The reality of trip-taking never really sets in for me until I’ve practically boarded a plane or crossed over a border. The weeks leading up until Africa were no different. I accepted “the call” to accompany my friend Eli on a trip to Kenya a mere three weeks before our flights were to be booked. When he extended the invitation to me, I don’t really think he thought he’d get positive feedback, but after looking into it a bit and getting a feel for what I could expect, I decided that the opportunity was one that I could not pass up on. With work “sort-of” on the downswing, and me desiring to pursue other occupational opportunities, a sabbatical in Africa seemed practically mouth-watering, and ultimately, too good to pass up on.
When unique opportunities present themselves, I’d like to think that I opt to pursue more often or not. In the case for Africa there was definitely more risk – the cost was high and the time commitment was lengthy, but in the end taking this opportunity at a time where I could get time off, had relatively few commitments, and could afford the expenses won out.
On the early afternoon of Saturday, November 15th, my parents drove me to my favorite Toronto airport (refer to the final chapter of A Servant’s Tale to find out exactly why it brings me joy if you so incline to) and waited with me to rendez-vous with Eli and his friend Jared. Jared was a friend of Eli who would be accompanying us on our flight and additionally had plans to attend university in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Eli and Jared weren’t long, and after combining our luggage, consisting of gifts for the orphanage we were destined for, into six oversized hockey bags, we got our British Airway World Traveler tickets, wished our parents farewell, and passed through the gate marked International Departures.
It was that point that really stuck out for me as my “wow-I’m-really-doing-this-here-we-go” moment. For the next 3 weeks I would be embarking on a journey to and through East Africa. I would be staying at an orphanage called Baba Nyumbani that I knew relatively little about, and would be capping it all off with a 3-day safari hopefully featuring all the incredible wildlife that Africa is renowned for. The details that I did know, I knew from Eli’s past experiences in the country, and that I decided previously, was enough for me to take a gamble on Africa.
To be perfectly honest, heading to a destination largely unknown, if anything, enhances an experience for me. To be ready for anything, to be open to things unexpected and unprecedented, to willfully follow and trust that there is something on a strange continent worth dropping everything and travelling to for – times like these give me chills of excitement – so rare are uncertain circumstances in the safety net of Canadian/American culture! In a nutshell, I was now fully immersed in the trip at hand, and I was effectively pumped!
And so we flew, our BA flights destined for London’s Heathrow Airport and subsequently Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. A full day of travelling cramped in economy class seats built for frames much smaller than Jared’s, my, and even Eli’s body types. Thankfully, I was treated to an aisle seat for both flights, making my space restrictions slightly more bearable. In flight comedies such as The Other Guys and Dinner for Schmucks also helped ease the strain of travel.
Heathrow Airport was an amazing spectacle: an overwhelmingly immense, and yet architecturally stunning complex, diversely populated with enough people to fill a large city. More importantly however, our Heathrow stopover gave me the opportunity to get to know Jared a little better and get caught up in the life of Eli. And wouldn’t you know it, Fantasy Sports (specifically hockey) would be the topic that produced the most dialogue and would be the first common connection between the three of us (Thanks God, for providing some further justification for my time-consuming addiction!). But obviously our conservation wasn’t entirely restricted to sports and it was great to finally get to know Jared: his motives for coming, his outlook on his future, and his past experiences – the “Inner Jared” so to speak. I also benefited from hearing a face-to-face account of Eli’s happenings. Phone calls, Facebook messages, and emails really never capture communication properly, and now that we had sat down together I felt equipped to be as supportive as possible to him over the course of the trip.
After sleeping through most of the flight from London to Kenya, we touched down in Nairobi on Sunday 9:45 pm local time. Kenya is 8 hours ahead of us, for those of you at home trying to do the math (our stop over was not THAT long). Everything went smoothly at baggage claim, and we were met swiftly by our driver (who by no coincidence was to double as our safari guide for the last 3 days of our trip) and Ken, an associate of the orphanage who graciously agreed to allow us to spend the night before our final flight departed for Kitale the next morning.
My first intake of Africa caught me a bit off guard. Friendly people and smiling faces littered the reception area for arriving passengers. I did not expect this from people living in a developing country like Kenya. The air was warm and refreshing, near perfect, had I not been wearing jeans and a sweater.
We had not taken in too much of the sounds and sights of Nairobi at night before we arrived at Ken’s complex in the city. Ken had an apartment on the top floor. We were able to leave most of our luggage in Moses’ van as he would be picking us up and dropping us off at the airport the next morning. We made our way up and freshened up a bit. Ken’s home was very simple, but cozy. Dinner had been prepared for us, which was a welcomed treat. My first authentic Kenyan meal consisted of rice, noodles, beef sauces, cabbage, and chapatti, a type of fried flatbread resembling pita. After dinner and conversation with Ken, we graciously thanked our hosts (Ken’s wife had made the dinner preparations) and retired for the night. Despite the excitement I felt for tomorrow, my tired state made sleep come easily.
