From the Plane

What's below was originally written on the flight in to Nairobi, but I haven't really had the chance to post it until now.  As a teaser, today was also eventful, however I still need some time to process before I post anything about it.  Hopefully more will come soon.

Kenya now lies below me, or at so the least the flight tracker on the screen in front of me says.  I am unable to verify this fact, partly due to my aisle seat, but even standing to give myself a better angle, nothing is distinguishable below.  I see neither lights nor roads, and given the darkness, have no way of knowing if this is simply because there isn’t anything to see, or if cloud cover obscures my view.

I desperately want to see something.  Anything to prove to myself that after four years it is really Kenya which lies below, that we are in fact only about 40 minutes from landing in Nairobi.  Alas, my field of view is too limited.  I am tempted to ask the amiable Danish couple sitting to my left, but then the map displays again, and it looks like we are over a large lake, whose name, to my chagrin, is unknown to me. It appears to be part of the greater rift valley—a long and comparatively narrow body of water running roughly North-North-West.

 

I find myself for the first time really wishing that our original flight plans had held—not to say that we had any choice, and certainly it seemed a blessing at the time—one fewer layover in exchange for only an extra two hours of total travel time.  Alas, I did not think about the setting of the sun, nor do I think anyone else much considered the idea. 

I have been struggling to maintain consciousness throughout this flight, but have been doing my best to force myself through so that I might wake tomorrow largely synchronized to Nairobi time—we should be landing at around 8:10 PM, so hopefully there will be no plans for the night, and I can just concentrate on hanging on for a few more hours, though at this moment I am not sure how I will do so; caffeine seems to have lost its effectiveness for the moment, but at least I was able to make it through The Hunger Games—both the first book at the movie.

Yes, I know, I am WAY behind.

Regardless, I suppose that begins both the book and movie list for the year.  Hopefully no more than one of those lists will get too much more serious.