January 6-7th: Nairobi

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to move my legs when I got out of bed this morning. They were sooooooooo stiff. Tom and I had a nice breakfast at our hotel and sauntered over to the Fairview were Dave and Tyler were staying. We decided to try and go to the market after some deliberations regarding the safety of venturing out. This day turned out to be a fiasco for me, as I wore my Merrill's for the 2nd time ever and got 5 blisters due to our longer than expected walk. Our plan was to go through Uhuru Park, but it was closed due to the earlier riots. The perimeter of the park was lined with military personnel. As we got closer to the city market, we stopped to ask directions and a man enthusiastically walked us in the direction. The market was closed, however, so he took us to his shop instead. The shop was small and packed with crafts and goods for sale. There were several people in there showing items to me, even after I said I just wanted to look on my own. There was too much pressure, so I started to cry! We left and took a taxi back to the hotel. The good thing about the day is that my legs did feel better by the end of it.

We woke up on January 7th prepared to leave for Amsterdam. The plan was we were to take a 9:15 a.m. flight out of Nairobi, arrive in Amsterdam at about 4:00 p.m., stay overnight there, and then fly to the U.S. the morning of the 8th. We had a quick breakfast and headed out. At the airport Tom realized he didn't have his passport and thought it may have fallen out of his pocket when he paid for the taxi. So we called the hotel, since our taxi was contracted with them, and waited. Time was ticking with no new information, so I boarded the flight with all our luggage, and Tom stayed behind. He never heard from the hotel and took a taxi to the police station. When he explained the situation to the taxi driver on the way over the driver said that he knew some of the taxi drivers connected to the Fairview and that he'd be happy to call around. Well, while Tom filled out and submitted his police report for a lost passport the taxi driver got a hold of the driver from earlier in the morning and low and behold, he looked, and found the passport! So he dropped it off at the hotel, where Tom returned to hang out with Dave and Tyler. All three left for the airport later that day and Tom managed to get on the 11:15 p.m. flight that night with the Wicklands. The flight arrived into Amsterdam on the 8th, early enough that he was able to meet me for the 2nd leg of our journey back to the U.S.

While this was going on, I arrived in Amsterdam without problems and made my way to the historic American Hotel in downtown. I left all our big luggage in an airport locker and took an overnight bag of my essentials with me. When I arrived at the hotel a fax was waiting for me from Tom, informing me of his found passport and attempt to take the later flight out. Hopefully I would see him in the morning. I enjoyed a tasty steak dinner that night with my own company. It was a wonderful time to look out over the streets of Amsterdam and reminisce about a wonderful trip to Africa.