NAIROBI TO ISTANBUL...not simple

I will chat briefly about leaving Africa and heading to Istanbul. Nothing is simple with going to and leaving Africa. We had to take a puddle jumper safari plane from Nanyuki to Wilson Airport in Nairobi. Wilson Airport is where we also flew out of when we went to the Ndato Offbeat Safari Camp and is where most of the smaller flights go in and out of. The airport is a series of hangers and buildings that ramble for blocks and if you could image a facility that houses homeless airplanes, this is it. I say airplanes and not jets, because I do not think the runway is long enough for a jet.

Wilson is across town from the main international airport in Nairobi, which meant we got to see Nairobi one more time with its colorful buses and air pollution, but at least smooth roads. Our transitional destination was the Sheraton Four Points Hotel at the airport and not the terminal, because we arrived around at 2:30 pm for a 3:25 am departure, which meant we would need to try to get some shut eye before heading out. The Sheraton was okay, great showers, adequate gym, decent food and a comfy bed to sleep in, except for the fact that our room was next to the elevator shaft, so earplugs were required! The passage of elevators up and down a shaft is not quite the equivalent of the symphony in the bush with its buzzing insects and singing cuckoos broken up by the roar of a lion or trumpeting of an elephant.

We had to leave the hotel at 1 am to check in for our flight to Istanbul, and there was nothing remarkable to share about this 7-hour journey except that we were pleasantly surprised that the business class had lie flat beds which made it more comfortable to grab a few more hours of sleep.