Day 1: Nairobi

Our first day in Africa was spent in Nairobi. We woke in the morning and had breakfast at the hotel, had a nice shower, and stopped by a local internet cafe. We spent a good part of the day traveling around the city by foot. We passed by multiple government offices, a tomb of Kenya's first president (where I got yelled at for taking a picture), and a memorial for the US Embassy which was bombed in 1998.

Around two oclock in the afternoon we barely made it to grand rounds at the hospital, which was being put on by Colleen's boss. He was amazed that we made it there almost on-time. The talk was about wound healing and surgery in Africa. Dr. Tarpley is apparently known for his sayings, and a few of the things he said during grand rounds I wrote a couple in my book: "Get in the habit of having good habits." and "Surgery needs to be your wife or your mistress." He spent some time expounding on the huge role that surgery can have in Africa in particular, and how severe the shortage of available surgeons is.

After grand rounds we walked (and it was a hike) back to our hotel. The hospital had been sort of on the outskirts of the city so we really got to see a ton this way. Not wanting to waste time, we decided to try to make it to Tanzania that night, even though Maggie, Dr. Tarpley's wife, insisted that we not allow ourselves to be on the road after dark. We failed in our promise.

We grabbed our bags and met at an area of the city that Said knew well (Said knew all of Nairobi well it seems and he was guiding us for most of the day). Colleen had psychologically prepared me for the coming trip. She intimated that it might be the most painful 4-5 hours of my life. It wasn't comfortable, thats for sure. We crammed into this ridiculously small and under-ventilated van and made our way to Tanzania out of Nairobi. The traffic was awful, the roads horrendous, the carbon monoxide suffocating, and the passengers unrestrained (no seat belts). Fortunately, thanks to Colleen's warning, I was prepared mentally and we made it through without any issues. I have a video of one segment of the car ride...it is absurd how bumpy it was.

When we finally made it to the border of Kenya and Tanzania it was dark, but we got a visa and crossed without much difficulty. We then switched vehicles and packed into a van. It was slightly more comfortable. The remaining two hours were less eventful; traffic was less and the road wasn't terrible for the most park. And some zebras crossed in front of us, which I thought was neat.

We arrived at the drop point and were met by Said's family in their car. A short drive later and we were at their home, where I had a pleasant bucket shower and my own bed to sleep in.