Arrival in Nairobi, Kenya

We were up very early; the alarm went off at 4 AM, and the next adventure was underway. Saying goodbye to Honny at the airport was a bit tough, but off I went. The flight took off at 6:30 AM, and the first stop was Amsterdam. I had a couple of hours to kill there. Amsterdam Airport is massive—so big that it must be one of the largest in the world. At the gate, I got my first hint that Thisted wasn’t my destination! I sat down with my pale face among a sea of darker skin tones. I quickly struck up a conversation with my seatmate on the plane, an older Dutch gentleman who has lived in Africa since 1964. He was quite entertaining and shared lively stories about his time in Nairobi, where he also resides. Nairobi is a lovely city, but he admitted it can also be dangerous. Nai-robbery, as it’s colloquially known... Everything was arranged in advance. A representative from Nairobi Backpackers picked me up at the airport and drove me to the hotel. I was initially placed in a dorm with eight people, but after some negotiation, I managed to get a spot in a room with just four. The hostel was surrounded by a three-meter-high fence for our protection. There were also security personnel, which is pretty standard for every building, hotel, shopping center, etc. It’s definitely a bit different from safe Denmark. I grabbed a cold Tusker beer and had a nice chat with some of the other guests at the hostel. A couple had just come from Ethiopia, where they had to carry their passports and money with them at all times because the biggest risk was that other hostel residents would steal their stuff. They mentioned that Ethiopia is quite safe and thought Nairobi, Kenya, would be the same. So, they took a stroll in the park one evening before I arrived, with all their money and passports. Naturally, they got mugged by a group! A bit naive... but I guess you learn from your experiences... I was wearing my Aarhus sweatshirt, so the other Danes at the hostel could easily see where I was from. A couple of them helped me set up a Skype account so I could call home, but it didn’t quite work out, and we had to give up... Finally, I managed to finalize the arrangements for the Kilimanjaro trek and handed over 1024 USD, which includes the Kilimanjaro Marangu route for six days (with one extra day), two nights in a hotel in Moshi, and the bus ticket back and forth between Nairobi, Kenya, and Moshi, Tanzania. I went to bed early (around 10:15 PM) since I had to get up early the next morning to head to Moshi.