Got some catching up to do. Left early on Fri 26 from Taveta to meet Mike who was flying in from Addis. Just as well I persuaded him to go straight to Msa as a few days later Nairobi was one of the counties in lockdown with planes grounded and Mike would’ve been stuck there. Good journey down leaving me with plenty of time to check into the Sheratton.
I used Bold ( equiv of Uber) for the first time to get me to the airport. Mike got through the checks in good time and suddenly one of my friends was in Kenya. After he’d got himself a Safaricom SIM we got a taxi to the hotel
Regular taxis much more expensive than Bolt. Got himself a room, then it was time to show him the ‘sights’. First stop a thirst quenching visit to Fantasy bar. Then a wander around a part of Old Town and stopping off at a reasonably price restaurant for chicken curry.
Sat 27th. We walked down to Fort Jesus. I wasn’t bothered about going in but decided to try my luck and pretend I’d forgotten my Kenya ID card in Taveta. I didn’t want to go in as a tourist. Anyway, I chatted nicely after Mike had gone in and, bingo. Got in for 400ksh instead of 1,200ksh. It was interesting actually.
Walked over to the port entrance. Wandered around Old town and stopped for tea. Called in at Skyward offices to book a flight after going to Shimoni. Discovered that due to lockdown of the 5 counties the planes from Nairobi would be grounded from Monday. So a quick change of plan and bought tickets for the next day, Sunday.
A quick swim at the Sheratton then over to Bella Vista for dinner. Chicken curry again for me I think while Mike had fish. I stayed on while Mike went over to Nyali to meet a lady who was on the fort Jesus tour with us. As far as I was concerned it was pushing it with curfew at 10:00 and already gone 7:30. Well he did well to get back after ten and miss the Police. Unfortunately he stopped outside the hotel to smoke a cigarette and chat to the guard. Within seconds he was caught by police and was on his way to the Police station. He managed to get back to the hotel but it cost him 5,000….about £35. I slept through the whole incident. Oh well..lessons learned..!!