carved wooden poles. I hoped that some donkeys would show up and begin wandering along the lone runway, but I guess that they posed a security risk.

The internet cafe’s closing now. More later!

My life has been full of so many noteworthy experiences over the last few days that I don’t even know where to begin.

…

Let’s start with this: I’m writing from an internet café in downtown Nairobi.

I’m been in Nairobi since yesterday afternoon. I was supposed to arrive a day earlier, but my flight from Mumbai was delayed for many, many hours.

But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. Earlier on June 4, I went to Ethiopian Airlines’ website to re-confirm my seat and discovered that the airline had cancelled my ticket for no apparent reason. Great.

Having solved that problem after a series of expensive phone calls to the US, Ethiopia, and northern India, Matteo and I decided to stay awake and go to a late-night movie near the airport before our 5:50AM flight instead of spending money on a hotel room. Once we arrived at the airport around 3AM, we found that we would be departing at 10:50AM instead.

After reaching the runway around 11AM, the pilot announced that a mechanical problem had been discovered. That’s definitely something you want to hear before take-off. So we spent another 3 hours waiting for the problem to be fixed.

Then, just as it appeared that we were finally ready to leave—we were moving toward the runway, the flight attendants were buckling into their seats—there was a bigger problem. The man that I had sat next to on the plane had left his seat and was nowhere to be found. Despite all of my travels over the years, I’m not a particularly calm flyer and – filled with fears about the mysterious mechanical error and (rational or irrational?) terrorism— his absence was really upsetting. So Matteo and I told a flight attendant who, along with others, searched the plane. We finally found that he had moved to another seat in another section of the plane to be with a friend. Sigh. Just one more delay in a night (and day) of delays.

So, leaving India was a little difficult.

One more point about the flight: For the first time in my flying career, I was on a plane where passengers had no concern for standard airplane rules. The poor flight attendants—who, like the rest of us, were already exhausted from the long delays—spent most of the trip re-directing people back to their seats who refused to sit down whenever the pilot put the seatbelt light on, including during take-off and landing. After the third person or so, it became quite amusing to watch.

Things got much better once we landed in Ethiopia. Because of the delay, most passengers missed their connecting flights. So, in an exciting twist to my round-the-world travels, I was provided a great hotel room in Addis Ababa for one night. Besides being thrilled about having a new set of visa stamps in my passport (it’s my quirk), I was happy to see a bit of a city that I had heard so much about from Ethiopians in LA and DC. I also became friends with the hotel clerks after declaring my long-time love for Ethiopian food, so the staff served Matteo and I some special dishes and injera in addition to the standard Euro-Indian buffet that they provided to the other passengers. I guess that when you have nowhere to be, delays can be a good thing.

Then, yesterday, I finally landed in Nairobi. I’ll write about the city when I have more time, but I’ll leave you with this tidbits: Within 12 hours of my arrival, I sampled both ostrich (good) and crocodile (god-awful). With such a great beginning, I’m sure many more African adventures await.