This wasn't a fun day, it was all traveling. I left Cairo last night and arrived in Nairobi, Kenya at about 4am. Since I've been reviewing airports, I'll start with those:
I was mildly concerned when I first got to Cairo's airport and didn't see the ticket counters, only some services and the security checkpoints. Turns out, the ticket counters are on the other side of the checkpoint, and the checkpoins barely checks anything: Just a metal detector and bags go through the machine. No disrobing, etc. Terminal 3 is large, clean, has cafes and shops, and has plenty of seating, but didn't look like it would be a nice place to sleep if one needed to sleep there. Later, at the gate we went through the real security check, but it too was pretty simple. Metal detector, and bags go through a scanner. But the only extra step was I had to take my laptop out of my bag. No patdown, questions or bag search. No one else (that I saw) got those either. I can't speak for the other terminals at Cairo's airport, but Terminal 3 was pretty nice.
Nairobi's airport on the other hand is kind of a dump. Dark, grim and crowded. They have a decent little coffee shop, though, and the bathrooms were all very clean. But I think one of them was full of hookers. Either that, or many of the local women dress like hoochie mamas at 6 in the morning, and hang out in the airport bathroom. Sorry, no pics.
Nairobi's airport is not conducive to sleeping, and I might not have been able to even with a comfy place to sleep, because I get too paranoid about sleeping through things. I'd stolen a pillow from my last flight, though, and this is what I looked like at 6am this morning:
Finding my 8am bus was easy because someone from the company walks around the meet-up point with a sign. The bus wasn't too crowded either; I had two seats to myself. It was hardly the "luxury" advertised on the website, but it was serviceable. The roads between Nairobi and Arusha, Tanzania on the other hand....! Let's just say, a girl shouldn't have to wear a sports bra just to ride a bus! Given the number of tourists who take this route to get to Tanzania (fly to Nairobi, bus to Arusha), you think they'd be in better shape.
I didn't have a hotel booked in Arusha, but I did have two hotels in mind (and both are near other hotels in case they were full). So I was expecting the bus stop to be similar to those in Ghana: You get out, find a cab, and ask the driver to take you somewhere. But here, a large crowd of drivers & tourism guides wait for you, then they pounce! If they had been aggressive it would have been annoying and intimidating. But it felt like they were all vying for my attention, pushing each other out of the way, saying "no no, pick me instead" or "he doesn't know where he's going" etc. Imagine a sitcom. It was kind of amusing, and reminded me of watching the trading floors on the future exchanges. But they were bidding on me.
I picked the guy I liked best (it helped that he mentioned the name of my first choice hotel), and on the way to the ATM and hotel he and his driver made their pitch to pick their safari services. I don't know if I'll use them, but I'm auditioning them tomorrow; they'll be taking me on a tour of the Arusha area. If they do a good job, I'll probably hire them. If not, I'll shop around a little.
My hotel is very nice, a definite oasis, very lush and quiet. I suspect this is another hotel that was designed by Europeans to look "african." Well, it's a lot nicer than the one in Accra, that's for sure. And at $50/night, it feels like a splurge, but that's mostly because I grew accustomed to $22/night in Ghana and $37/night in Egypt.
This is also the first place I've gotten a hot shower. I didn't need one in Ghana, but would have liked one in Cairo. The one downside of the old Cairo hotel was the old plumbing, and the barely luke warm water. I wound up taking a hokey-pokey shower there, where I try to stay as dry (and warm) as possible by only washing one body part at a time. You know, I put my left arm in, I pull my left arm out... So the hot shower here and the three hour nap felt like blessings.
I'm surprised at how chilly it is here tonight; it's comfortably cool sitting outside at 10pm typing this, but I'll have to close my windows overnight. Being so close to the equator, I expected non-stop heat. I'm at 3 degrees south, if you're wondering.
[Next day: I managed to write that all last night but forgot to post it. Or I was too exhausted, I can't even remember, which is a sign of how tired I was.]
I was mildly concerned when I first got to Cairo's airport and didn't see the ticket counters, only some services and the security checkpoints. Turns out, the ticket counters are on the other side of the checkpoint, and the checkpoins barely checks anything: Just a metal detector and bags go through the machine. No disrobing, etc. Terminal 3 is large, clean, has cafes and shops, and has plenty of seating, but didn't look like it would be a nice place to sleep if one needed to sleep there. Later, at the gate we went through the real security check, but it too was pretty simple. Metal detector, and bags go through a scanner. But the only extra step was I had to take my laptop out of my bag. No patdown, questions or bag search. No one else (that I saw) got those either. I can't speak for the other terminals at Cairo's airport, but Terminal 3 was pretty nice.
Nairobi's airport on the other hand is kind of a dump. Dark, grim and crowded. They have a decent little coffee shop, though, and the bathrooms were all very clean. But I think one of them was full of hookers. Either that, or many of the local women dress like hoochie mamas at 6 in the morning, and hang out in the airport bathroom. Sorry, no pics.
Nairobi's airport is not conducive to sleeping, and I might not have been able to even with a comfy place to sleep, because I get too paranoid about sleeping through things. I'd stolen a pillow from my last flight, though, and this is what I looked like at 6am this morning:
I didn't have a hotel booked in Arusha, but I did have two hotels in mind (and both are near other hotels in case they were full). So I was expecting the bus stop to be similar to those in Ghana: You get out, find a cab, and ask the driver to take you somewhere. But here, a large crowd of drivers & tourism guides wait for you, then they pounce! If they had been aggressive it would have been annoying and intimidating. But it felt like they were all vying for my attention, pushing each other out of the way, saying "no no, pick me instead" or "he doesn't know where he's going" etc. Imagine a sitcom. It was kind of amusing, and reminded me of watching the trading floors on the future exchanges. But they were bidding on me.
I picked the guy I liked best (it helped that he mentioned the name of my first choice hotel), and on the way to the ATM and hotel he and his driver made their pitch to pick their safari services. I don't know if I'll use them, but I'm auditioning them tomorrow; they'll be taking me on a tour of the Arusha area. If they do a good job, I'll probably hire them. If not, I'll shop around a little.
My hotel is very nice, a definite oasis, very lush and quiet. I suspect this is another hotel that was designed by Europeans to look "african." Well, it's a lot nicer than the one in Accra, that's for sure. And at $50/night, it feels like a splurge, but that's mostly because I grew accustomed to $22/night in Ghana and $37/night in Egypt.
I'm surprised at how chilly it is here tonight; it's comfortably cool sitting outside at 10pm typing this, but I'll have to close my windows overnight. Being so close to the equator, I expected non-stop heat. I'm at 3 degrees south, if you're wondering.
[Next day: I managed to write that all last night but forgot to post it. Or I was too exhausted, I can't even remember, which is a sign of how tired I was.]
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