Dublin to Mombasa – Wednesday July 25th / Thursday July 26th

My own departure time had finally arrived after a whirlwind few days of meeting friends and family to say goodbye. There had been an enjoyable evening with a small group of friends on the weekend before last which involved at least one Irish coffee too many!!

All the planning had pretty well come together with the exception of a little uncertainty as to when Simba would arrive in Kenya and whether it would be to Mombasa or to Nairobi. Apart from that all was ready to go.

Those of you who read the blog of my last trip will recall that my daughter, Kerrie, flew out to join me for the last couple of weeks. This was a nice bonding thing that we had done on many trips over the years but unfortunately (albeit with a hidden bonus in another way) she would not be doing so this occasion. Herself and Eoin have recently made me a grandfather for the first time so I most definitely had to say goodbye to Kaylee.

(Maybe some day Kaylee will be up for a little road trip with her grandfather!!)

Ruth dropped me to the airport and it should not go without saying how grateful I am for her support and to recognize the sacrifices that she makes when I head off on these trips. She has always been encouraging, notwithstanding that I know that she does have private concerns for my safety.

So after the traditional last pint of Guinness at the airport it was on board Ethiopian Airlines eight hour flight to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia before connecting to Mombasa in Kenya.

It was very hot and muggy at Mombasa but still felt good to be back in Africa. The local handlers for the cargo company had a guy waiting to meet me almost as I stepped off the plane and he was to collect my Carnet and fly with it to head office Nairobi. I had earlier received an email from Darryl in London telling me that Simba would not be in Nairobi until Tuesday, July 31st. I had recently felt that this was how it would pan out so was looking forward to spending a few days exploring around Mombasa.

The taxi drive to the hotel was nice in the sense that I was starting to suck in the smells and the sense of east Africa. Mind you, it took the driver three attempts before he got to the right hotel – and perhaps one of the first two might have been a better choice!!

There were storm clouds rumbling over the Indian Ocean and I was knackered so it was time to sleep……