Thursday - Mombasa to Nairobi

Thursday morning we headed for the bus station and our bus to Nairobi left at 9:30. It was a terrifying eight-hour bus ride. The roads here aren’t like they are back home. We were on a rather nice bus. The seats reclined and there was a movie playing. Snacks and sodas were delivered throughout the trip. However, the driving is rather scary around here. I guess I was expecting a four lane divided highway, but this was one of the narrowest two lane streets I’ve seen and busses and big trucks pass each other with literally inches between them. Since its only two lanes, they pass traffic in the oncoming lane…sometimes even when there is traffic oncoming! As scary as it was at times, we made it to Nairobi around 6pm and were picked up at the bus stop by the Elective Africa staff in Nairobi.

Alexa and I on the bus to Nairobi

As we drove to the hotel, I was surprised to see how much more industrialized Nairobi was that Mombasa. They have tall buildings and working traffic lights (even though no one pays attention to them regardless of their presence). They took us to the “hotel” we were all planning on staying at, but when we got there we were all a little disappointed. Most of us heard the word “hotel” and thought “Thank goodness! One night reprieve from the African lifestyle we’ve been living.” I mean I wasn’t expecting mints on my pillow or anything, but a working bathroom and hot shower would have been nice. We stayed at a Hostel where we had two rooms with eight beds each. The whole thing was painted like a safari with animals and fields. The bathrooms that worked were outside and on the far side of the building along with the showers that didn’t have a working water heater.

The safari paintings on the place where we stayed in Nairobi

Once we all got over the fact that we were still in Africa, we decided to head out and find some food. The lady who picked us up at the bus stop recommended this Italian restaurant. The food was amazing! After dinner we hung out at the bar at the place where we were staying and played some cards before heading to bed.