As the plane touched down in Nairobi we looked out the windows at the vast dry plains, smoky in the early morning light. Choking on the diesel and carbon monoxide, we stepped out of the airport. "You'll need to put your bags out of sight, down between the seats," our driver said. "There are some... funny guys around here." A couple of men who were prowling the parking lots chewing on miira insisted on hoisting our bags up to the window of the van. It only took about ten seconds and we easily could have done it ourselves, but they barged in the way and then proceeded to demand tips. Welcome to Kenya!

The city of Nairobi is streaked black with the stains of diesel exhaust and littered with half-completed buildings of bare concrete surrounded by decaying scaffolds of wooden sticks. Many of them are abandoned, construction having stopped years ago when the money ran out. In the city center, there are a few tall buildings where a bustling commerce goes on above the shops at street level. The city is crowded with cars, with massive trucks bearing decidedly unsettling "Student Driver" placards trundling along amidst the barely controlled chaos of the streets. Children look in through the windows of the cars at every intersection, selling miscellaneous junk and begging for money or food when they see that the passengers are white. The sidewalks are busy with people and dotted with the occasional beggars who will ask for your shoes.

We pulled up to the corner of a large building downtown and were whisked inside with our baggage into a beautifully clean and modern building, the lobby housing an internet cafe and the whole place in dramatic conflict with the dirt and debris of the street. Upstairs, we sorted out our gear for Kilimanjaro and then we were off.

After a few brief stops in town in an unsuccessful search for a browning filter for Kris's 200mm lens, the shuttle bus drove down through the desert to Arusha. As we passed through ramshackle villages, we were struck by the numbers of listless people, sitting in small groups alongside the road. After a couple of hours, the jet lag began to take its toll and we collapsed into sleep. At the Tanzanian border colorfully dressed locals crowded the bus, trying to sell beads and carvings to us through the windows. At last we pulled into the L'Oasis lodge in Arusha.

After two solid days of flying and sitting around in airports, our jetlag was pretty severe and so we ended up lying awake most of the night. The next morning, our first full day in Africa, we started our journey to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

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