Jambo

21st December, 2008

Even though I set the alarm for 8am I was awake at 7 eager to start my first day in Kenya. I had arranged with Mike Eldon for him to pick me up at 10:30am so still had a few hours to kill.

Heading downstairs to breakfast I took advantage of the buffet in particular the range of freshly squeezed juices. Again, the staff were very friendly and helpful.

After breakfast, I sat in the garden and fired up my Mac. Kim was online so I called her with iChat and we spoke for about 15 minutes before she had to go to work.

Mike arrived promptly at 10:30 and I climbed into his red Mercedes and we drove off. Mike has lived in Kenya for about 31 years and has seen many changes. He gave an excellent commentary of the city as we drove through various streets past famous and infamous locations. We also stopped off in a market to see the sort of wares on sale but nothing took either of our fancy.

We then went to his club for a coffee and a chat about our respective backgrounds and experiences. Despite living on opposite sides of the planet we had many similarities and instantly struck up a rapport. We then proceeded to his house where I met his wife Evelyn. Mike and Evelyn are the inspiration behind Cura and while still both holding senior positions in their own companies sink a lot of time and effort into making this a successful venture.

Evelyn is Kenyan and actually grew up in the town of Cura. Her sister was arranging a family get together and I was invited along. Kenyans have large families!!! There must have been more than 30 of them (including children) at the party. Some of them still lived in Cura others lived in Nairobi, UK and New York. It was a great family get together with traditional food.

By the time the lunch was over (6pm!!!), I was starting to feel a bit tired. Evelyn's son, Eric and his cousin Tracy invited me out with them which I originally agreed to but an hour and half later and we still hadn't made a move, I decided it was best to go back to the hotel. Mike and Evelyn were kind enough to drop me off back at the hotel.

I had a quick dinner at the hotel, restaurant and then popped upstairs to bed.

Both Kim and Alan took advantage of what could be my last night with mobile contact and called me to chat. I spoke to them each for about 15 minutes then crashed. My first day in Kenya was over and tomorrow I was heading out to the village.

This was a good day.