By chance, that opportunity came sooner than expected when my dearest kenyan friend got sent to nairobi on business and realized that it was a great opportunity to take me home to meet her family. I already had a ticket to kenya, as I'll be climbing kilimanjaro in two weeks. The timing couldn't be better. :)
Despite the fact that Kevin didn't think I could get myself onto the plane without problems, i had a very pleasant flight, had a really lovely lunch (bizarrly, i love airline food), and chatted at length to a kenyan man about married life, the environment, corruption, and traffic. The four hours literally flew by.
I also breezed through the kenyan airport. My bag arrived first on the carosel, there was no queue at customs, and dorothy was eagerly waiting for me as i walked through the sliding doors. After excited hugs, kisses, and greetings, we hurried through the rain to her uncle's car and headed home.
Barely a few minutes out of the airport, we hit the traffic my fellow passenger had warned me about as our plane came in to land. It was also at about that point that I realized that I should've visited the bathroom before leaving the airport. As we sat motionless bumper to bumper, I wondered if i couldn't just jog back to the airport quickly in my desperation.
Amusingly, street hawkers came along between the cars trying to sell their junk. Unlike South Africa, where these persistent salesmen hang around traffic lights, here they patrol the highway in peak traffic. Dorothy was tempted to purchase some roasted nuts until her uncle revealed the unhygeinic conditions under which they are prepared. She decided to suppress her hunger until we got home and dinner was served.
Meanwhile, I tried to suppress my need to pee. The pressure building up in my bladder was worsened by the jerky motion of sudden breaking as people cut in front of us (when we were actually moving). Worse still, the close shaves, constant hooting, and general lack of clear road rules is enough to make you want to wet yourself even without a full bladder.
Three hours later (almost as long as my flight), we finally arrived at dee's uncle's home. Thankfully, clean bathrooms, delicious food, and warm beds were waiting for us. Having been up since 4am (why do I struggle to sleep when I'm excited?), I was quite eager to collapse into bed. However, when dee and i start talking, there's no stopping us, and it was nearly midnight when i finally fell asleep. But who needs sleep when on holiday? Not me, apparently, I realized when I found myself wide awake again at 3am...
