Safari Nzuri – East Africa

I have often said that traveling to East Africa is an adventure.   That’s because Cathy and I have delayed, bumped, canceled, and some other things I can’t remember from airline flights.   The usual suspect has been in-country flights.   But this time, it started at JFK when I checked in for the flight to Dubai.   Just before the ticketing agent was going to print and hand me my boarding pass, I got a phone call from an airline representative.   He explained that there was a problem with the connecting flight from Dubai to Nairobi and that I should not check-in for my flight to Dubai.   Apparently, there was an unexpected labor strike at the Nairobi Airport that morning, which caused a cancelation of the connecting flight.   

So here I was, stuck at JFK with no ride available to go home. I thought quickly and asked if I could just get to Dubai and book a later flight to Nairobi, hopeful that the strike would be a temporary problem. It took a little negotiating, but it was agreed that I would go to Dubai on my original flight, take a hotel room there, and see what happens with the Nairobi issue.   

The flight was excellent, as usual, with this particular airline. During the flight, I communicated with Cathy about the issue and used the inflight Internet to research hotels near Dubai airport and keep tabs on the labor strike in Nairobi. Happily, the labor union and Kenyan government worked things out quickly and ended the strike while I was flying over the Atlantic.   I am now rebooked for an afternoon flight tomorrow (9/13).   And there is a silver lining, too!  I’ll meet with David Shepley this evening (Fr. Joe’s son).  He lives in Dubai, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to visit with him.

I will post again when I get to Kisumu, my final destination in Kenya, for the first three weeks of my trip.