Day Zero - Rest Day in Nairobi

Hmmm. This is day was probably the least that I have seen of any of the capitals. The Indaba camp is out in the burbs where the ex-pats live. This meant that there were pretty sweet shopping centres close by. The transition from scarcity to plenty has been pretty rapid. As recently as Isiolo, we were having trouble buying our snacks and shaving stuff. Here, there is so much, we wouldn't be able to carry it if we bought everything we wanted.

One thing I definitely did want was a new iPod. I destroyed mine back in Addis when I let a jacket drip into my tent. If I want to listen to music on the bike (and I do) I have to juggle the battery life in my iPhone. If I run it down, I don't have an alarm or a way to call for help. An iPod with 40 hours playback time is way better. The local supermarket sold little shuffles, but that would be just as bad I think.

Instead, Rod, Julliana, Steph and I took the trip out to the Yaya Centre. This place sounded like the mecca of shopping centres. It was indeed pretty good. I got a new 160gb class, and Rod got a super cheap 120gb. I hooked him up with a playlist of angry man music and so he is pretty happy. I've rarely seem him around camp without at least one headphone in. They also have proper food here. We went to a cafe for lunch and ate ourselves silly. I even got a couple of chocolate milkshakes (sadly missing since Khartoum) and another homemade spider. Delicious.

Rod and Julianna enjoying food.


My breakfasts. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So have it twice. Then have another chocolate milkshake.


Apart from that, I did nothing really except sit in a lawn chair and read the economist. It was actually kind of funny. I was telling the people at lunch that I really wanted an inflatable chair to sit on. When we were driving back from the mall, there were a bunch of dudes selling hats on the side of the road. Since we were stuck in traffic, I bought one (my leather hat has definitely seen better days). I was pretty busy haggling and paying, so I didn't pay much attention when the guys in the back of the taxi (I was in the fat man seat once more) said "Look Dan. Inflatable Telly Tubby Chairs!" I kind of thought that they were taking the piss as well. By the time I looked up, we were already actually past the guy selling that sweet Telly Tubby merchandise. Oh well. I probably couldn't move it around on the trucks anyways.

Other news. Our old Indaba crew is no more. Janet, Ferdi, Errol and Peterson are back to the real world. It will be strange without those guys. We see such a small group, any change is pretty disruptive. When sectionals arrive or leave, it is big news.