However, seeing a friendly face holding a sign with our names on it not only made us feel welcome in a brand new country, but we very quickly realized that having someone who could navigate us through immigration and passport control was priceless. The whole scene was pretty chaotic and our liaison led us right to baggage claim, dealt with our suitcases for us, helped us cut the line to get our bags scanned in order to leave the airport, then escorted us to our car and introduced us to our driver. We might still be there if it hadn't been for him! We're so grateful the tour company practically insisted on us utilizing this service!
It took about 30 minutes to get from the airport to the J. W. Marriott, which is where we stayed for three nights. When our car pulled up to the hotel, we stopped for a security inspection. All four doors were opened, as was the trunk and the glove box. The car was searched, including under the seats, and a police dog (German Shepherd) did a sweep of the exterior. Once we passed that inspection, the large steel fence was opened to allow the car to enter, and we pulled up in front of the hotel. As we were getting out, the hotel staff took our suitcases from us because they had to be scanned again through a security checkpoint, while we went through a metal detector and were wanded down while our carryons went through a scanner at the entrance to the hotel. I'm not going to lie; it was all a little overwhelming!
When we finally got to the front desk, we checked in and then retrieved our suitcases from the security checkpoint before heading to our room. The hotel is absolutely beautiful and I wish I had taken more pictures! Truthfully, I don't have many pics to share in this post whatsoever! We were exhausted and hungry from a long day of travel, so we ordered room service and then called it a night.
On Monday, we only left the hotel to go right across the street to purchase some snacks and drinks at a small grocery store - and yes, that entailed going through security again when we returned to the hotel even though we were gone for less than 15 minutes. The main reason we didn't do any exploring of the city was that there were anti-government protests taking place that day (which resulted in at least 31 deaths and hundreds arrested) and frankly, it wasn't safe for us to be out roaming about. So we ate at the hotel, relaxed, caught up on some sleep, and enjoyed having some down time to do some travel planning for next summer!
On Tuesday, we were up and in the lobby of the hotel at 5:30 to wait for our private tour guide to take us to Nairobi National Park. That will be a separate post that I'm currently working on and hope to share later today or tomorrow; there are lots of pictures to go through! It was an absolutely incredible day, so stay tuned for that shortly!
On Wednesday, we slept in, then had breakfast at the hotel before packing up. We moved over to the Four Points by Sheraton at the Nairobi Airport, as that was technically where our big safari began, since the stay was arranged for us by the safari company. We arranged to have a car take us from one hotel to the other, and our driver was so great! He chatted with us the whole time and when we told him we'd been to Nairobi National Park the previous day, he was so excited to share all of his knowledge about the animals and the park itself. At one point he proclaimed, "I might be wearing a suit, but I'm a bushman at heart!" We absolutely loved him!
A strange thing did happen on our drive - when we got to the airport, there were many lanes, each with a gate, like you might see at a toll collection point. Our driver pulled the car over the right side of the road and explained that we had to get out and walk through a small building to go through a metal detector. We didn't have to take our bags with us, nor was the car stopped at all as it went through the gate and met us on the other side to pick us up again. Absolutely bizarre!
When we arrived at the hotel, they had the same security procedures in place as the J. W. Marriott, so we sat patiently in the car while it was thoroughly searched by armed officers and a police dog (this time, a Springer Spaniel). Then came the bag scans and the metal detector again. Are you getting the sense that security is a huge deal here? Because it is!
When we finally checked in and got settled, we had a quiet couple of hours before eating dinner in the hotel restaurant and then packing for the safari. Due to the small planes we'll be taking between each of the lodges (we'll be staying at four different locations over the next seven nights), there are baggage restrictions, so we had to pare down what we had with us and take what we'll need in small duffel bags. The safari company will store and secure our suitcases while we're on the safari, which is super convenient!
We got up early this morning to have breakfast at the hotel and then meet our driver in the lobby at 9:30. He drove us from the main airport over to a small regional airport that we'll be departing from.
Now I'm off to continue sorting pics so I can finish my post about Nairobi National Park!
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| the artwork near our hotel room - clearly the Hidden Mickey is a sign |
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| our room was fantastic! |
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| the sign at the Nairobi Airport |
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| since security is very serious here, I didn't want to take many pics, but this is where our car (the black Mercedes on the left) dropped us off to go through metal detectors in the small building on the right |
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| our room wasn't particularly luxurious, but no complaints! |
Now I'm off to continue sorting pics so I can finish my post about Nairobi National Park!
Happy Tails to you!
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