The 1999 Big Trip: Africa

Part 2: Egypt

 

I was (mildly) lucky. Since I booked early enough, I was seated in the front of the plane, where apparently the coach seats were 1 inch wider than the rear. I also got off ahead of most people. We were 5 minutes early, but getting off early was a big advantage, as it seemed to take forever for the immigration officials to approve each entry. Not that unexpected, really, since it was 1 in the morning.

Anyway, I wasn't out of the airport until about 2:30, and arrived at the hotel at 3AM. I was able to find a working ATM at the Cairo airport while waiting for my luggage. I got a bunch of Egyptian pounds, all in 50 pound notes. That's about $16 (US) or Ten pounds. I didn't think much about it at the time, but I later learned that this is a phenomenally large amount of money, and vendors claimed not to have change.

Would you believe it, but my schedule for the next day had me catching a 6AM flight to Abu Simbel? That required a 5AM pickup from the hotel. The Heliopolis Sheraton is (probably) a nice hotel, based on my 120 minute stay. It was enough time to take a hot shower and try to make myself awake for the day's activities.

Anyway, I was back at Cairo airport for check-in for my flight to Abu Simbel at 5:15 AM. What I wrote in my journal is sadly ironic in light of events five weeks later: "This airline (Egypt Air) does not inspire confidence." Check-in was a zoo. Sure, you walked through metal detectors, and your luggage was x-rayed, but I saw no one looking at the x-ray machine, and I was not stopped after triggering the metal detectors. There was no queue to get seats, more of a mob to the counter.

I ended up assigned seat 41-H. I hate window seats, fortunately, someone was willing to change, but still, I was in the back of the plane. It didn't look like it had been cleaned for a few years. Food service? Nope. Water and tea.

Trips to Abu Simbel are essentially half-day trips by air from Aswan. Our plane flew to Aswan, where about 2/3rds of the people got off, and some people boarded. Then, we flew down the Nile almost to the border with Sudan to Abu Simbel airport. We arrived at about 9AM, transfered to busses, and made our way there.

Abu Simbel Click to enlarge

Finally, I'm seeing something I came to see. Abu Simbel is a pair of temples, one to Ramses and the other to Nefertiti, which was originally built on the banks of the Nile. The story here is fascinating. As a result of the building of the Aswan High Dam (there are actually two dams at Aswan -- more on that later), the flooding of Lake Nassar would have inundated the temples. So, UNESCO helped move the temples to higher ground. Each temple was cut into rather heavy blocks, then moved up into an artificial mountain. Abu Simbel faces in the same direction as always, so that on two days of the year, precisely at sunrise, the interior ante chamber is illuminated.

Abu Simbel Click to enlarge

Ramses temple was the first, you climb around the mountain and there it is. Four large statues of Ramses facing east, and several statues of Horus. Very awe inspiring. Inside, the temple is filled with carvings and paintings of the exploits of Ramses II and his kith and kin. Inside the temple, though, it was quite stuffy and warm. Hard to believe, but it was cooler outside in the sun. There was a bit of a breeze.

Roof paintings	Ramses at War
Honoring the Gods	Duke was here!

Click any to enlarge

Next stop was the temple of Nefertiti. Nefertiti was the world's first super model... She was also the wife of Ramses II, and may have been the wife of the Pharoah who raised Moses. Her temple was smaller, but no less impressive. The Horuses (is that a word?) here were not Duke fans, or not as willing to display their loyalty.

Around 11:30, we headed back to the busses to catch the flight back to Aswan. Here, I parted from some English-speaking folks I had met at Abu Simbel, and was driven to my boat at the Aswan harbor. There, I had lunch. It was allegedly veal escalope, with french fries. I'd note that normally, french fries are not cold cut potatoes coated with oil, but, hey, that's just me. The veal was decidedly tepid. The rest of the afternoon was "at leisure," so I spent it looking for some cheap water and post cards. I paid LE 10 in the boat for a 1.5 liter bottle of water, and they were LE 2 outside. Yeesh.

This was to come back and haunt me, sort of.

I also met up with several of my fellow travelers. There were two gentleman from Washington, DC (Mandy and Don, if I remember correctly.), three ladies from France, and four ex-pats, three women and one man, from Saudi Arabia. As it would turn out, I spent much of my time with the last four.

Late afternoon, we our cruise briefing, where we met our guide, Haggag. He preferred that we call him "Horus." We also had a felluca ride. A felluca is just a single sailed sail-boat, that are often seen on the Nile. We all crowded into one, and went on a circle of Elephantine Island. I should have brought my bird lens with me, as there were egrets and herons on the islands.

Dinner on the boat was beef wellington. It was uninspired.

After dinner, I went to the markets with Clementine and her friends. She negotiated a good deal for me, 100 grams of saffron for LE 2, and powdered saffron for LE 3. Good stuff, too, since I've used it at home. One merchant assumed the three women were my wives, which was a bit flattering. To bring me back down to earth, another addressed me as "grandfather."

I slept very thoroughly that night, and actually was awakened by a 7:15 AM wake-up call. Considering that I had essentially been on the go for 40 hours before I went to bed, that's no surprise.

A hawk at Aswan Dam

My second day featured first a trip to the Aswan Dam. In actuality, there are two dams at Aswan. The first was built by the British in the late 19th century. While it helped, it did not adequately control the seasonal flooding of the Nile, so the Egyptians worked with the Soviet Union to build the Aswan High Dam. Both are easy to reach, and are within sight of each other. It was on the bus to Aswan that I started to get to know the folks from Saudi Arabia; we all sat near the back of the bus and shared some discomfort with the tour guide. Our discomfort was not initially as great as the French girls, who opted to switch to the Spanish speaking guide because of the sexism of our guide. Or, perhaps we just didn't speak Spanish.

At the High Dam, we had a short talk about the cooperation between the Soviet Union and Egypt in building the dam, and then how the Egyptians kicked out the Soviet Union in 1970. That wasn't the exciting part to me; I saw three raptors soaring over the dam! I think they were common buzzards (Buteo buteo) but I don't have an Egyptian raptor book to be certain. Still, while others were looking at the dam (or the attractive Italian woman) I was chasing after the hawks. Must have been thirty pictures. (Of the hawks.)

The dam was both impressive, and mildly disappointing. We just spent our time on the top, so we did not really see the workings of the dam. While I suspect the engineering was impressive, the only real impression of the dam I had was of a block of concrete. In that sense, the British accomplishment, though of a smaller scale, was more impressive.

Phillae Temple

After the dam, we went to Phillae Temple. The original temple was to be inundated by a dam, so they moved it to a new island and rebuilt the island to match the older Phillae Island. Yes, everything in Egypt has moved... Or may need to be moved.

Access to the temple was by boat. Phillae Temple is a temple to Isis. Lots of hieroglyphs. One of the statues here also liked Duke basketball... Rather than stick with the large group tour, I went off exploring on my own. Maybe I could have learned a little more about the temple, but I'm not a crowd person. Instead, I wandered around the ante chambers, and ventured outside, where there was a wealth of bird life. Lots of sparrows, swifts, and swallows. The decay of the temple has provided the birds perfect places to nest, and in the insects that follow mammals provides a ready food supply.

We were told we'd have two hours to explore the temple and the island, but the guide cut us short after 75 minutes. Granted, I'd seen the temple in that time, but I really was enjoying the fresh air and was soaking in the whole environment. I was a bit bothered that we were leaving early.

Duke was here, too	Some carvings
A heron	Carvings up the wall

The bother, for me, and for many others, turned to anger when it turned out we were cut short for the opportunity to visit a perfume factory. For "visit" read "get a brief lecture and a sales pitch." The room was warm, and they did not offer anything to drink that was not sugary. I had had enough of the factory visits when I was in Beijing, I was here to see ancient Egypt, not to be a walking wallet.

It was interesting to watch the breakdown among the people; the older people tended to be a bit more forgiving about the wasted time. The younger people were impatient. One of the people there who worked as a travel agent had the attitude that this is part of the tours in foreign countries, and that one just needs to bear with it. My attitude was simple: It shouldn't be sprung on us (no mention of the visit was made when we left the ship) and it should be optional.

My new friends from Saudi Arabia shared my views. Mark is a rugby player, they had taken the trip out to Egypt for some rugby, and decided to spend the time between matches on the Nile cruise. After Egypt, they were headed for the Persian Gulf for more games. Mark's English. Gill is a nurse, originally from Ireland, who is Mark's SO. Also traveling with them were Hanna, a Swedish nurse, and Sheila, another Irish nurse. And, for part of the time, James, a Californian software geek.

After the factory, we stopped by a quarry where they had an unfinished obelisk. We only stopped here for 15 minutes, and walked around the stone. We ended up back at the ship at 1:15, and had roast chicken at the second lunch seating.

While we were eating, the boat started the cruise down the Nile. We spend about three hours cruising north until we reached Kom Ombo. During the cruise, I sat on the sun deck with my friends as we cruised. I tended to stay near the shade, since I feared sunburn, they were all sun bathing...

The temple of Kom Ombo

Kom Ombo is a temple to the crocodile god. Probably in worse shape than the others we visited, it was still an interesting site. Some of the painting survived fairly well, and the blues on the ceilings were nice.

On the walk from the dock, we passed an Egyptian boy with a cobra, who was willing to let people take pictures, for some baksheesh. Baksheesh is a custom in Egypt that is fairly close to tipping. Unfortunately, it has become almost extortionate. It is a difficult feeling to reconcile, between the income disparities and the feeling of being cheated. This was a common experience in Africa for me. Anyway, with respect to the cobra, we felt we could be sure until we saw it bite someone.

The Crocodile

On the way back to the boat, we had an amusing experience. I was offered 6,000,000 camels for my "daughters." (Gill, Hanna, and Sheila) While it was tempting, I was not certain what I would do with the camels, in particular, how would I get them past US customs, since there is a prohibition against unlicensed import of livestock. Also, since I still had a lot of my trip left, taking the camels on flights to Kenya, Madagascar, and Seychelles would have been difficult, too. I had to decline the offer.

Sunset on the Nile

Dinner that night was an Egyptian buffet. The lamb kebob was decent, and the deserts were very sweet. We seem to have annoyed the staff by coming to the second sitting instead of the first. Honest, after the late lunch, and early dinner did not seem right. I guess we were supposed to eat when they told us to eat.

It was at dinner that I also found out I had not been booked for the tour of the West Bank at Luxor. This was of some concern, since I had paid for this.

After the dinner, the boat continued north to Edfu. Some of us went up on deck after dinner for the night air, and watched as the boat was tied off at the dock. We got to see a wedding party on shore, and discussed a visit to the night market. I was too tired, I don't recall if anyone else went.

While this was going on, there was a costume party for those who were interested. Not being the costume party type, I didn't attend. None of my friends on the boat did, either. I am very glad I didn't.

I later learned a bit about the "skit" at the costume party. In it, the women were supposed to belly-dance to excite the Pharoah, who was apparently having, er, problems. The Australians who were there walked out. A question: Would the Moslems on the crew of the ship allowed their wives and daughters to have acted that way?

Having a clear conscience, I slept like a log.

The next morning, before heading out, I placed a couple calls to Cairo to the local travel agent handling my trip. They were a bit surprised that I was not booked to the West Bank, and immediately set about correcting that.

Edfu

My third day in Egypt was marked by a visit to the temple at Edfu to Horus, the falcon god. We went by a horse and carriage to the temple, five of us squeezed into a carriage for four. I felt for the horses, they looked a bit gaunt and were whipped regularly. I did not feel the need to race through Edfu, I wouldn't mind a slightly slower pace and an opportunity to soak in the town.

The Falcon

The Temple to Horus in Edfu is approached from the rear. After getting our tickets, we walked alongside the outer wall, until we rounded the front courtyard and could see the massive face of the temple. It was bigger than the front of Abu Simbel and truly dwarfed Phillae. The courtyard was about an acre in size, and while standing there, I thought I saw a live falcon.

The Vulture

This temple is the "newest" of all the temples in Egypt, and consequently was a bit different. It was also very well preserved. Inside there were ornate columns, and ante chambers. It was almost what one would have expected of a Greek temple.

Inside was a large courtyard, too. While sitting in the courtyard, I saw the falcon again. It was a Eurasian kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) I think, and was being harassed by a crow of some nature. I managed to take a lot of pictures of it. Also, as Gill, Sheila, Hanna, and Mark came out of the temple, I pointed out the kestrel to them (and others).

Together

It is hard to describe the joy I felt watching the falcon soar. Where else would be a perfect location for a falcon than at the temple to the falcon god?

We also went exploring around the grounds and looked at a supporting building for the temple. Hanna challenged authority here by starting to go where we were not allowed. A short argument ensued. Sheila said to me, "Hanna's like that." (Or words to that effect.)

After doing our exploring, we took the carriage back to the boat, and I was allowed to drive for a bit. Less whipping for the horse, which was a good thing. And I didn't get any speeding tickets, either.

It was near lunch time when we got back. The meal was an unmemorable fish. Had it been a meat, I fear it might have been one of those horses...

In the afternoon, we were to sail from Edfu to Luxor, no other activities were planned with temples. So, we planned to sun ourselves on the boat as we sailed.

Things were not well. Gill had an ear infection that was starting to act up, and Mark wasn't feeling too well, either. During the afternoon, Hanna also developed cramps. Much of the time was just Sheila and me on the deck. She's a wicked woman, she even convinced me to take off my shoes AND socks. We spoke about life in Saudi Arabia, which isn't as bad as I had expected, but at the same time a lot more restrictive than I'd like. It was interesting comparing different living experiences. Someday, I might like to visit there.

All afternoon was spent cruising. At one point, we passed through a lock on the Nile, this took an hour, as there were some boats ahead of us. The actual navigation through the lock was maybe twenty minutes, but it was a very interesting experience.

Near the end of the day, we pulled up and docked in Luxor. There was a short cocktail reception in the lounge, followed by dinner. Hanna was mobile at dinner, but not hungry. Gill's ear infection saw her visited by the ship's doctor and a specialist from Luxor hospital. Mark didn't show for dinner. We also had travel agent interruptions (my West Bank travel was confirmed; because of Gill's ear, Gill and Mark opted to change from a flight to Cairo to taking the train...) Dinner was an Italian buffet.

It was after dinner that I received a rather rude shock: When I asked for the bill for my water, I was told that I was in the "deluxe suite" and that I was supposed to have my water covered. Well... The first day at lunch, I was billed LE 4.90 for a bottle of water. This seemed like a lot to me, so that afternoon, when I did my walking, I bought several bottles of water at LE 2 per bottle. I had bought enough to last until that dinner.

The deluxe suite was supposed to get bottled water, a glass of mineral water (soda) with each meal, and a glass of wine with each meal. I had never been informed of this...

I was upset, to say the least, but Hanna was irate. (I really like Hanna's spirit!) While it may have been a simple oversight, I would not have minded not having to worry about the water and drinks. Hanna argued us into getting a bottle of wine, two glasses of soda, and a final bottle of water. (Next startup, I want Hanna to handle the negotiations. We could go into a deal trying to sell Intel our product, and end up with Intel signing their company over to us. Well, maybe not...) The sodas were all coca cola, no diet coke, so I probably would not have taken advantage of that myself, but I'd have happily shared. Similarly for the bottle of wine. "Cru de Ptolemy."

They wanted to see what a deluxe suite was... I figured my room, the size of a decent hotel room, was the norm. It wasn't. It was three times the size of a normal room. Even the other suites were smaller.

We took the wine to the sun deck and drank some of it. It was a very sweet white wine, like a German dessert wine. Not my style, I left the bottle with Gill. And so, to bed.

At this stage, I'll bet you were wondering... Did I go to bed alone?

Don't think I didn't think about it. I'll admit I chickened out. I wasn't really prepared for either a yes or a no answer, and with people getting sick, I never really got an opportunity. Maybe Sheila was expecting it, or maybe not. I don't know. On the other hand, she didn't make a pass at me, nor did she arrange for the two of us to be alone so I could make a pass at her.

So, I slept alone.

The next morning was our last day on the Nile. Hanna and Mark were both feeling a bit better at breakfast. On the other hand, I had a mild case of the trots at 4AM, which I handled with imodium. The morning visits were to Karnak and Luxor.

The visit to Luxor Temple had my mother concerned. It was about two or three years previous that a terrorist attack at Luxor had killed over 40 people. I guess my mother figured they would come back when I was there.

The Rams Club in Karnak

We took a bus to Karnak, and then went exploring. Karnak is huge, and old. A lot of statues and columns. However, when compared to some of the other temples we had seen, I was mildly disappointed. (Although I did find another Duke fan.) There was also a lot of scaffolding cranes, and other construction equipment. Parts of the temple had been patched with cement, which just looked tacky.

DBR visits History

This didn't mean there wasn't a lot to see and explore. Easily, this was the biggest temple where one could get lost. There was a hallway filled with columns, and the chambers stretched back about a half mile, or so it seemed. Lots of obelisks, too.

We had to be back for the bus at 10PM. However, we had lost the bus and ended up waiting for 30 minutes before going over to Luxor.

The approach to Luxor Temple

Luxor was a bit more impressive. Instead of entering the temple, Sheila and I walked down a long walkway flanked with sphinx statues. On turning around, we had a magnificent view of the approach to Luxor.

Luxor Temple

We then walked back and explored the temple itself for a bit, it was a fascinating place. At the end of the tour, it was the end of the Nile cruise. I was met by a tour guide for the West Bank.

It was time to say farewell to the people I met. Without the company of Gill, Hanna, Mark, and Sheila, I don't think I would have had anywhere near as much fun as I had. Insha-allah, I'll see them again.

The Collossi

I was joined by some of the Australians from the boat for my tour of the West Bank. After crossing the Nile, our first real sight is that of the Collosus of Memnon. These are a pair of huge statues that are the guardians of the tombs beyond. Easily over 100 feet tall, they are well worn by the weather, but stand impressively where they have stood for over 5000 years.

Valley of the Kings

Beyond that was the Valley of the Kings. Here, 68 pharoahs were entombed underground. You approach the mountains, and it was quite reminiscent of Death Valley. The sides of the canyons had the same bleached color, and the heat was the most oppressive heat I have ever felt. I learned later that it was 55 degrees Celsius; that's 131 degrees Fahrenheit. My previous personal high was 119 in Death Valley. And that was the shade temperature... If you could find shade.

We were to visit three tombs, the tombs of Ramses IV, Ramses IX and Ramses I. Ramses IV was an excellent example of the colors of the tomb. You enter down a corridor to a chamber where the pharoah remained. As these tombs have been victimized by grave robbers for over 2000 years, the only items left were the wall paintings and the sarcophagi. Paints represented the life of the Pharoah, and his passage to the next world. The paintings included spells to he him safely there.

Each of the three tombs was impressive. After the last, I had a ticket to see Tutankamen's tomb, while the others found the only shade in the valley. King Tut's tomb was the last found, and had not been visited by grave robbers. When discovered, the contents were intact, including the huge, golden sarcophagus and the death mask for the Pharoah. Some of the relics, including the mummy, were still in the tomb. It was definitely a humbling experience.

Valley of the Workers

I came out and we headed to the valley of the workers. This was the recently fund remains of the cities where the people who built the tombs lived. The world's oldest ghost town. Among the highlights was a tomb one of the foremen. Not as ornate as that of a pharoah, it was still an impressive tomb. In fact, the artwork and paintings were more impressive than Ramses I.

We took a brief stop in town, allegedly to purchase things from a shop, but no one went in the shop. I did go looking for a can of diet coke, and eventually found one. After a fair bit of haggling, I got him down to LE 1.50 for the can. It tasted good.

The Temple of Hatshepsut

Some colorful painting

The last stop was the Temple of Hatshepsut. This temple is radically different from the other temples, it has a terraced look. It was more impressive from afar, and the views from the temple out over the Nile were worth the climb.

That was the last of the West Bank for me, my next destination was a flight to Cairo. This flight was not without incident. On a full flight, they did not have enough staff to handle drink service. So, I was never served anything. I did ask for a cup of water, but the flight attendant ignored me. To make matters worse, the person sitting next to me did get service from the very same flight attendant. I did not make a scene on the aircraft, but on landing at Cairo, I did express my displeasure with the service at the Egypt Air office. I never heard anything back; I guess they've had other concerns since.

My hotel in Cairo was the Hotel Intercontinental, a five star hotel. I was on the 25th floor, and out the window I could look into the grounds of the US Embassy.

I was hungry, so I went looking for food. I wanted to try the Arab restaurant, but I could not attract the attention of any of the staff to be seated. After a couple minutes, I ventured over to the Mexican restaurant, Los Amigos. This was a mistake.

I ordered nachos and shrimp. The food did taste good, particularly after the food on the cruise ship. Twenty minutes after eating, though, I started to pay for my mistake.

When it hit, it hit strong. I was in a lot of pain with severe cramps, and it took six imodium tablets before I was able to end my sprints. It felt like a slice of living hell, I know I had totally cleared my digestive track of anything resembling food, but it still did not stop. After a couple hours passed, the bacteria finally decided to calm itself down, too, and I was able to try to sleep.

Three times in the night my phone rang, and each time it was a wrong number. Added to the illness of the evening, it was not a very good night's sleep. I woke up late, and had another imodium for breakfast. I felt quite queasy all day, and with a long flight on my agenda the next day, I was mildly concerned.

At 8:45, I met my guide for the day, Noha Fouad Sidky. Apparently, she is a well recognized guide, and she did an excellent job. Our first stop was the Egyptian Museum. Noha knew her Egyptology. We saw the relics of the Old Kingdom, then the Middle Kingdom, and the new Kingdom. Most of Tut's relics not in the tomb are here, including the cascading sarcophagi. Caskets within caskets. A tomb of gold. A hallway filled with the relics of his life.

What was most awe inspiring was the solid gold face mask. You've all seen pictures of it, perhaps it is the single most famous emblem of ancient Egypt. It's there.

Another section of the museum that was quite interesting is the hall of the mummies. Guides are not permitted in there. The place was quite well air conditioned, so with the warmth in the rest of the museum, the chill-factor alone made the stop worthwhile.

The mummies are incredible. Ramses II, perhaps the pharoah at the time of Moses, is still preserved. His hair is intact, as are his fingernails. Five thousand years...

Next stop was Old Cairo. We visited the oldest synagogue in Egypt, near where Moses was found. We also visited the Coptic Church in Cairo over the cave where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph hid from Herod for the first few years of Jesus's life. The cave itself is flooded now, due to the High Dam at Aswan. Apparently, the pressure on the land from Lake Nassar has caused the water table to rise all along the Nile. The risk to the pyramids is even greater.

After leaving Old Cairo, we passed through a market, and stopped at a supermarket and a chemist. I bought some water at the supermarket, where it was priced at LE 1.25. I also picked up some medicine for my intestines.

The Great Pyramid of Cheops

Our last stop of the day was Giza and the Pyramids. The city has expanded to the point where it is encroaching on the Pyramids themselves. Soon, the area will be surrounded by apartments and businesses, and the pyramids will be part of a city park.

I opted to crawl into the pyramid of Cheops (the largest of the three big pyramids). The corridor is very short and narrow. While not quite low enough to require crawling, I did have to crouch down a lot to climb to a junction between the king; and queen's chambers. Go level, and you reach the queen's chamber. Keep climbing into the heart of the pyramid, and you reach the king's chamber. Nothing left in either of them, so it was more of a spelunking experience than one seeing relics. All this was within a man-made mountain of stone.

Three pyramids behind the sphinx

The Sahara

I went back out and started taking pictures. The three pyramids are massive, true, but not as big as one would think. It is "only" about 300 feet on each side, a couple city blocks. I visited all three and took pictures from several angles.

The Sphinx

Next, I went to see the sphinx. Seeing the sphinx was inspiring, even more so than the pyramids. The only experience I can use as a comparison was seeing the temple at Angkor Wat. The pyramids are impressive, but the sphinx spoke to me. Even though there is obvious restoration, it was still something to be experienced.

Sadly, it is across the street from a pizza hut and KFC.

Another look at the Sphinx

After the sphinx, I visited the boat. Archaeologists recently found a well preserved boat right next to the pyramid of Cheops. They built a museum right around where the boat was found and are preserving the boat, re-assembled. This boat, it is theorized, may have been provided to the Pharoah to help him in the next life.

It was time to return to the hotel. On the drive back, I saw an interesting bird, it had a chestnut back and black wings, and was soaring over Cairo. I suspect it was a spotted eagle (Aquila clanga) since they are in the area at that time. Also stopped to take a picture of a smiling Hosni, there was an election in Egypt where Hosni Mubarek won re-election. Also, a lot of items in Cairo are named after the Sixth of October war.

I was feeling a wee bit better, and was starting to feel hungry. I decided to try the Italian restaurant in the hotel, where I had calamari and veal. It was OK. I went to bed early, since I had to be at the airport at 3:20 for my flight to Nairobi.

There are no direct flights to Nairobi, so I opted for the cheapest and fastest connection. Details in the next chapter.