Africa Great Migration, Ireland, England 2019: 4 - London to Nairobi

Friday, July 12, 2019

We had arranged for a taxi at a discount rate of 80 pounds to get Marilynn and I to the airport, and were up at 3:30 am to get ready to go. The taxi was on time, traffic was light, but disaster loomed ahead. We went to check in at Swiss Air International and found that our flight would leave at 6 AM, instead 7 as I thought. There was still 45 minutes before departure, but the agent was a miserable, surely ogre who I'm certain had his happiest moments when he could cause problems for others. We have made it many times to connecting flights in less time than that, no checked baggage and were in business class – other agents we spoke with could not believe he made no effort.

He got the first smile on his face, with no humour in it, to happily inform us he was putting us down as a "no show", that the tickets were non-refundable or changeable, and that our return flights would also be cancelled. He suggested we take it up with the Swiss ticket office, which we did. She confirmed that he cancelled our tickets and that our only option was to purchase new flights. The next Swiss flight was at 6;30 pm, but BA had a non-stop flight at 10:30, the flight Pat was on.

We walked to the BA ticket office, and what a different in attitude. We explained the situation, but the last two seats in business class was 13,000 pounds one way. She then came up with an idea – they had a promotion on upgrades, so she phoned someone in charge but was told she couldn't do it on a just purchased economy ticket. She sent the fellow scurrying for higher authority, and after a spirited battle got an OK. She kept him on the phone while she processed and printed the ticket and credit card payment to make sure all was OK. It cost us 3,519 pounds for both of us – a huge relief. We were back on schedule.

The next call was to Expedia. The agent contacted Swiss Air while we were on the line, who explained that in the case of a no show all following tickets are cancelled and have to be repurchased. He told them it was not a no show, but a late show, the attitude of the Swill Air clerk and that with cooperation we would have made the flight. That call was moved up the ladder at the Swiss Air office until finally they agreed to reissue our tickets for a fee of $800 US. When I agreed, the Expedia agent passed me directly to Swiss Air who arranged the credit card payment and ticket issue. We received them shortly by email.

It was a pretty frazzled couple of people who staggered into the BA lounge for breakfast, where I substituted two large Scotch whiskys for my orange juice. We met up with Pat in the lounge and gradually started to unwind a little. The flight was on time, and comfortable on the Boeing 747, with good on board service. We both got some sleep on the flat beds.

The arrival in Nairobi could have been improved. Had the Kenya embassy web site functioned and issued us our visas that they charged our credit cards for, the process would be quick and easy, but we had to stand in a mass of people where we estimated about 2 hours wait. My leg was giving out so I sat in the chair behind an unoccupied desk until an immigration officer came along. I explained my problem, and the problem with the prepaid visas and he took the 3 of us to a very short line where a happy, smiling agent stamped visas into our passports.

Inquiries about a taxi led to an introduction to another airport employee who knew a someone who ran taxis out of the airport. He soon had us to the curb, introduced us to our driver, Phillip, and asked for $30 in advance paid to him. I had a twinge of suspicion at that, but paid anyhow. It worked out exactly as promised, no additional money was due. Phillip was a delightful person and a good driver, so we hired him for a day tour at 10 the next morning.

The Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel was fabulous, with people running around making a fuss of us. The luggage disappeared to the room and were escorted to the bar where we had a night cap before collapsing into bed.

Saturday, July 13, 2019

The included breakfast buffet was excellent, my computer started working again, and Phillip was right on time – the world was unfolding as it should. Our first destination was the baby elephant rehabilitation centre, where orphaned elephants are raised before being release into the wild. They have a large tract of land, and the elephants coming for the feeding show is voluntary – they only come if they want to. Feeding is by giant baby bottles and branches from trees. All were covered with the brown dust of the soil here, which works as sun block for them

Next stop was also for rehabilitation, but for giraffes. Small bags of food were handed out to visitors, who would then climb to a raised balcony at the right height for giraffes to be fed.

We went into town where we ascended to the top of the tallest building where there is a viewing platform. Security is tight everywhere, there were metal detectors and purse of backpack inspections in most buildings. We drove pasted the shopping mall where Somali terrorists killed 78 people, mostly children, in protest again Nairobi participation in the peacekeeping force in Somalia. There was a pitched battle for four days before the security forces managed to dislodge them.

The rest of the day was a city tour, and we learned a lot about school, medical care and life in general for Kenyans.- Philip turned out to be knowledgeable on many subjects. Once back at the hotel we had a drink, and I went to the room for a short siesta and to get some work done.

Dinner was in the hotel Lebanese restaurant, where the food was good and it came with a lovely belly dancer.

Tomorrow we will be picked up by Philip at 6 AM to get to the airport for our 8:30 flight to Kilimanjaro. We expect to meet up with grandson Esteban at 6:45 when his plane will arrive after flights from San Jose via Panama and Amsterdam. We got a quick email from him tonight saying he made good use of his 9 hour layover to explore Amsterdam, his first European city.