Friday – Nairobi

We have spent so little time in Nairobi that we elected to return from Mombasa a day early and catch some of the highlights of Kenya’s largest city (4 million people). James met us again promptly at 7am to take us to the Mombasa airport in time to catch our 9:25am flight. The roads were still a little rough, and we were told that it might take well over an hour to reach the airport, especially considering the morning rush hour traffic. James was more than up for the challenge. Driving alternate routes, following residential streets, and for several blocks creating his own path right down the middle of the road – creating a third lane in a narrow 2 lane road, we reached the airport in 45 minutes. With roads ridden with potholes, incredible volumes of vehicles and rules of the road that I don’t understand, I was glad to be chauffeured about.

John was ready to meet us in Nairobi and was our tour guide for the next 2 days. The first stop was the Snake Park. Perhaps we should have become acquainted with the creatures of the country at the start of the trip. On the other hand, perhaps ignorance is bliss. We saw snakes hanging from trees, crocodiles disguised among the rocks and tortoises playing among them all. We met Black Mambas, Green Mambas, pythons, spitting cobras, scorpions and all manner of interesting creatures. Some of these snakes can eat an antelope – horns and all!


We left for the safety of the Village Market. This huge shopping complex was like an open air version of West Edmonton Mall. It seemed very out of place in the Africa we had come to know over the past weeks, but was home to many of the Mizungu (white people) living in and around Nairobi. Each Friday there is an open air Masai Market. Well over a hundred stalls with friendly, engaging vendors offering bargains to the wary shoppers looking for local crafts. As usual, Lori got some great bargains, and they somehow parted me with all of my money once again. I had to exchange a little more at the Nakumatt supermarket. There were some excellent crafts, but it was very hard to “browse” through the stalls without leaving a stream of money as you go.

Mayfield Guest House was our final stop. We met several missionaries that we had encountered during our first stay at Mayfield. We shared some of the adventures of the weeks apart and settled into our room. We had supper of hamburgers, potato chips, and salad with sweet Kenyan pineapple for dessert. The internet was down so was unable to update the “blog” from Nairobi. These final posts will have to wait until we arrive home Sunday night.