We are safe and sound at the Jacaranda Hotel in Nairobi! After 23 hours in airplanes, it was wonderful to see the sign that said "Krueger Family" through the glass at the airport and walk out to meet our driver and find our safari vehicle. It's nearly midnight here and we are going to call it a day but I wanted to show you a few pictures of what we saw today.
9:30 a.m. - De-icing the plane in Edmonton as it was covered with frost after the coldest night (-8) we've had this fall.
10:05 a.m. - circling away from the airport and heading east across Leduc County.
2:50 p.m. - Preparing for landing in Toronto.
8:10 a.m. - Chocolate shop in the Zurich airport.
9:39 a.m. - Flying out over Zurich (the countryside was so beautiful here - we all want to come back!)
5:05 p.m. - Flying over the Kenyan highlands - Mount Kenya, a dormant volcano, is somewhere in this area. This picture is especially for Meadow, who watched a show about the volcano recently. I'll get a better picture on Monday when we drive out here.
8:50 p.m. - Our room at the Jacaranda Hotel, complete with mosquito net over the bed.
9:10 p.m. - Clarence and Bob toasting with the local Tusker beer, Sandra and I using Diet Coke and tomato juice to celebrate our arrival in the hotel restaurant.
We are tired but happy to be here and very much looking forward to tomorrow when we can see more. It was dark by the time we cleared customs (with only Bob having to open his hiking bag - they wanted to know if everything in it was for his personal use or if he was bringing things in for others) so our first impressions were of:
warm temperature,
many trees with flowers,
traffic driving on the wrong / right side of the road,
people wandering between vehicles stopped at traffic lights selling pillows, apples, balls - pretty much anything you might want, the driver said,
payday revelers heading out for a night on the town,
local taxi vans stuffed with people weaving in and out of traffic (M - think Krakow bus!),
and a very helpful man from African Horizons Safari and Travel company.
Tomorrow the real fun - and serious picture taking - begins!!
Good night!
