Nairobi Eye

The Riverside shuttle service picked us up at our hotel at 7:30 and took us to the mini-bus we would be taking to Nairobi, Kenya.  We seemed to be the last ones to arrive.  The luggage was put up on the roof and we piled into the bus with 25 others.  Okay it was more like a van, and had jump seats down all the aisles.  Four people across the rows.  Once you were in your seat, you couldn't move or get out.  But we thought how bad could it be since Nairobi is only 350 km north.  Yeah.... 9 hours later....

Indeed it took 9 hours to get to our accommodations in Nairobi.  In a few years there will be a new high speed highway running from Cairo to Cape Town.  Right now the road between Arusha and Nairobi is being worked on.  This meant that 300 km of our journey was spent on gravel pot-holed detours.  Also, it is the dry season and it was soon apparent why the local women on the bus immediately covered their heads with scarves.  Oh the dust... the dust. 

I should also note that we were delayed for over an hour at the border waiting for our visa application to be processed so we could get into Kenya.  No problems but everything must be done by hand in triplicate.  For the rest of the trip we prayed that the bus wouldn't shake apart and that I wouldn't throw up.  I was really starting to feel ill.  Aidan was great for the whole trip and listened to his music player for hours.  Once we got to Nairobi, it was another 2 hours of fighting traffic and dropping people off at different hotels.  We were able to get a taxi to the Wildebeest Camp and arrived disheveled at about 5:30.

On the brighter side of things, the Wildebeest Camp is wonderful.  It is an oasis in the middle of Nairobi.  We are in a large permanent tent (with shower, toilet, and running water).  There is a large stone mansion where other guests stay and where the owners - Lynnite and Allan and their baby son Oliver live. They have hostel type rooms in the mansion and they also allow tenting on the property.  It is a large garden area that is walled and has a security guard. This is one of the best places we have found to meet travelers and we have connected with wonderful people here.  Aidan loves it here too.  He plays with the two dogs - Fatty and Barney.  He runs around and plays and mingles with the other guests.  There is a large TV room, a big dining room, and lots of outdoor seating.  Breakfast is included with the price and buffet dinners are also served every night, although we've only eaten here once.  Aidan has become good friends with the cook, Margaret, and Justice, a young Maasai man who is working and living here while he completes collage.  On our first night, one of the resident tortoises (very large) laid her eggs in a hole she had just dug in the garden.  Everyone was out watching.   

We arrived on February 27 and planned on staying two nights. It is now March 5th and we are still here.  I ended up getting quite sick with a stomach ailment that has only just cleared up.  I spent a few days in the tent eating toast and bananas.  That really waylaid our original plans.  Once I started feeling better we started looking into another safari.  But it is really expensive and we have already seen pretty much everything we want to on our previous safari.  We really started to question what we wanted to do in Kenya.  We didn't feel like going to another beach resort and we really didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on another safari in the same landscape.  So, in the end, we decided to stay in Nairobi and do some day trips that we can arrange with the camp. 

Before I forget, we need to get back to Nairobi Eye story. Michael took Aidan to the Nairobi Hospital to have the crazy rash/burn on his arm looked at.  The good thing is that this is the place to go for any weird tropical diseases.  They have seen it all.  He was referred to a specialist, who took one look at it and said "Nairobi Eye".  Nairobi eye is casued by the Nairobi fly, a tiny insect the size of a grain of rice that comes out after the first rains in the Serengeti.  The doctor theorized that one landed on Aidan's arm in the night and was mushed in when he moved.  This tiny fly has a fluid sac in it and the toxic contents cause an extreme skin reaction in humans. A tiny drop causes a big, red blistering sore, similar to what you would get if you were physically burned.  Nothing to do but keep it clean and let it heal.  They call it "Nairobi eye" because these little flies like to land on peoples faces at night and then when when you swat it you end up with a swollen, burned eye.  Yikes. In Africa, we learned, you brush insects off instead of batting at them like we do in North America. Aidan is very proud of his trophy and made us take pictures. 

The other thing Michael found out was that the little bumps on the back of his legs that have been spreading since southeast Asia is actually a large crop of warts.  Tiny warts.  Great.  So the doctor gave us a caustic pencil and we have made an attempt to slow the progression.  I think we will end up taking him to a doctor once we get back to Canada, as these may have to be properly burned off.  Total cost for hospital visit and medication: $100.