We Landed in Nairobi

We left our house in Peoria, IL at 9:00am CST on Saturday June 27th

We landed in Nairobi at 11:50pm on Sunday June 28th (3:50pm CST)

After nearly 31 hours of travel, a bus, two planes, and one shorter-than-we-would-have-liked layovers, we landed in Nairobi.

I’ll come back to the mess that was getting past check-in at O’Hare and the questionable encounter with customs in Nairobi. Each of those could be a story unto themselves. The better place to start is the moment we first filled out lungs with fresh, cool, African night air.

Coming out of the airport, we were greeted by a crew of Kenyans from the Kitui Diocese ready to load our 33 checked bags (yes, 33!), carry-on bags, and 11 Americans into a van, two pick-up trucks and a sedan. We really must have been a sight driving down Nairobi streets in the middle of the night.

Our guides took us to the JJ McCarthy Pastoral center where we checked in to our rooms and were told that breakfast would be served at 7:30.

Pastoral Centers are a lovely and inexpensive option for travelers looking for a clean, safe place to sleep and a nice meal. Our accommodations were simple but filled every hope I had for that night.. a soft bed in a quiet room. An added bonus was that we each had our own room equipped with a private bathroom.

After an entirely too short sleep, we didn’t dare be late to breakfast served in the Center’s Dining Room. Prepared by loving hands of the the sisters who operate the center, breakfast consisted of bread (and the option to make toast if you chose to), boiled potatoes, hardboiled eggs, and porridge made from millet. Milk is served warm and is used to add to your coffee, tea, or to thin the porridge.

My fave was the potatoes and some toast with plum jam and my sister loved the porridge.