This day should be titled “The Day We Waited At The Nairobi Airport” because, although Bujumbura is TECHNICALLY only 6 hours away by plane, we were in transit from 6 in the morning until 2 in the morning the next day. When we arrived in Nairobi that morning I remember thinking, “How are we going to spend 8 hours here?” There were people wall to wall. Sleeping on floors, stuffed in corners, taking up every single restaurant table. There was nowhere clean to set Neo down and my arms were killing me! Entering the airport from the beautiful day outside felt like entering a really dark tunnel stuffed with hot sweaty people. We were in Dr. Seuss’ The Waiting Place. Then the dear God above smiled on us and we discovered that THERE IS A KIDDIES PLAYROOM in the Nairobi airport! I almost cried I was so happy. I could set Neo down! It was quiet! His hands and feet were covered in dirt from the grotty carpet, but who cares about that?
Midnight finally came and we were waiting down in a dirty dank dungeon like boarding area (it was only fitting at that point) for our plane to arrive. Little did we know, we were going to be waiting for planes to arrive a lot in the coming week. Finally, the flight went off without a hitch.
As we arrived in Bujumbura’s tiny airport and a crabby man checked our passports and yellow fever cards I felt a weighty anticipation. What if I didn’t like it here? What if communication and life were just too hard for me? What if I was the reason our plan for an adventurous life failed?
When we walked out and met our hosts their first question was, “You are not speaking French?” My heart dropped into my stomach. How would we survive here? We slept a short night on a disgusting bed with Neo rolling around between us… and the rest is for tomorrow.
TRAVEL TIP
Whenever you are traveling in third world countries it is a great idea to pack your own duvet cover (or, for you Americans, sew two top sheets together) to sleep inside like a sleeping bag. Just pop it on top of the existing bedding and “viola” you feel clean and snug. Pack your own pillow cases as well, and in our case, we should have even packed pillows. These are hard to come by in Burundi.
Kristy Carlson 