A hapless paddy on tour

Well I’m back on the road, albeit just for a month. I had an early start from Heathrow but my journey was made more bearable thanks to a free upgrade from BA. I arrived in Nairobi at 10pm and swiftly made my way through the hoarding masses to an awaiting taxi bound for the Hilton. A decadent start I must admit, but as I’m just traveling for the month I afforded myself the luxury. Too many times in the past I diced with death by trying to locate a cheap hotel on arrival. The Hilton was fairly charmless but offered good value for money at 50 quid a night. In keeping with tradition I dumped the bags and headed for the adjoining bar. The resident bar reminded me of English pubs of old and a cold tusker beer was a snap at 2 pound a pint. The bar was rather smoky and frequented with what I guess was high class hookers. To be fair I wasn’t approached but did catch a few longing gazes on the few occasions I looked in their general direction. After a couple of beers I retired to the room satisfied at a painless introduction to Kenya.

I got up at around 11, took a bath and prepared myself for the mean Nairobi streets. I decided that a chill out day was required as the weathers been quite bad here and a air had a certain heaviness. The city itself is not what you might call aesthetically pleasing but the streets were no way as chaotic as Asia or South America. I decided to skip the over priced breakfast at the hotel in favor of a local eatery. I ordered a local chicken curry with an ice cool tusker to wash it down. I just hope my stomach hasn’t lost its iron properties after the last bout of traveling. The meal itself was rather plain but inoffensive and filling. Afterwards I took a walk around the streets and headed for the Masai market. The markets provided a rich tapestry of sights sounds and smells and in general, the arts and craft were to a high standard. . As you would expect the markets were littered with touts all trying to earn a buck by showing tourists around. The touts were fairly easy to outflank and not overly persistent once I made it clear that I was just browsing. My first impression of the Kenyans was fairly good. The nether hounded me or made me feel uncomfortable. Any request for directions was met with a smile and a genuine desire to help. I hope it will remain that way for the rest of my trip.

I called Lara, Grainne Doherty’s friends, to arrange the plans for NYE. Despite having never met the girl she couldn’t do enough to help me and I think we’ll get on well. I fly to Mombassa tomorrow where Lara is to pick me up and drive me to Diani beach. I get the impression that the weather is going to be similar to last year in Vietnam but that doesn’t really bother me. Lara’s step dad owns a safari lodge in tsovo east so as soon as the weather picks up I give him a call and arrange a visit. He’s also a tourist agent so hopefully he can recommend some good sights to see on my trip here. I purchased a nice single malt by way of an present as advice from a local is invaluable on a short trip like this.

Planning on taking it easy tonight as I want to be in good form for tomorrow evening. I may hit the famous carnivores restaurant to sample some of the delicious game on offer.