The adventure begins

We are now in Nairobi Kenya, killing time before we start to travel down through Africa.

The taxi from the airport made us feel that we were in Africa. With a long road and the wind behind us we managed to make the cars top speed (30 miles per hour). The lack of speed did have its advantages when negotiating the occasional pot hole that took up half the road. I did expect the taxis to be death traps and this was no exception - the wheel was making an awful din and I was informed that the wheel bearing was on its way out (more like gone). The signs that people are hard up were illustrated by the fuel gauge - it was rock bottom but after what seemed like a minute fuel stop was still rock bottom.

We arrived at Miti Mingi guest house out in the Westlands in Nairobi after dark. Security is a concern here - the road up to the guest house was guarded and the guest house also had a guard. We were greeted with a chorus of frogs, a very welcoming owner and a very large comfortable bed.

The next day we met the other guests (a Dutch couple and a French guy) over breakfast. The guest house has an amazing garden, it did not take us long to find one of the patios benches piled high with cushions that just said sit here. The dappled sunlight fed through a tree, the birds sung and blossom occasionally dropped down - utter bliss.

A large butterfly drank from a puddle from the night before - this became my first picture of Africa. I did not stop here bird of paradise plants, water lilies and all kinds of flora and fauna followed.

Eventually hunger drove us to think about getting food. This being Nairobi just nipping out was not an option - you were advised to get a taxi. We headed to the local shopping complex (we are on a budget) to get some food that we could make ourselves. The journey over was interesting the streets were now teaming with people (in stark contrast with the night before). Coming out of the shopping area at 8pm to meet the taxi we noticed that everyone had gone (people do not stay outside after dark). Of course the taxi was late.

The plan for the next day was influenced by not spending money so we hit the patio again. Stories of Chameleons, monkey sighting (the time before) and other things of interest sent me on a garden safari. One Chameleon and lots of snaps later I returned. We are really enjoying the chill before the real adventure starts.