And so it begins!

After another late night (we had to watch one last episode of Baggage…don’t ask!), we got up early (well, I did…Steph overslept) to leave for the airport. We figured that before 7 a.m., 45 minutes was enough time (typically a 15-minute drive), and we’d get there at/around 7:30 to check in for our 9:30 a.m. flight. Well, the infamous Nairobi “jam” (as in traffic) proved that it is nothing if not predictable in its unpredictability. Traffic was backed up far into Mum’s neighborhood, and after almost 20 minutes in which we crawled a quarter of a kilometer, she decided to take an alternative route known as the bypass. Now, you may be wondering why not take that route anyway, especially if it doesn’t have traffic? Well, these kinds of roads in Kenya are the epitome of the description: “bone-jarring potholes.” Mum’s poor car was definitely worse the wear afterwards and required a trip to the mechanic for a bust exhaust pipe; her back was not too happy either.

All went smoothly at the airport…we got to check in our overweight bags (plus an extra) without being charged the extra fee we figured we’d have to pay – things were looking up! We discovered that our “direct” flight to Zanzibar was actually via Mombasa. Eh…TIA (this is Africa). As we get on the plane, I’m chatting with a flight attendant about our seats (they were occupied), when I see a familiar face in the first row. A childhood friend who I hadn’t seen since I left Kericho (1995) was en route to Mombasa. Needless to say, I quickly forgot about the seat mix-up, claimed the one next to him, and spent the next hour chatting away and catching up on almost two decades worth of goings-on from my home town, with just one quick glimpse out the window to appreciate “Kili” in the distance.

Flying from Mombasa to Zanzibar afforded us spectacular views of the ocean below us. The promise of endless sun and deep-blue ocean made rainy WA a distant memory, and we were excited to land and figure things out. Our luck held out the rest of the day – we got through the airport quickly and without any issues, our ride was waiting, we found a decent apartment in Stone Town (Zanzibar’s capital), got hooked up with cell phone/Internet service – you know…the basics! The guy who had arranged our airport transfer and was showing us around pointed out a place where we could eat in the evenings - Forodhani Gardens…with the ringing endorsement that the locals love it, but for us (tourists), “maybe you might get a little food poisoning.” Grreeaaattt…maybe we try that not on the first day, hmmm…?

We opted for the safe option of the Zanzibar Serena hotel for a snack that evening. A little expensive and certainly not an every-day option, having a glass of wine while watching a beautiful sunset over the Indian Ocean was a perfect end to a great day. And we figured food poisoning was a long shot.

Back at our apartment later that evening, we knocked on our upstairs neighbor’s door – another American student doing an internship on the island (we’d been introduced to her via email); five minutes later, we had a new roommate (Maggie) to add more laughter to our new apartment.

So what that power went off in the middle of the [very hot] night and we woke up, all sweaty and sticky, to no water the next morning? TIA. We’re in Zanzibar!