I made it.
I arrived in Nairobi in the very early hours of the morning, still a bit dizzy and confused, but pretty much straight on to a plane to Dar Es Salaam.
On arriving by plane I looked down at the African morning and the sprawling city, surpised that all the houses seemed to have opted for the same slate grey coloured roofs. But an occasionaly roof was blue or purple and stood out as individual and even eccentric. Then I realised that all the grey roofs were made out of corrugated iron, so it wasn't so much to do with conformity as expediency.
This first day was long and strange and I was weary and if not jet-lagged, then at least tired from having spent the night in the sky. We slept and then went out for lunch (Elton John playing in the restaurant for the true African experience) and then lounged around reading before heading out for dinner. We went to a brilliant Ethiopean restaurant where all the dishes were served in a maaive bowl lined with bread and then we were given little bandages of thin bread to mop up the various courses we'd ordered. It was all delicious and fun and the African sky stretched above us (disappointinly similar to the English sky - I had kind of assumed it would be ten times as big) and the stars peeped through at us. So far it didn't really feel like I was so far from home and no lions or elephants had interrupted my dinner, but aside from the inevitable weariness I felt glad to be away and expectant about all the treats that are awaiting me. We're off to Zanzibar (the birth place of Freddie Mercury) tomorrow and next week we're going on a proper full on safari. For the moment it was OK to feel glad that the travelling was over and excited about all that lay ahead of us. But dinner at least had been new and African and delicious, with no Elton John. I am deligted to be here.
