Journeying Home

Journeying Home

So the trip is almost over and in one last hurrah I meet a bunch of people in Moshi and on the bus to Nairobi. One guy whilst waiting at the bus office says he is a Birmingham supporter, also a passive liar full of crap too it seems. There's a lot of people here who surprisingly have the same name as you or support your local team or are instantly a mountain or safari guide when they try to sell you things. It's so easy to spot here it's a wonder people get ripped off at all but they do and with some frequency. Some sellers are pretty persistent not realising that the more they hassle me the less likely they are to get a sale. Besides if I want something ill go find it, I'm not about to buy a $2000 safari from a guy on the street who says he can get me a "very good price".

On the bus I'm joined by an American father and son from New England who are in Tanzania for Kili and travelling to Nairobi to fly home. We stop in Arusha and have to change buses, waiting around for a while with touts trying to sell their wares through the window. The Americans are after a bag of nuts which the hawker is asking $10 for. Ridiculous! I tell them it shouldn't cost more than a dollar but they end up paying ten bucks for 2 bags. Even at that the cheeky hawker is still arguing the price. $10 is more than most hawkers earn in a day, the Americans paid way over the top despite my advice. Ah well. As usual I'm polite but ignore the sellers. Some approach me and think I'm from Russia or Argentina, thanks a lot!

Crossing the border is a formality, even though I have to pay $20 for a transit visa when I'm going to be in Kenya for about 8 hours. Possibly more annoying is that this takes up a whole page in my passport, another one. From the border it's a short run of a couple hours to Nairobi and the airport.

Once at the airport the real fun and games begin. The boards are already saying my flight to Zurich is running an hour late which mean I won't make my connection to Birmingham. After a few hours the check in lady gets back to me with a rearranged route to Zurich then Frankfurt then Birmingham finally arriving 9 hours later than planned. As I get on the plane there's more faffing about people moving seats and two people with the same seat; eventually I have to move to accommodate a couple but in the only good news today, I get landed with an escape row seat with luxury amounts of leg room.

I'm still peeved about the change and delayed route, need to speak to people in Zurich about that. Surely for a 9 hour delay they can give me some food or something. That said to Swiss' credit the flight is pretty sweet and the entertainment a lot better than most. The 5ft of legroom has put me in a better mood too.

Well a turn up for the books in Zurich. I go to the transfer desk and a very nice if butch German lady rather animatedly sees if she can get me on an earlier flight, which she can. I now find myself leaving Zurich almost immediately with just 2hrs in Frankurt before arriving in brum just after 12. Swiss is certainly doing a lot to redeem itself.

So it's never quite over is it. The most surreal thing in Frankfurt airport, I meet John and Edward of cheesy pop/xfactor fame. Edward is off around the airport, John goes after him since they're about to miss their flight, mum is clearly not pleased. Even when not in the public eye they still have that daft vertical blonde hair and today were running around in sparkling silver jeans and duffel coats. How very random but a nice end to a great trip. Have a great Christmas everyone and here's to a fun filled 2013.