Cordes Travels

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Eldoret

It's good to be back in the hustle and bustle of Eldoret!

Ha! Made you look! The hospital ended up providing me an ambulance to go to the airport to pick up the luggage. Good news is we have most of the luggage. Bad news is there is still one piece missing. It should come tomorrow...

Tuesday morning

This morning we came to the hospital and dispersed. I'm with people from the hospital's "Transport" office. They have agreed to help get the luggage. A large van is supposedly on the way to assist me. I received text messages from Kenya Airways last night saying that they have 13 of our 14 missing bags and they should be at the Eldoret airport this morning.

Theresa is trying to meet up with the hospital's Communications folks. The President of Kenya is flying in this morning to dedicate the new cancer center. Theresa hopes to be able to write some articles for the "Gazetti", the IU-Kenya newsletter. Hmmm. I need to go to the airport and pick up a ton of luggage when the president's arriving. No chance of delays with this plan.

There are many, many patients waiting outside the ENT clinic, waiting to be seen by our team. The ENT team will first visit today's scheduled surgery patients who were admitted to the ward last night. That's the sequence of events for surgery here. Get admitted the day before, get any needed "investigations" (tests), and be ready for surgery the following day.

Photo is of Transport office folks deciding how to help me.

Monday, February 3, 2014

First Tusker

Finally enjoying our first Tusker! Almost 24 hours later than expected.

Hail!

Shortly after arriving, we had a brief thunderstorm with small hail. You can see hail in the picture if you look closely.

Arrived at IU House!

Long/Lat coordinates provided if you want to plug into google search for map.

On the road

We stopped for lunch in the bustling city of Nakuru and are back on the road. Most of the areas we are now driving through are more rural and agricultural. We're on a good road and it's a warm, beautiful day. In some areas, the locals are selling their produce roadside - or in between lanes at an intersection - or most conveniently, at the speed-bumps where you must slow down. They are selling potatoes, carrots, cabbages, honey, passionfruit, and more. Lower picture is of potatoes for sale.

Zebras

We just saw some zebras along the road.

On the road, without luggage

We are in our van heading from Nairobi to Eldoret. However, the 14 checked bags from Indianapolis did not make it. We are told they will arrive in Nairobi Monday night and then Eldoret Tuesday morning. So the medical team will have to make due with local supplies for at least a day. And no fresh clothes for most of us.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

We have landed in Nairobi!

Waiting for departure to Nairobi

We killed a few hours in Amsterdam during our 10 hour layover. We are now back at the airport waiting to go through security at our terminal. Boarding will begin soon and we depart in 2 hours. Our current plan is to try to get some sleep on this flight. The Superbowl will start and end during this flight. We will land at 7:00am Monday Nairobi time, 11:00pm Sunday Eastern time. It will take us an hour or two to get through immigration and customs and get our luggage. We couldn't get a flight departing for Eldoret until 5:00pm so we opted to get a driver and go by road. We hope to arrive by 3:00 Monday afternoon. The new plan is to start the medical work on Tuesday morning instead of Monday afternoon.

Awesome hot chocolates

Nice. After the boat ride. Mmmmm.

Canal boat ride

We took a one hour tour on a canal boat and took in the sights.

Bicycle garage

Just the right size!

Must be in Amsterdam

Excursion in Amsterdam

We have arrived in Amsterdam and because of the delays, we have a 10 hour layover. So we will make the best of it. We are storing our carry-ons in lockers and are leaving the airport for a boat/canal excursion.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

On plane in Detroit

Middle seats, full flight.

Hanging out in Detroit

Me and "the most interesting man in the world".

Detroit

Five of us have made it from Indy to Detroit. Dr. Jack Coleman decided to avoid the long layovers, stay in Indy tonight, and retry the original itinerary tomorrow. The rest of the Indy crew is now at the Detroit airport. Here's Diana (nurse, veteran of many trips) and Joel (medical student) in the first picture and Theresa (IU-Kenya office) and Susan in the second picture. Dr. Bruce and Kathi (nurse) Campbell are coming from Milwaukee. They are also late and missed their connections so they will be catching up with us in a couple hours in Detroit and join our itinerary the rest of the way. Dr Deb Tucci is traveling a totally different itinerary from Raleigh, NC, so she will be unaffected by this weather.

Uh oh. More delays

So we will arrive in Detroit too late for our flight to Amsterdam. And then the next flight to Amsterdam is already oversold. So we will leave Detroit 4 hours later and then have a 10 hour layover in Amsterdam, and finally arrive in Nairobi early Monday morning, 11 hours later than our original schedule. We will miss our Monday morning flight to Eldoret. I spoke with our travel agent, but it's 10pm Saturday night in Kenya and she doesn't know yet how she'll get us there. We will just keep trying to make our way there and we will get there eventually!

Delay

Well, the weather is rather... cruddy, and our first flight is delayed a bit. Hopefully this ain't a sign of things to come!

Last call for American food

Lunch at Harry & Izzy's steakhouse at the Indy airport. Last chance for American food for two weeks. But don't worry, we will eat plenty well in Kenya.

Indy airport

Arriving at the Indy airport. Susan and Diana looking over the ridiculous amount of luggage we brought. Ten checked bags and three full carry-ons for the three of us. Lots of medical supplies! We can check 3 bags each due to frequent flyer status with Delta. We will deal with the one extra bag.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Looking forward to our upcoming trip to Kenya

We leave for Kenya on Saturday, February 1. We will arrive in Eldoret the morning of Monday, Feb 3. Looking forward to seeing old friends and warm weather!