Where Are Ron and Ellen?
Portugal (Ron and Ellen), Southeastern Africa (Ron), 19 September 2013 - 13 January 2014
Ron and Ellen in Porto, Portugal, October 2013
Nakuru, Kenya
29 October 2013
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
I left Lisbon on 23 October, arriving home the evening of the same day. We had a wonderful time in Portugal, but I am very happy to be home again.
The connection I was worried about in Madrid, 1 hour between the scheduled arrival of the flight from Lisbon and the departure (in a different terminal) of the flight to the U.S., turned out not to be a problem because of Delta's excellent customer service. The Madrid airport is spread out all over the place and is not signed well at all. The Air Europa (a Delta partner) flights to/from Lisbon leave from terminal D and flights to/from the US are terminal A. Going from Madrid to Lisbon we had several hours, so it wasn't a problem that we had to wait 20 minutes for the bus between terminals. But I was really anxious about the 1 hour coming back, especially when we were told by a number of passengers that the flight from Lisbon to Madrid is frequently late (often, apparently, hours late). The flight actually arrived on time from Lisbon, although we then sat on the tarmac with the passenger bus parked at the bottom of the stairs and the ground crew standing around for almost 10 minutes for no discernible reason. When the bus finally delivered us to the door of terminal D, there was a Delta agent waiting, saying, "Atlanta? Atlanta?" Turns out there were 7 of us trying to make the connection. The agent walked us from terminal D to terminal A (a 22 minute walk that she said would be faster than waiting for the bus!), assuring us that they would hold the plane for us. I had decided ahead of time that I would walk, figuring that if the signs said it was 22 minutes I could probably do it in a bit less, but it was good there was someone to lead the way because the route was not well marked at all and you had to go through the shopping aisles of all the duty-free shops in each terminal along the way, where there were no directional signs at all. Apparently the flight from Lisbon is routinely such a problem that they routinely have someone meet people trying to make the connection. The Air Europa ticket agents in Lisbon all kept saying, "Oh, no problem, no problem, plenty of time!" Anyway, I was impressed with Delta's customer service, although I expect it is ultimately cheaper for them to send an agent every day to meet the flight than to reroute multiple passengers who don't make the connection. My advice in general would be to avoid making a connection in the Madrid airport if possible!
Ron's flight left Lisbon several hours after mine. He went through Amsterdam, and from there had an overnight flight to Nairobi, so he arrived in Kenya in the morning on 24 October. His first travel report is below.
Love to all,
Ellen
29 October 2013
Nakuru, KenyaHello, my dear,
Arriving in Nairobi very early on the morning of 24 October from Lisbon through Amsterdam, I took a taxi from the Nairobi Airport to the office of Molli Lines and caught a small van to Nakuru, the fourth largest city in Kenya, arriving in the early afternoon.
Walking from the bus station down the main road I found Avenue Suites, a budget hotel I had learned about after some extensive searches on the Internet before I left home. They had small rooms for $18 but I splurged on a larger ones with a small balcony overlooking the main street and a small entrance room with a table, comfortable chairs, TV and an electric plug for my charging station for $30. The hotel also has a Chinese restaurant which is good and the prices are moderate.
After setting up my security procedures I set out to do my standard first couple of tasks: buy water and find an ATM. There was a ATM next door to the hotel which declined my card with a message to call my bank and there was a supermarket across the street with a wide selection of sizes and brands of bottled water. The ATMs do not have the little stickers telling you what cards work and the one I had used turned out to only accept Visa cards, not Mastercard, which I discovered after calling my bank and being told they had not stopped the transaction and had already set up notices that I would be in Kenya.
In the hotel lobby, the only place with Wifi, I am learning that one can not call collect or 800 numbers from Kenya and I could not figure out how to contact my bank. There was a guy working on his computer in the lobby where the only wifi signal could be picked up and after overhearing my difficulties spoke up and told me that the rates from Kenya to the US and Canada were only about three cents per minute, so I could just call directly with my sim card. The next difficulty was successfully dialing the number. It seems you have to hold the zero key for a couple of seconds which produces a "+" as the first digit, then put in 001 and the number I am calling. He then took me down the street and showed me the ATM outside of the large bank. He was from Nairobi and in Nakuru to attend a conference and later invited me to join him and another woman attending the conference for dinner in a restaurant down the street.
Friday I explored the town, and in the afternoon decided to take a walk to find Lake Nakuru. I found a small resort hotel near the park which had some nice rooms at budget rates, but when they discovered I was not living in Kenya, the cheapest room went up to $75. After some discussions and consultation between staff and the management they agreed to overlook my residency and I could have the local rates if I returned later. Turns out this is off season and they had very little business. I've run into these dual rates for locals before in the Soviet area of influence. Now I know that the foreigner rates are negotiable in Kenya - except the park entrance of $80 which appears to be non-negotiable.
To enter the park one needs to pay the $80 entrance fee, rent a vehicle and hire a driver. None of which fits into my budget. On Monday I learned there is a bus that takes the locals into the park for three hours on Saturday and Sunday, which used to cost 100 shillings but now has been increased to 1200 shillings, about $14.50 for locals. I would still have to pay the $80 entrance fee. I learned later that there were only a few people using the bus because the locals can not afford the rates. The government and park service have not learned about the business principal that revenue decreases at some point as rates increase and they could make more following the soft drink business model - selling lots more at a lower price produces more revenue and profit.
Just outside the park entrance there was a sign for Lake Nakuru Hotel and Tourism Management College which I had read about in my prior research. So I went in and told the lady who greeted me I was interested in the college and she gave me a tour of the facilities which included two classrooms and an administrative office. The hotel section contained no rooms but a lot of restaurant and disco type space for tourist groups (??) in the evenings. Classes had ended and would continue on Monday and I was invited back then.
On Monday I did return and was allowed to sit in on a class on hotel security and learned things I had never considered about the key controls in hotels. The instructor was the housekeeping manager for Hotel Merida, a four star hotel on the main street which I had been into on my walking tour.
We might consider the classes as vocational. They are preparing students for jobs in the hotel/resort industry. There are two (three month) semesters of classes and then a three month period which they call Industrial Attachment, and we might call practicum or internship which they are also graded on. Afterwards they may be offered a job or choose to continue in the Egerton University, a partner in the college program. The tuition for the program is around $830 and the instructors come from the hotel and tourism industry.
After the class the instructor took me for a walk and explained that past the entrance to the park there was quite a ways before coming to the main controlled gate. This part serves as the public part of the park and I saw buffalo and zebras. Through the trees I could see the lake. I went back early this morning (Tuesday) hoping to see baboons (there were none) but saw more than a hundred of what I think were antelope (looked like deer), 9 zebras up close, water buffalo and some very interesting birds, one of which had a robin colored breast with a blue iridescent back with a basic black body. (Perhaps Allen can identify.)
After the walk he showed me where he lived, almost right next to the park, and walked me up the road a bit showing me the souvenir store and suggested I visit the store when I returned in the morning, which I did, meeting another amazing and enterprising young man. Amazing collection of African art and sculptures (wood carvings): www.artifactsafrica.com.
As I am writing this message sitting on the outside patio of the Chinese restaurant in my hotel, I have the papers from the college spread out on the table and my waiter comes by and tells me he graduated from the program and that is how he got his job.
Friday night exploring the night life of Nakuru I met a young policeman, a Constable, from outside Nairobi, who invited me to attend a traditional function having to do with his sister's wedding at his brother's home on Saturday. He said I could take local transport for around 100 shillings and wrote the name of the place on a piece of paper and said I should call him when I got there. Well.... Easier said then done. First the motorcycle guy wanted 500, and couldn't figure out where I was to go. So I got my friend on the phone. Finally got the rate down to 300. Then when I arrived it turned out to be the gate to Kabarak University, I thought that looked promising but it turned out the next direction was to take a bus a couple of kilometers more down the road where I took a motor scooter another few kilometers to his place - out in the middle of nowhere.
It turned out to be a meeting of the two clans to negotiate the dowry price and for the two families to meet each other. The couple was already married and part of the dowry was a penalty for not having the bride's family's prior approval. At least this is what I think was explained to me. A dinner of traditional Kenyan food was served and I wish I could tell you what I was eating but I can not. I think the meat was goat, the greens I could not identify, potatoes, rice, chapatis, and something I could not identify made from wheat, I think.
My friend had bought the acre of land and his brother was living there in a small house and farming the land, growing beans, corn and sweet potatoes. The first building was a good looking double block (brick?) outhouse.
The groom was an elected official, perhaps like a supervisor or councilman. There were several cars and people came from several different cities in the region. I was given a ride back to town by his uncle, who had a business selling new and used cars. He offered to take me to the park the next day but I was not sure if it was a social offer or a business offer and in any case I would probably still need to pay the $80 admission so I did not follow up on the offer.
The instructor at the college had invited me to visit him at the Merica Hotel and today (Tuesday) after my morning visit to the public part of the park I did so and received a complete tour of the four star hotel including views of the lake from the rooms on the top floor as well as the whole city from the roof, the dry cleaning facilities, the kitchen, the conference facilities, the wedding suite, the executive suite, etc. They hope to go to 5 star soon. It reminded me of my days showing association executives through hotels in Atlanta when I worked for the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
For those who may follow, motorcycle rides to the park cost 50 shillings and by bicycle 30. The town seems safe to me but I have been advised to avoid secluded or dark areas at night.
My policeman friend from Nairobi just called to tell me he was entering the U.S. Green Card drawing tomorrow. I had given him a shiny new penny for good luck.
Five days in my first city, invited into two homes and four friends. Two of them now interested in pursuing my suggestions to make use of the hotel for a youth hostel, use the bus that sits unused during the week for budget park tours, and to get a backpacker rate for entrance to the park by the bus. Certainly not what I expected. Stay tuned.
Love and miss you,
Ron
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Last updated: 7 November 2013
