Nairobi

An exhausting couple of days to get here only to find Nairobi is a truly exhausting city. The traffic reminds me of downtown Saigon. Cars rush round tight bends in all directions like caught in some giant pinball game. Pedestrians march out into the road seemingly oblivious to the tons of metal hurtling past, inches from them.

Needless to say, the hustle and bustle of one of the largest cities in Africa is a very sharp contrast to the last two months of the rural pace of life. I'd had problems trying to find accommodation; luckily a friend of my dads was able to offer a roof over my head for the night. A more genial host I could not have wished for. A pilot, who had taken time off from flying to pursue other interests, mainly in banking.

We went out with a friend of his to an Italian restaurant. Any food that hasn't spent some time in a tin tastes good right now, but this was particularly good grub! Nairobi itself has, by all accounts improved as a place dramatically. Not so long ago car-jacking was a very real problem and the city rapidly acquired the tag Nairobbery.

Things now are much better, though walking out after dark is still advised against. I was so tired that there was no chance of being able to do anything, let alone walk after about seven pm! A day of shopping for the essentials - shoelaces, new books etc and then the night train to Mombassa.