Trip to Nairobi

As posted earlier this week, Grant and Johan, the financial manager, had to attend meetings in Nairobi. I, of course, went along to although I didn't have to deal with company business, thank goodness! I've also mentioned previously that Kenya straddles the Equator. Living and working in West-, North- and now East Africa,  Grant and I have frequently crossed the Equator, but in the air, not by road. Travelling to the city this time, I convinced the men to stop and do the touristy thing by posing in on the Equator and having our photos taken.

Grant and I stand in the Northern Hemisphere while Johan (the photographer) stood in the Southern Hemisphere. The expression "Hakuna Matata" is Swahili for "There is no problem"

Johan and Grant pose in the Northern Hemisphere, while I, the photographer this time, stand in the Southern Hemisphere. The expressions "Karibu Kenya" and "Jambo Kenya!" are respectively: "Welcome [to] Kenya" and "Greetings [in/from] Kenya"  

As I normally do, once again this weekend I made padkos / food for the road. We stopped to eat this at a small complex called Delamere near the turnoff to Naivasha Lake. More about the history of this area in a later post. While we sat and ate our sandwiches and meat, we watched the Marabou Storks strutting around the eating area.

Marabou Storks are common in Kenya and can be found in areas where there is human activity and habitation. Note the pendulous throat pouch hanging from the stork's neck. The male Marabou stands about 150cm high and probably weighs 7.1kgs  

This Marabou looked smaller and spent ages preening itself  so I suspect it's the female (she would weigh a little over 5 kgs) Thanks to Shelley Hedges for supplying this information

We travel through a number of Acacia forests on the way to Nairobi.

These trees above are fever tree which is an African thorn tree of the genus Acacia. Acacias occur naturally everywhere except in Europe and Antarctica, but are most prevalent in Australia (729 species - most well known is the wattle) and Africa (115 species). The scientific name of the fever tree is A. xanthophloea. European pioneer farmers in Africa believed that the trees somehow contributed to fever, hence the origin of the common name. It is currently accepted that the only connection is that they occur in areas where malarial mosquitoes breed, i.e. in and near water and especially in swampy areas. Malaria is characterised by bouts of intense fever.

We arrived at our hotel in a leafy suburb of Nairobi just after 4pm

The hotel foyer and reception area

On Monday morning I popped into the hair salon in the hotel. A young gentleman called Felix promised that he could cut and colour (highlight) my hair so well that I'd come back every time. True to his word, he did a very good job. I took a photo of him while he was busy telling him that I wanted evidence. He took it all in good spirits. A very confident and friendly young man.

Felix, my new hairdresser cut and highlighted my hair very well

A dear blogger friend who knows Nairobi well, gave me the names of a couple of restaurants. On Monday night we tried the Italian in downtown Nairobi. It surpassed our expectations for service, quality of food and price

Of course, I had to try one of the delicious desserts on the menu. The cake above was called a Mama Cake. No idea why, but it was sumptious and I ate every morsel of it

It was lovely to be in the city and stock up on necessities. But it was even lovelier to get back to the valley on Tuesday night. Home is always the best, isn't it?

By the time this post is aired this morning, we will be well on our way to Lake Bogoria. After visiting the hot springs of this lake, and viewing the wildlife that allows itself to be seen and spotting birds, we will motor to Lake Baringo where we will overnight and enjoy the natural jewels and bird specials this lake has to offer. Apparently the fishing is excellent, so Grant will be taking his fly-fishing rods.

My apologies to other bloggers for not commenting so often this week. When you travel in Africa, time seems to run out. I should be back to normal again next week and look forward to visiting all your blogs again. Thanks for continuing to visit me.