17 - 01 - 09
It wasn't the first time I'd seen an airport on the wrong side of the dawn. There were still people milling around - there always are - but most counters were closed and everthing was quieter, stiller, than at other times. I stood by a door opposite a man sprawled asleep on the floor, watching both the counter where I would check and the stiars leading up from the train station. A group of young students walked by in a frenzy of late-night excitement and I wondered whether they were meeting someone.
After a text message from Willy about slight tardiness, I spotted her and her dad (my supervisor) coming up the stairs. It was 5 am, and we all ooked it. We said hello - I got pity due to my having slept at the airport - and we moved on to check-in with no trouble. It turned out that the excited group of young folk were friends of Willy coming to say goodbye to her. I'll admit to being rather envious at the situation, not having anyone myself, but the excitement and sadness and just general emotion was rather nice to be a spectator of.
Security passed and waiting for Supervisor to extract some cash, I got a text from my brother, and a call from my mom, both wishing me luck. "Safari yema!*" said my mom, "Tell that to your prof!"
We took off one hour late so for our transfer in Zurich we ran through the airport and panicked our way through in the security line, panicking even more when Supervisor's mass amounts of wires and other research devices got taken out, explored and hastily repacked. But we made it to our plane, now even more giddy thanks to the adrenaline pumping through us. The rest of the trip went by nicely, with Swiss chocolate and in-flight movies.
We arrived in Nairobi late that evening. I don't know what I was expecting at the airport, but it wasn't what I got. It didn't feel like an international airport. At the final visa check out I was tickled to see that you can still purchase a visa right there on the spot.
After picking up our luggage - mine was the first suitcase out on the belt - we were picked up by Tuqa Jirmo, a member of the Kenya Wildlife Service (who had worked at Amboseli until recently) and our research partner. As we left the airport and walked out into the dark parking lot, I took Willy's hand - or maybe it was the other way around - and thus began our partnership in this strange new world. Afterwards, Willy'd say that at that very moment she knew we'd get along well and that everything'd be alright.
The drive to Nairobi was dark for long stretches, and the air was humid and warm - just like I remembered from Costa Rica and Mexico - and the smells lifted something inside me. It was like stepping into a familiar house after a long absence.
Once at the Stanley Hotel, Willy and I got some time out to freshen up before dinner. Upon seeing the room - the Stanley is one of the, if not the, top hotels in Nairobi - we squeed. I mean, look at it:
We three had dinner with Peter and Katherine Hammling - Peter would help us out with the calling stations and tracking - Dr. Charles Musyoki of KWS and Tuqa. It was a very interesting dinner, especially when Charles told us about the conservation plans he'd set up for cheetah, African wild dogs, lions and hyenas. Willy and I were, I think, both in a cloud of excitement and exhaustion, so the went straight to bed after that. It was strange to think that I was in Nairobi, again, after all these years. I could feel a ticky-box forming in my list of Things To Do In Life.
* "Good trip."
After a text message from Willy about slight tardiness, I spotted her and her dad (my supervisor) coming up the stairs. It was 5 am, and we all ooked it. We said hello - I got pity due to my having slept at the airport - and we moved on to check-in with no trouble. It turned out that the excited group of young folk were friends of Willy coming to say goodbye to her. I'll admit to being rather envious at the situation, not having anyone myself, but the excitement and sadness and just general emotion was rather nice to be a spectator of.
Security passed and waiting for Supervisor to extract some cash, I got a text from my brother, and a call from my mom, both wishing me luck. "Safari yema!*" said my mom, "Tell that to your prof!"
We took off one hour late so for our transfer in Zurich we ran through the airport and panicked our way through in the security line, panicking even more when Supervisor's mass amounts of wires and other research devices got taken out, explored and hastily repacked. But we made it to our plane, now even more giddy thanks to the adrenaline pumping through us. The rest of the trip went by nicely, with Swiss chocolate and in-flight movies.
We arrived in Nairobi late that evening. I don't know what I was expecting at the airport, but it wasn't what I got. It didn't feel like an international airport. At the final visa check out I was tickled to see that you can still purchase a visa right there on the spot.
After picking up our luggage - mine was the first suitcase out on the belt - we were picked up by Tuqa Jirmo, a member of the Kenya Wildlife Service (who had worked at Amboseli until recently) and our research partner. As we left the airport and walked out into the dark parking lot, I took Willy's hand - or maybe it was the other way around - and thus began our partnership in this strange new world. Afterwards, Willy'd say that at that very moment she knew we'd get along well and that everything'd be alright.
The drive to Nairobi was dark for long stretches, and the air was humid and warm - just like I remembered from Costa Rica and Mexico - and the smells lifted something inside me. It was like stepping into a familiar house after a long absence.
Once at the Stanley Hotel, Willy and I got some time out to freshen up before dinner. Upon seeing the room - the Stanley is one of the, if not the, top hotels in Nairobi - we squeed. I mean, look at it:
We three had dinner with Peter and Katherine Hammling - Peter would help us out with the calling stations and tracking - Dr. Charles Musyoki of KWS and Tuqa. It was a very interesting dinner, especially when Charles told us about the conservation plans he'd set up for cheetah, African wild dogs, lions and hyenas. Willy and I were, I think, both in a cloud of excitement and exhaustion, so the went straight to bed after that. It was strange to think that I was in Nairobi, again, after all these years. I could feel a ticky-box forming in my list of Things To Do In Life.
* "Good trip."