After I got checked into the right hotel, and got a shower and changed clothes, I went downstairs to see if any of the Administration were down for breakfast. They were leaving to go up to Nakuru a day before the rest of us would come up. I was able to see Mr. Horchak and Mr. Franks and their wives just before they left to get ready.

But I also was also able to see Daniel Harper. Like me, he was spending the night in Nairobi and would go up the next day. He had a few things to do, and said he’d call me in a little bit and we could talk.

One of the most important things to adjusting to big time changes is to stay up until normal time to go to bed in your new location. So much as I wanted to just go to sleep, I knew I couldn’t. I got some work done, and took just a 15 min nap assuming it would not disrupt my sleep tonight.

Daniel called and asked if I’d like to take a tour of a coffee plantation. They grow a lot of very good coffee here, and Fairview Estate coffee plantation gives tours that shows how it grows, how they process it, and ends with a coffee tasting as well as coffee and cookies. It sounded interesting, and besides, anything to do with coffee has to be a good way to stay awake until I can go to bed!

When we got signed in we were told there would be three others who would join us, but they were running a few minutes late. It turned out to be a French couple and their grown son. They live in the NW part of the US, and the son is currently living and working in Kenya. They’d come for a visit.

The tour was quite interesting, although with my jet lag and exhaustion I had some difficulty paying as much attention as I wanted to. When we found a tree with red berries on it (referred to as cherries) our guide invited us to pick one and chew on it. The red outside is rather sweet, but the inner bean at this raw stage had surprisingly almost no taste at all.

She took us around to show the machines that take off the outside, and then they are sorted, roasted, sorted again, and moved toward packaging. In the tasting room she explained the different elements of some of the coffees and allowed us to taste some dark roast and medium roasts. There was a distinct difference!

Finally, we moved to a covered table and chairs and they brought two urns of fresh coffee and (except yours truly) Daniel and this family enjoyed a lively and somewhat animated conversation. I didn’t understand very much, but it was a bit entertaining to listen to the passion in their speech, and expressions on their faces. It seemed they all enjoyed it greatly!

Daniel and I had perhaps a half mile walk back to the pavement where we could catch a cab. Just a little way into the walk the French family drove up behind us in their car, and offered to give us a lift part way. When the son found out where we were going, he said he would drive to the point where his route would begin to take us further away. We gratefully accepted the ride!

I had no data for some reason, but Daniel did, so he was able to call an Uber for us. I actually took two different tries, because the first driver was never able to find us! We are in front of a petrol station at a major intersection, so if he couldn’t find that, I’m not very confident he could get us to the restaurant we wanted anyway!

The second Uber driver arrived right away, and he knew where the Carnivore Restaurant was located, so off we went!

I’ve been told the Carnivore is somewhat of an iconic place to eat in Nairobi. As the name implies, it is known for meat! We arrived and were seated in a pleasant atmosphere. We get a salad and starter. There is a lazy susan of sorts in the middle of the table with various sauces on it. There was a mint jelly, creamy garlic, bar-b-que sauce, spicy pepper sauce and more. These are each intended for different kinds of meats.

And then the meats started coming. There is a little flag on top of the lazy susan, and as long as that flag is standing up, waiters keep coming by with more meats. It is all you can eat, so they keep coming until you “yield” by laying down your flag!

Some of the options offered including pork, alligator meatballs and such we politely declined. But the large legs of beef, an entire turkey, chicken and more that kept coming by were very enticing – and we both accepted slabs and chunks of various meats multiple times as they kept coming by!

At one point a Kenyan drum and dance band set up right beside our table and played a song. It was entertaining, but all conversation had to stop while they were playing!

Finally, we had to yield. Besides, Daniel’s wife, Cindy, was flying in this evening, and he had to get back to he airport in time. So we headed out to summon another Uber, feeling much like we wouldn’t need to eat again until next week…

At the end of a very long day, I made my way up to my room ready to collapse into bed as Daniel went on to the airport. But before I could crawl into bed, I got a call from our group from Ghana. They were at the airport, and due to one passport that would expire in 5 months, they need a letter from me before they would allow him on the plane. After a couple of calls, and talking directly to the airport official to get what he wanted, I was able to send the letter over by email. And with that, all was good, and they were all allowed on board.

Satisfied with that, and completely exhausted, I didn’t just drift off to sleep, I think I plunged headlong into it – and slept well all night long!