Finally I was clean and waiting at my gate at the airport eating some delightful snacks and thinking about a million random things at once. I boarded the plane and sat next to an older women wearing a few crosses that reminded me of bling I used to see in LA; she was the Scottish version of my Grandma Mc. She was absolutely delightful (although the relatively thick accent caused me to miss 20% of what she said), and she drank a couple of “ginger beers” and bought her house sitter a carton of cigarettes – mind you she was sure to tell me she did not smoke! I helped her with the movie options as she chose to watch the Rock in Tooth Fairy and some other flick I did not know. Several hours later I had made a dent in my Grisham book and slept for a mere three hours. I was in London for my 12 hour layover!
Thanks to my prior trip a year and a half ago I had my tube map and ticket as well as some cash. The customs line was insanely long but the Grisham book was entertaining as was the young eclectic guy from the US telling his Canadian girl that the US became independent in the 1800s. I refrained from commenting on the misinformation as I shuffled along in line. I was finally out of the airport and on my way to Wimbledon! 2 trains later, a few chapters in my book, free strawberries, and a long queue as they call it I was inside Wimbledon just as the matches started at noon.
I spent two hours wandering the grounds, taking pictures, and watching a women’s double match. Meghann Shaughnessy of the USA and Virgina Rouano Pascual of Spain defeated two women from Belarus. Watching women’s doubles live is great times. The emotions ran high and the mind games were extensive! The women from Belarus screamed in anger in their native language and one of them slammed her racket so many times the officiating chair had to say “Katerina mind the grass” twice! It was hilarious when a British woman sitting near me asked “are they Russian” after a similar episode. I had to chuckle as I thought of Natasha and nearly said “Niet!”
Anyway, I eventually found my good friend Lisa at the gate, and she was able to get a ticket likely due to the 3PM England World Cup match. We wandered around further and took entertaining pictures as we caught up on life. The eleven hour record setting marathon match featuring US player John Isner was being played, and it was at least 30 games to 30 in the fifth set when I last saw it before leaving the arena. It was time to head back to the airport for my next overnight flight to Kenya.
Two screaming children and eight hours later we arrived in Nairobi. I may have slept four hours. I managed to get my Kenya visa and praised God as I found my bag. Another long layover and a 45 minute flight and I had made it to Mombasa (population 880,000 according to a sign) – my home for the next month. I eventually met with Jackie, the owner of GSE Ecotours and my client. She was extremely kind and drove me around to my lodging options for the week and helped me get groceries. I settled on a safe spacious apartment with a little hallway kitchen and a nice pool; it is in a “posh” (do not think 5 star LA posh though) area of Mombasa called Nyali.
I got settled in and slept a full night woke up for a bit and then slept until 2PM. I was caught up on sleep and no longer felt brain dead. Jackie was supposed to come get me to get internet and a phone, but after some monsoon rains and several meetings she rescheduled for Saturday AM. I managed to get some work done for the remainder of the day and to catch some World Cup.
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