I woke at 4.30am rather easily due to the excitement of my impending trip to Nairobi. With two bags packed, by gemma I must add!, I tentatively said farewell as my father in law, Joe, picked me up to take me to Heathrow. A car accident on the m25 slowed down the journey so luckily we left at 6am! We made it to heathrow in good time however getting through the airport security at terminal 5 nice and quickly. With an hour to spare I bought a magazine and a couple of books one being by John Green who has several highly successful youtube channels. These books never had a chance of being read however due to the entertaining flight I had.
I had checked in to my flight the night before online choosing a seat near the back by the window. My choice in seat turned out to be a stroke of luck as I boarded the plane and set next to chap called Rob. Rob it turns out is from Northolt and his parents are from Kenya. He was travelling to Nairobi to attend a family wedding. After introducing myself and briefly explaining what my plans were I found out he too was an IT consultant for a firm that makes accountancy software. Plenty of laughing and banter ensued making the eight hour flight seem like a quick trip to London.
Our genius choice of seats with extra legroom and stones throw access to the toilets became less genius as we were the last off the plane of course! Rob (family works for the airline i must add) tells me, which wasnt reported in the media, that the arrivals area at Nairobi airport was burnt down by a disgruntled shop owner there who was forced to sell up as a larger company moved in. Luckily no one was hurt by the fire and the new, although temporary, arrivals area was actually a darn site better. Immigration was quick and the bags started flowing as soon as we reached the conveyors. Rob waited with his bag while I patiently waited for my two bags. Hooray I whisper as I see my bags meander round towards me. With bags in tow we gallantly march off to find my driver and good friend John. I had explained to Rob how I came to know John and insisted he meets him after or before we both enjoy a cigarette which Rob and I was yearning for desperately.
"I throw caution to the wind and grab him by the shoulder saying “Guess who John!!” A startled John spins around looking shocked initially then bursting with laughter as a signature John bear hug ensues. We laugh loudly and shake hands as he shows me my name placard. He explains to me he was try"
I walk through the all too familiar, when exiting an airport, sea of name placards with each driver jostling to make the name of their customer visible to the bewildered and somewhat disheveled passengers. My eyes meander through the various placards of David Giles, Rob Thuke etc non bearing the name of yours truly. So we walk through and enjoy a cigarette together while I gaze over at the various drivers my sights are locked onto an all too familiar army jumper that gave rise to me calling John ‘The General’. With relief and excitement I point to John saying to Rob “There he is!” John is facing away of course so I sneak up behind trying to make sure that it really is him or this could be rather embarrassing. I throw caution to the wind and grab him by the shoulder saying “Guess who John!!” A startled John spins around looking shocked initially then bursting with laughter as a signature John bear hug ensues. We laugh loudly and shake hands as he shows me my name placard. He explains to me he was trying to hide from me so he could sneak up on me!! Well it turns out John I beat you to it!! With one point to me he promises he will get me back at some point this week! I introduce him to Rob which then turns into a farewell and an exchange of numbers and email addresses. Rob has a cousin who is involved in art so we hope to stay in touch. I wish him well and tell him not to get too drunk at the wedding which we both laugh off as a ridiculous statement.
I had emailed John saying I would probably have my camera out to video our reuninion so he was disappointed to see no camera as I was carrying two bags. We get to the car and to my joy john insists we re enact it for the sake of the camera and for prosperity. Its pretty dark so we awkwardly high five missing a couple of times which causes fits of laughter. I’m so pleased to see John again and John can’t believe that “Derrick” is really here. He asks after Gemma as we reminisce about our last trip here he says how beautiful and lovely Gemma is and is really sad that she can’t be here also.I explain how I wouldn’t be able to pack and prepare for this trip without her help impeccable memory for what provisions I will need. I also tell John he must replace, temporarily Gemmas role and make sure I don’t forget anything to which we both chuckle. The 40 minute trip to the hotel was full of laughter and catching up over each others respective lives over 12 months.
We eventually find the hotel but unfortunately there is no bar so we head off to have a quick drink/night cap at a local bar before a well earned sleep and rest before we meet again to make our plans for the week. We return back to the hotel and I present John with his T-Shirt’s. He loves them and we take a few silly photos before saying goodnight eagerly looking forward to the adventure ahead of us.
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