Having clocked up over 40hrs I thought it best whilst in Nairobi to remove the cowlings and have a good look at the engine. Apart from a broken exhaust bracket (which a very helpful team at the airport helped mend) everything else was good. 25 hours left to Cape Town fingers crossed.
Whilst in Nairobi I came across the Flipflopi boat. It is made of plastic collected along the beaches of Kenya, and the outside covered in old flip flops hence the name. Earlier this year it sailed from the Kenyan Island of Lamu to the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, raising awareness around the issue of marine plastic pollution and serving as a catalyst for action on the ground. Great idea !
I was fortunate enough to be able to park at the Aero Club of East Africa which is at the far end of Nairobi Wilson Airport. Everyone made me feel really welcome and couldn’t have done more to help me prepare for my next leg. The Aero Club is one of the oldest in the world dating back to 1927. The history was amazing, all displayed on the walls around the club house. Thank you to everyone would love to come back some day !
Thanks to all at Nairobi Wilson airport !
Nairobi Wilson airport reportedly one of the busiest airports in Africa. As I got within range I called on the radio to ask for joining instructions. They had helicopters coming in and had aircraft arriving and departing from two different runways, what could go wrong ! I mentioned over the radio early on that I was not familiar with the airfield, I knew I had to look for a monastery and a racecourse to report at but couldn’t see them anywhere. I did however manage to spot what I thought was the airport in the distance. They cleared me left base and asked me to report finals 07 number two. As I tracked down finals I looked ahead to try and see the other aircraft. I spotted it and could see it was a Cessna caravan and I was starting to catch it. I called the tower and explained there was insufficient separation between myself and the other aircraft and asked if I should go around, he replied no please continue. I wasn’t sure if he had heard me correctly but then noticed the aircraft in front going around. A great experience to land at such a busy airport.
The local people are mainly nomads of the Turkana tribe and derive their livelihood by looking after indigenous cattle. It used to be a vibrant town teeming with activity, business between locals and refugees from Sudan was booming. Today the town owes its growth to the presence of the United Nations agencies and other NGO’s that established bases in the region to assist victims of the Sudan civil war. 90km south of Lokichogio is Kakuma, one of the largest refugee camps in Kenya. Refugees from Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia the DRC, and several other surrounding countries can be found here.
One of the most remote locations in the world I have ever been to, but happen to stumble across a good friend Sam Rutherford (Director and owner of Prepare2Go) who helped mastermind this trip in terms of preparation, routing and the logistics of getting fuel to the remote landing locations. Sam happened to be helping ferry a new Tecnam aircraft from the factory in Italy to the Seychelles. We had spoken and I knew he was routing down through Africa but what are the chances ! Great to see you Sam, I thought you were checking up on me !
