I was greeted at the hotel in Nairobi by Irene, a beautiful African girl with beautifully braided hair. Probably because I looked like someone had swatted me across the face with a wet mop several times, she took an interest in who I was and where I had been. She has rung me every day since, to see how I am and make sure I have everything I need.
My room is typical of this type of hotel. A great facade with a very welcoming entrance, bar etc but the rooms are down-at-heel and ordinary. Water in the bathroom, over the years, has lifted the lino all over - God only knows what lives under it - I certainly am not going to look! There are two double beds strapped together giving a king sized bed as the result. I have to say it looked sooooo inviting but I found that I was more comfortable in my tent, with a thick ground mat and my skinny inflatable mattress. I lifted the sheets to make sure I wasn't sleeping directly on an ill-padded board, but no, it was a mattress. However I do have a balcony overlooking a glorious garden and this spot is just perfect to drape all my washing to dry over the next two days. I brought soap powder, Sunlight soap and a scrubbing brush with me! It only took the handyman one hour to find a plug to fit the bath. My disgusting Kili clothes were standing on their own so I marched them straight into the bathtub. Check out the colour of the water after washing two pair of trousers - strangely they didn't smell! I am thankful of that at least. My poor knuckles have tiny blood blisters where I have rubbed and scrubbed all my clothes but at least everything is clean again.

It has taken two days for my aching muscles to get back to normal. I have been walking up and down the 70 stairs from my room to the ground floor, instead of taking the lift. I started doing this to keep my muscles active but in reality I think that lift just scares the hell out of me. The dreadful groaning and moaning and straining sounds of pulleys and mechanics trying to get the damned thing moving, sounds like a herd of hippos in their death throes or what I believe it would sound like. The noise reverberates throughout the lift well and extends beyond! As there is only one lift, I shall continue to take the stairs for the sake of my health!

My muscles may be mended but my face isn't! Who is that looking back at me in the mirror? My nose has peeled completely, little sheets of brown paper which was originally my skin. My swelling is going down but my lips are still puffy and blistered. I sincerely hope by Saturday that I will be back to my normal gorgeous self. It is on Saturday that I meet the other members of my next tour and I sure as heck don't want them to think I am the monster from the Black Lagoon. Hahaha - I crack me up! I have lost weight though, wonder if it will stay off!

The screw came out of my reading glasses, my power adaptor stopped working so it was time to get these things sorted. I was half blind without my glasses and couldn't blow dry my hair, recharge my iPad or camera batteries. Out the staff entrance gate, turn left and just keep walking into town.