Travel to South Africa and Mozambique: stop in Nairobi, Kenya
From Paris to Nairobi, Kenya
The entire route of the trip to South Africa and Mozambique, as well as useful tips, costs and conclusions, you can read HERE.
To the previous travelogue –> Preparation for the trip
Charles de Gaulle Airport
Charles de Gaulle Airport is the largest airport in France, the second busiest in Europe after London’s Heathrow, and ranks 8th in the world. Despite its truly enormous size and numerous terminals, everything was so perfectly organized that even the day after the strike—when a huge number of passengers and chaos were expected—I actually managed to get through all the security checks in the same amount of time it took me to depart from Sofia Airport, Terminal 1! Although my flight was from Paris to Nairobi, Kenya, I had to show the ground staff that I had a visa for my final destination—the Republic of South Africa.
For a map of the terminals at Charles de Gaulle Airport, see HERE. The airport offers a free shuttle bus that stops at all terminals—see more information HERE.
Africa, I'm coming!
First African Flight
My flight with Air France AF 814 from Paris to Nairobi was taking off from Terminal E. The plane was a Boing 787. When checking in online, I chose a window seat. I stood in one row with a negro like the middle seat was empty. Perfect! There were 30-40% white passengers on the flight, the crew was white, so I felt extremely comfortable and safe. The direct transition from the world of whites to the world of blacks was missing, but everything became very smooth so that I wouldn't be fooled. 🙂
In the meantime, I was a birthday girl on that very day - 26.04! I spent 8 hours of my birthday over the clouds and closer to God according to the theory of flat earth. 🙂 The flight started with a fun safety clip on the seat screens. The food on board included lunch (chicken or couscous with vegetables) + afternoon snack in a basket (mini sandwich and mini juice). There was also water, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on request. The plane was modern - in addition to screens for tracking the route and watching movies, there was also a quick charge socket, a paid WiFi on board, and most of all I liked the extra that I could adjust how light or dark the porthole (window) was. Perfect flight. The only thing I couldn't see was the Sahara desert from above, first because there was a wind that lifted the sand and looked like fog and nothing was visible. And secondly, because the pilot for some reason almost did not pass over the Sahara, but through the Nile River, the Red Sea and Ethiopia. Also to add that we flew right over Venice. In the days around my departure there was sand from the Sahara that was floating towards the Balkans. One morning I even woke up with orange sand on the car, and in Athens, I see on the news that the sky had turned orange. Well, crossing the Mediterranean Sea I saw many of those orange clouds of sand drifting from Africa to Europe.
The flight ended with a small gift from one of Air France's flight attendants - a kit with a travel gear, a notebook, a divider and a key chain. All branded with the airline logo. This was a bit of a begging gift, as when I was boarding, I mentioned to this same stewardess that I was a birthday girl and whether we could upgrade my seat on the plane and get put in business or premium class for example. Unfortunately, there were no vacancies there, so I received subject gifts. Thanks Air France!
Like my page on Facebook to be the first to learn about new travelogues and adventures!
Miscellaneous thoughts about niggers
I will be as honest as possible. In my life, I have had no contact with people of the Negroid race, except for one boy in elementary school, with whom we were distant friends. Whether it was from movies, they were afraid of the unknown and the different, I was afraid of what would happen in Africa with a young, white and blond woman like me.
Observing the negroes at the airport and in the plane, I tried to calm down and I think I really succeeded. There was a family with children who cried almost during the entire flight. There was a businessman, you have costumed elegant negroes, couples, families, there were young people who watched the entire library of movies on board... So they were all and are the most ordinary people like all of us. Their hearts are just as sensitive as ours. Or sometimes just as proud - as ours. They need the same things we need. Leather is just an appearance, just a color.
Nairobi
The international airport in Nairobi was quite simple - it looked like Terminal 1 of Sofia Airport. Passport inspection was very slow because they were taking prints from all the fingers of both hands. For a short-term stay, Bulgarians do not need a visa to enter Kenya, the only thing it needed to provide with their passport was an ETA-QR code. This code is obtained by filling in advance a few days before the travel form online and paying the $30 fee. see here
It was not clear how and when I left the airport, but I ended up outside and the driver was waiting for me with a sign with my name on. I had booked a transfer through Booking.com from the airport to the hotel and back the next day. The driver's name was William Makora and he was very sweet-talking. He shared that the majority of uneducated Kenyans receive a little at $300 a month in salary, while those with some kind of high school or completed university receive significantly more. I recommend it for transfers - you can write to it on WhatsApp at +254 723 853340.
In the dark in Nairobi, a dozen not very tall skyscrapers were shining. Main roads are fine. From the arrival plane I saw that in the middle of the metropolis Nairobi had a completely black and huge stain. It turned out to be the Nairobi National Park, where some wild animals can be seen. Imagine - 117 sq. km. A full dark in the middle of a metropolis!
The hotel I had booked through Booking was called Joy Palace Hotel (see here), but there was nothing royal about it. Instead of a single room booked, they gave me a double with the widest double bed I've ever seen for free! 🙂 You open the room and the only thing you see was this giga mega large bed. A free bottle of mineral water was provided, but overall hygiene was not good. The bulbs of the lamps were very weak, probably due to a low power supply, and the shower had a water heater. The location of the hotel was supposedly among the most recommended places for tourists in Nairobi from a safety point of view, but when I arrived at the hotel in the dark, it didn't seem very good to me. Separately, there was a bar nearby whose music resounded until after midnight.
The next morning I had to wake up a little before 4:00. For my flight from 7:30. To Johannesburg, who wasn't sure if it wasn't even from 6:30 a.m. I set the alarm, but what woke me up was the dispatcher, informing me that the taxi driver was already standing in front of the hotel waiting for me. Then followed the fastest dressing in the world and vacating the room – 5 minutes!
Meanwhile, that night while I was sleeping, Facebook had sent me a flood notification in Kenya and wanted me to confirm that I was in a safe place. In a dream, I have ticked that I am safe, checking to see if the bed is swimming. Subsequently, however, this check of mine was posted as a Facebook status and all acquaintances and strangers already knew where I was and what I was. My mother was so startled that until the end of my trip she constantly informed me about the situation with the floods in Kenya... The real situation was that there were nearly 80 victims from river overflows and over 130,000 people were affected. When we took off by plane to Johannesburg, we flew right over such a very overflowing river, and there was definitely damage to several houses and many fields.
Also, the boundaries of the national parks were clearly visible from an airplane. You just can't confuse them - they are much greener and 99% undeveloped.
To the next travelogue –> Johannesburg: Tribal Stories
–> Browse and book a budget hotel in Nairobi at a discount. see here!
