9/13/08 - Flying out of Nairobi, Kenya

This was one of the shorter stops on our adventure, and it was unique and very interesting. Coming out of South Asia and stepping into the heart of Africa was quite a change.

Nairobi is a big metropolis with about 6 million people. We flew in on Wednesday and met our colleagues Frank and David here. There wasn't much room for play during this leg of our trip. We began at 9 a.m. the next day with a training session for office staff and then headed to the UN for an evening meeting.

We wound up staying in on Wednesday night, but on Thursday night we headed to a local restaurant called Carnivore, where you paid a flat fee and then were inundated with every variety of meat you could think of. It was the first time I'd had an opportunity to try alligator. I did try it, but it's not my cup of tea, I must say. It tastes a little like fish. Overall the meal was good, but my stomach wasn't big enough to really reap the rewards.

On Friday, I spent the day in the office getting caught up on a number of emails and other priorities. It felt good to get a grip on all of my other responsibilities at work, but I know there's soooooo much more to come when I get back to DC. We cut out of work early though, so that David could take us up to the Rift Valley…it was a bit foggy in the afternoon, but at least we were able to say that we saw it. For dinner, we went for a meal at a local gathering place that caters to the diplomatic community. There were many UN and embassy officials there and the meals were decidedly western. Normally, I try to eat something "local", but I was so tired of "new" foods (and so was my stomach), that having a cheese steak sandwich was wholly satisfying.





Saturday was our true "fun" day, and we spent it shopping and visiting the safari park just outside of Nairobi. We probably spent six hours traveling around the 116 km park on the outskirts of the international airport, and it was amazing. Who'd have thought you could have that type of nature on the flight path of an international airport. We saw everything from warthogs to baboons, to zebras, and even rhinoceroses – all from the cramped quarters of the 1998 Toyota Carolla we were travelling in. I have some great pictures of the animals. By the time we made it back to the hotel, we were bushed (no pun intended) and we had a glass of wine and headed off to bed.

Now I'm en route to Juba, Sudan. Of all the places I've visited with the Bank, this one is probably the furthest on the fringe of civilization. It will be interesting to see just how built up it is.