Arrivals

Somewhere over the North Sea . . .
This was my first time flying with Turkish Airlines and I'm very impressed. Friendly people, tasty food beautifully presented, and individual consoles with your choice of at least 100 movie offerings. The 777 is packed, and seating is tight, but no more than on most other airlines.

Sleep never comes easily to me when I'm flying. Six hours into the 9-hour New York to Istanbul leg, and I've had a few 20-minute power naps. I see a few of my fellow sardines playing games or watching movies on their individual entertainment consoles, but most appear to be sound asleep. The final leg - Istanbul to Nairobi - speeds by with the help of "We Bought a Zoo" and "Ratatouille."

We arrive in Nairobi at 2:45 AM, and those of us needing visas patiently wait to pay our $50 and have our pictures taken and fingerprints scanned. I find my bags - once again thankful for airport luggage carts - and assure the customs officer that my intentions are honorable and that I have no contraband and nothing of real value to declare. Then out to face the mob of drivers - "where do you want to go? I can take you." "You need a taxi?" "You want to go on safari?" Each is disappointed to hear that I do not want to make safari plans, and already have arranged for a ride.

Once at the guest house I unpack, make a few calls, organize my belongings, and sleep soundly from 10 to noon. Showering is . . . an experience. There seem to be 3 temperature options - scalding, cold, and frigid. The trick is to dart under the showerhead during each 15 second transition phase.

Lunch is huge. They've remembered that I like simple country food, and give me the football player's mega platter.

I had hoped to email and write some blog posts this afternoon, but the guest house's Internet is down, so I'll have to go the the Nakumatt, a 24-hour megastore with nearly all the goods and services you'll ever need. It's a short walk (15 minutes or so) and this is a safe neighborhood.

It's 3:30 by the time I've made my phone calls, and compiled my Nakumatt list (ATM, Internet, bus ticket to Mombasa, crackers, lotion, books for the long bus rides to come), and . . here comes the rain . . . heavy rain. . . hours of rain.

I'm happy for Kenya. The rains have been minimal or absent the past few years in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, leading to widespread loss of livestock, food shortages with staggering price increases, starvation, and death. Although lots of rain now is good for Kenya, a chronically inefficient food distribution system all but guarantees there will be shortages again come December.

Airport Thoughts

Packing - You'd think after all these years I'd finally have it all figured out.

I've been frustrated in the past with the amount of potential storage I lose because my suitcases weigh so much empty. So, this year I opted for all lightweight bags, to save as much space as possible for the contents. I don't pack much for myself, and all my clothes have to pass my stringent weight and drying requirements, but I do take a lot of materials and supplies.

I have no AAC low- or mid-tech devices with me this year. It's all no tech - but not necessarily lightweight. There are pictures, mini picture albums, books, Velcro, rolls of clear tape and stiff backing for making communication supports; For the OT in Mumias - splinting material (many thanks to Bill Schuele, our Patterson Medical rep), foam tubing, and other odds and ends an OT might find useful, as well as pants and shirts for some of the children who come to the EARC (Educational Assessment Resource Center)barely clothed; and for the jump rope program in Kibera - shoes, socks, shorts and ropes.

So I packed and repacked multiple times, debating, discarding, replacing, each time closer to that magical 23 kg (about 50 lb) limit.

Really lightweight, though, pretty much eliminates rolling wheels and telescoping handles, and certainly my nearly 9 pound carry-on case. I replaced the carry-on with my 20-ounce ultralight backpacking pack. No problem, I thought - I can carry the pack, plus a straw bag and accordion envelope for my papers and iPad.I could always pay someone to carry the larger bags. Anyway, luggage carts are everywhere, right?

Not everywhere. Not, for example, in the 3rd lane of the outer drive at JFK airport, which is where the LaGuardia/JFK Shuttle driver deposited me and my luggage. Miraculously, there was an escaped terminal cart waiting for me on the sidewalk separating the inner lanes of traffic from the outer lanes, and traffic kindly waited while I slowly maneuvered the 2 large suitcases, backpack, "purse" and accordion envelope.

If things go as planned, I'll be leaving one of those suitcases behind. I need a bigger one.

It Begins Again

This is the 2012 edition of my East African travel blog. It's a way for my family and friends to keep track of me and be assured of my safety.

My plans have changed many times in the last couple of months - a lot of things are fluid in Africa until you're actually on the ground.

This is what I'm hoping to do:
- Start out with a day or two in Nairobi to get re-oriented, make calls and firm up plans;
- Spend a few days in Mombasa visiting with some of the people who attended the AAC training last year;
- Return to Nairobi for a few days to visit with a friend who is involved helping kids with disabilities get services; with several of the SLPs in Nairobi; and, of course, attending one or more practices of the Paka Skippers, the jump rope team that has grown out of the program might established in the slums of Kibera in 2010.
- travel to western Kenya to spend 10-12 days with staff at two of the EARCs (Educational Assessment Resource Center)

I need more time!!!

P.S. This is the first I've been able to access the Internet since I left on Saturday. If Blogspot will let me, I'm going to try to change the dates on these catch up posts.