safe arrival in Nairobi

I arrived safely in Nairobi thursday night at 8pm, exactly 24 hours after leaving Toronto, including a time change of 8 hours ahead. My flight left Toronto 2 hours late at 8pm due to the snow. It was a smooth 6 hour flight to Amsterdam where I had a couple of hours before my next flight. This flight also left a little late but wasn't nearly full. I had a window seat with an empty seat to my left and then a nun in the aisle seat. My first flight was full and only had larger strategically placed TV's instead of the personal TV on the back of the chair, which is what I've become used to. Thankfully the second flight had the personal screens with mass movies to choose from. I watched Step Brothers, slept and then watched Wanted. The food was the usual ok airline food. Usually I don't care what it is because I'm so hungry!
After landing in Nairobi I got my Visa for Kenya and then took a taxi to Terminal Hotel. I was very surprised by the lack of hassle at the airport, no one bothering me for a taxi or anything. It is almost summer in Kenya and the weather is very comfortable. It's around 26 C during the day and 16 C at night. Most people would think these are ideal temperatures and I'm not complaining compared to the snow we had when I left, but as I usually say ' could be a little warmer!' The reason for the milder temps. is that Kenya and most of East Africa inland from the coast is on a plateau. Most areas are about 1000M in elevation which tempers the 'should be' steamy tropical climate. My taxi driver last night said that Jun, July and August it gets cold at night, probably around 10 C sometimes.
I got up at 8am this morning after a 10 hour sleep but it wasn't a heavy sleep. I kept waking up every few hours for a pee and a drink. I think the reason for the unsteady sleep was that I was going to bed at 2pm Canadian time, not exactly when I would be hitting the bed back home! It will take my body days to acclimatize. I read somewhere that it takes the body one day for every time zone crossed to be fully acclimatized.
I got up at 8am because the front desk guy said it was a good time to get up to start looking for safaris, which is why I'm here. He arranged for a friend of his to take me around to a bunch of tour operators, no pressure if I don't like one of them. My city guide's name was Alex. We went to a bunch of places and after breakfast I joined a 4 day tour of Masai Mara leaving saturday. I would be joining 2 others who were already booked. Masai Mara is the Kenya section of the famous Serengeti plains in Tanzania and one of the best places for wildlife in Kenya.
As for Nairobi, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I don't really like it but I've been in much worse capital cities. No one was hassling me, maybe because I was with Alex, I'm not sure, but I didn't see many beggars and the city is surprisingly clean of litter. I don't think it's because Kenyan's don't litter but because the city has a budget to pay people to keep the city clean. It felt nice not to be dodging litter around the streets. The city has a lot of tall buildings and also a lot of nice trees, many of which were in flower.
The major hassle I experienced was trying to change Travellers cheques. Alex and I went to tons of places before I found one that would change them. After booking my safari I relaxed in my room. My room is large with soft bed, private bath, towel, toilet paper, soap and desk. It's a nice room but at $19, a little more than I wanted to spend but I'm treating myself for my first 2 nights.
There's a great place to eat right across from my hotel and I had a huge breakfast of toast, sausage, omelette and home fries for $4, again, not supercheap but will do for the first day.
Sana Highland Expeditions picks me up saturday morning at 9am for my safari. They will drop me in Nakuru town so I don't have to come back to Nairobi. I will have more to write after my safari. Bye for now.
Dan