At the Norkolk
Well, we made it to Kenya. We’re at the Norfolk, ready to crash after a long day.
No photo safaris today, but here are a few pictures anyway:
leaving Europe (Italy)
entering Africa (Libya or Egypt, I’m not sure which)
Megan at the hotel in Nairobi (”nyerumby” as the locals seem to say)
enjoying a drink on the front porch (security guard in the background)
Crossing the Sahara was interesting. Well, actually it was boring: just mile after mile of sand, like crossing an ocean in terms of the monotony of it. And an occasional set of a few vehicle tracks running across the sand, probably on the straight path between two points where people can live. It was clear most of the way, and I saw no signs of permanent habitation any time I looked out. Then it got cloudy and stayed cloudy the rest of the flight, so the next time I saw the ground we were landing in Nairobi.
It’s been raining off and on since we arrived, but I’m hoping that will make for even better photos tomorrow. We’re going to check out the game park then. Everyone here is very friendly and speaks perfect English, so far. Easy place for an American to drop in. And getting a visa at the airport is quick and easy: never get one in advance! Unlike a couple of places I’ve been, the Kenyans seem to understand the importance of making it easy to bring tourist dollars into the country.
Oh, Tom:
- yes, Photoshop for Dummies
- Megan worries you’ve been exposed to to many IDG books, based on that question
Oh, and Thomas … you asked how much time I spend on the personal blog, and I just realized I’ve been so busy (and so far behind on work email) that I never answered. If I had to guess, I’d say about 4-5 hours a week. Some weeks more, some weeks less. And that doesn’t include taking pictures, of course, but that’s a separate hobby, right? 
This entry was posted on Saturday, May 26th, 2007 at 12:12 pm. You can subscribe to comments on this post through its RSS feed.
on May 27, 2007 at 1:36 am Doug wrote:
Hmm, something very strange is going on here. I posted the above text as a comment on the previous post last night, but it never showed up. Then I gave up on that and posted it separately, and that post (above) never showed up.
Then I spent a bunch of time screwing around with various things to try to figure out what was going on, and then suddenly this morning — about 12 hours after I had posted it — this post appeared.
So I’m not sure what’s going on, and having already killed an hour or more on looking at timestamps, caching, cookies, and other details, I’m going to give up on that and forget about it until I get home. I’ll post photos when I can, which may or may not appear eventually, but I don’t want to spend any more of our very limited time here in Africa trying to figure this out.
Moms, we’ve arrived safely, that’s all you need to know.
on May 27, 2007 at 3:03 pm Tom wrote:
I’ve enjoyed a lot of your photos, but I’m really looking forward to these. Not just the touristy stuff, either — I hope you’ll have a chance to get some shots of everyday Nairobi. It’s one of the top three non-U.S. places I want to go before I die, along with Jerusalem and Baghdad. And with those two, I’d likely be going to them RIGHT before I die. At least these days. Have fun — can’t wait to see the pics!
on May 28, 2007 at 1:53 am Doug wrote:
Hey, I’m at the Microsoft office here in Nairobi, and for the first time I can actually see what I’ve posted since arriving here. There is definitely something funky about the wireless connection at the otherwise-cool Norfolk Hotel.
Yes, Tom, we’re going to get some photos of non-tourist stuff. The driver we had on the safari is great; his name’s Isaac, and we’ve arranged Wednesday morning for him to take us around Nairobi on a non-tourist photo safari. He knows exactly what we want, and I’m very excited about the photos we’re likely to get.
on May 29, 2007 at 12:35 pm Michell wrote:
I hope you are enjoying your trip so far and getting to see a lot of non-touristy things too. Also - if you happen to see a tourist group called Overseas Adventure Travel with a bunch of older retired folks, try and find my grandparents among them. They just happen to be on an excursion over there for the next three weeks going all over the place. Anyways, I can’t wait to see the pictures, and enjoy the rest of your trip!
on May 30, 2007 at 8:58 pm tvp wrote:
Be careful over there in Nyerumbi, Doug. Sounds like every net connection is abuzz with odd (hackeresque) behavior.
tvp
on May 31, 2007 at 1:03 pm Doug wrote:
Indeed. That was very weird, and I’m relieved to find my blog still works now.
By the way, it seems Nyerumbi is an accent due to the particular dialect of our friendly driver Isaac, and Nye-robe-ee is the most common pronunciation after all.