Dreaming of Zanzibar – The beginning: bus from Kampala to Nairobi, Kenya.

This post is the first of a set of publications which will describe the last trip I did in East Africa, back in August, leading me to Zanzibar and back again.

My stay in Uganda was, as expected, going to end and leaving East Africa without visiting Kenya and Tanzania was surely not an option.

The initial plan was to go to Nairobi (the capital of Kenya) first, head South to Dar Es Salaam (the capital of Tanzania) then cross the Dar Es Salaam Bay by ferry to reach Zanzibar and then return to Kampala in a similar fashion. But, as you will read, the trip, mainly the return, did not go as planned.
Once having discussed with my boss the precise dates of my trip, planned the locations and contacted my hosts, it was time for my camera, my backpack and me to start the long trip by leaving Kampala to get to the first destination: Nairobi.

The route from Kampala to Nairobi by bus is quite frequented making it rather comfortable and safe; the only exception being, as usual, the border where it is required to cross it by foot and stand in a long queue at both the emigration and immigration office, even in the middle of the night.
Left Kampala at 8pm and arrived at 8am on a rather comfortable bus helped dealing with the new busy and chaotic city. Nairobi has the look of a very East African city, with areas being extremely different from each other: from muddy slums to extremely modern malls.

Village Market in Nairobi

 I arrived in Nairobi on an early Friday morning and soon got welcomed by my host who gave me directions to get to the AIESEC house to drop my stuff.
The house was not too far away from the Village Market which, luckily, also had the weekly Masai Market on that exact day.

Village Market in Nairobi

The Masai Market is an open air market containing, among the rest, Masai objects and souvenirs. Usually frequented by foreigners trying to get the best price and vendors trying to make their day on some naïve tourist.
Here I ended up buying a scarf and a Masai cloth (currently used as a very fancy blanket). I did not take any picture as sometimes it is better to just not show your expensive camera around, especially in such a busy market.

As wandering around Nairobi by night is usually not recommended and as we all had a long day, the other housemates and I stayed at home chatting and relaxing.
I needed to save my energy for the following day as a very long journey was ahead of me: the 14-hours bus ride from Nairobi to Dar Es Salaam.

/Nesh