Athens to Nairobi....July 4th, 2010

After a rather last minute trip to the Greek isles, it was Monday morning and time to pack my bags AGAIN - I've lost count and dont bother anymore. My very sweet cousin insisted on walking me to the platform to get the train to Athens airport and I find myself daydreaming on the train wondering where this next adventure will take me and what doors of opportunity it will further open.

I booked my flights through a new website I've never tried before but now use it as my first go to when Im trying to work out how to get between airports and get a selection of airlines with ok prices. rumbo.com if you want to check it out. So I booked return flights between Athens & Nairobi via Istanbul as it was cheaper and flying with Turkish Air. It was exciting to have food included in the bill for a change :)

I arrived 11.30am into Istanbul airport exhausted from the long weekend layzing by the sea :) I had to kill time until my flight left for Nairobi (or Nairobbery as they call it) at 6.30pm that night, so I visited every store, surfed the web and paced the airport for several hours. At one point I sat on the floor in the quiet end of the airport upstairs outside the club lounges working out how much I need to convert into USD etc for the trip. I was so tired that I wasnt really concentrating, got up and went to the other end of the airport to change money. When I got there I couldnt find my money belt in my bag, so I unpacked it twice - still nothing. I checked out the toilets and went into a nearby lounged I had been sitting next to, to see if anyone had handed anything in.

As I was walking into the second lounge to ask the same question, it hit me what I was saying.... I had lost my Australian passport, travellers cheq, credit card, key cards and all my cash - I only had my greek passport on me!!! I could feel tears start to well as I panicked and as Im walking into the 3rd lounge hoping for a miracle, a cleaner comes running up to me with my money belt! He is asking that I check that everything is inside and then off he runs! It turns out that when I had gotten up to go to the toilet I had left it on the floor!!!!! Usually I wear my money belt religiously but as I had come from Greece where I am a little relaxed about security I didnt have my belt on as I planned to wear it on the plane before I arrived in Nairobi - lesson learnt!

So finally I was on the plane to Nairobi - my flight had a mix of both Africans and Caucasians - yes I was observing. We landed at 1.20AM and Im all ready to look mean in downtown Nai-robbery but silently praying the driver we arranged had waited for me. After changing money and realising they ripped me only to then realise I was thinking in Tanzanian shilling and this is Kenya so he was giving me Kenya shilling - Doh!

Thankfully my driver was waiting outside and off we went on our 30min drive to the hotel that I would be spending a whole 5 hours at! By the time we got moving it was well after 2am and the roads were empty, my driver was fantastic. We spoke about the World Cup the whole way - he was so lovely it was such a pleasent releif to what I was expecting. We arrived at the Kenya Comfort Hotel where I was staying in Nairobi - from outside it looked like an old Australian corner pub - 2 young security guards all rugged up and carrying batons come over to help me with my bags. We got into reception which still looked like an old pub and there are the two girls behind the desk, asleep with their head on the counter. My driver bangs his hand on the counter and they both jump about 10 feet!

We all giggle including them and they shyly apologise. The coolest reggae music is playing and I at 2.30am after flying for 6.5 hours and finding that Im dancing along to the music!!
One of the girls takes me up to my room at the end of a long corridor and with a simple push button lock on the back of the door. My room is all windows as it is on the corner overlooking the street below. It looks yellow but welcoming and I am immediately at ease feeling safer than I thought I would. I climb into bed with the lamest smile.... the real adventure has begun... why do I love travelling to such hard countries? Because the reward for your effort is greatest there!

Next blog.... Nairobi to Arusha