Wed 7th Oct 09

If our journey was anything to go by all is well and 'normal' in the world. We left for Heathrow with ample time to catch the flight, check out the new terminal 5 and a few of the lounges however about an hour in we glided to a gentle halt half way along the M26. After some hours in the early morning rain we were informed by a roadside recovery man that our accelerator cable had snapped were forced to get a tow back home. 6 hours after leaving for the first time we set off again, this time by taxi, and finally arrived at Heathrow. Naturally our flight had long since departed and we were forced to get new tickets for later that evening. This delay however did give us ample time to check out the delights of terminal 5 and 3 and 4. Later that evening we boarded a Kenya Airways flight and was off.

After an unexpectedly long journey we finally arrived into the heat, traffic and street sellers that is Nairobi. Our hotel would have been about 15 minutes away however the bumper to bumper rush hour traffic was not on our side. Fortunately our driver was able to navigate a new route through a series of back streets, none of which signposted as the metal is to tempting for the locals to leave and the authorities have long since given up.

A full 16 hours late we were delighted to arrive at last at the Palacina in Nairobi. By some fluke, or as Susie prefers, excellent planning, we had booked two nights to allow us to recover from the journey before heading off on Safari so all was not lost. The Palacina itself was beautiful and certainly welcome. We had a delicious late breakfast and caught up on some missing sleep. Later that evening we ventured out to the Carnivore restaurant which has grown over the years to become one of Nairobi's most popular places to eat. Carnivore, as the name suggests is not suitable for vegetarians. The menu consists of various well known and some slightly more exotic flame grilled meats that are brought round on large skewers and you are encouraged to eat until you 'surrender'. If Carlsberg did BBQ.....

The next morning, still with full bellies, we returned to Nairobi airport and caught our flight to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.