Nomadic Backpacker makes an emotional return to Naivasha
I spent 105 days on lockdown in Naivasha during the pandemic. Finally I return to Guest House Jane, my home for all those days
Backpacking in Kenya: Crossing the Equator at Maseno
Equator Marker at Maseno, Kenya, my 3rd visit to 0 degrees latitude
Kenya ATM Fees - 7 Banks With No Withdrawal Charges
Updated to include a total of 7 ATMs in Kenya with free cash withdrawals.
Lockdown in Kenya during the Covid Pandemic
It's been 3 years since I was on Lockdown in Kenya.
It was with some degree of luck that I had decided to leave West Africa and head to East Africa. At that point, Africa was pretty much Covid Free but that quickly changed.
I arrived in Kenya on March 12, 2020 getting my Kenya Visa on Arrival easily enough. I spent 3 nights in Nairobi before heading to Naivasha. Little did I know that I would be stuck there for 105 days.
In the first week, I visited the Crescent Island Game Sanctuary:
It was with some degree of luck that I had decided to leave West Africa and head to East Africa. At that point, Africa was pretty much Covid Free but that quickly changed.
I arrived in Kenya on March 12, 2020 getting my Kenya Visa on Arrival easily enough. I spent 3 nights in Nairobi before heading to Naivasha. Little did I know that I would be stuck there for 105 days.
In the first week, I visited the Crescent Island Game Sanctuary:
On March 16 they blocked entry to all non-residents. The government recommended that those had arrived in the last weeks, isolate.
Which I did.
March 25, the last scheduled KLM departed and then they shut the country down. The airport was shut and all land borders closed down.
They closed down the Nairobi Metropolitan area. No traffic in or out. The same with the 3 counties on the coast. This basically paralysed the country.
They implemented a nightly curfew from 7 pm until 7 am. The police patrolled. Anyone who violated the rules had to spend the night in a cell and pay 200 USD. Quite the incentive.
By day, things were pretty much normal. Although the buses and matatus had to run at 50% capacity. In the cafes too. Masks were mandatory!
To enter the supermarket, you were given antiseptic gel and temperature controlled.
This was serious. If you were running hot, then you got carted off to some government centre and incarcerated until they said you could leave. And it was 200 USD a night for the privilege.
The onus was to avoid going anywhere where you got zapped.
Initially I was paying 10 USD for my dorm bed with breakfast but then as the guests stopped coming, I was given dinner to, basically so they could use the food up. And slowly the food supply dwindled and I was given a suite where I could cook for myself.
Some of the staff lost their jobs. The Jane Guest House was owned by a German guy with a Kenyan wife. They had flown to Germany at the end of February. I never did meet them.
It was a very stressful time for me. Yes, I had freedom. I wasn't locked in my room all day but the whole situation made me suffer from anxiety and is possibly still affecting me now.
I was stuck in Kenya. No other guests, just the few staff members. And the only place I went was to the local cafe.
Everyday we waited for news. There was always news but never any good news.
Cases increased, then came the deaths.
Like everyone, around the world, we didn't know how long it would drag on for.
Time passed slowly. I tried to do my blog, read, exercise.
Then the European Governments started to organise evac flights out, back to Europe. I passed up opportunity after opportunity. I had nowhere to go. Most countries were closed. I was tarnished by having a British passport. My options were limited. Dad had to live alone. Difficult times!
Eventually, I thought, bugger this, and took an evac flight out to Amsterdam and a connecting flight to Serbia.
108 days spent in Kenya, 105 of them stuck in Naivasha.
Here are all the posts written and produced whilst in Kenya:
Which I did.
March 25, the last scheduled KLM departed and then they shut the country down. The airport was shut and all land borders closed down.
They closed down the Nairobi Metropolitan area. No traffic in or out. The same with the 3 counties on the coast. This basically paralysed the country.
They implemented a nightly curfew from 7 pm until 7 am. The police patrolled. Anyone who violated the rules had to spend the night in a cell and pay 200 USD. Quite the incentive.
By day, things were pretty much normal. Although the buses and matatus had to run at 50% capacity. In the cafes too. Masks were mandatory!
To enter the supermarket, you were given antiseptic gel and temperature controlled.
This was serious. If you were running hot, then you got carted off to some government centre and incarcerated until they said you could leave. And it was 200 USD a night for the privilege.
The onus was to avoid going anywhere where you got zapped.
Initially I was paying 10 USD for my dorm bed with breakfast but then as the guests stopped coming, I was given dinner to, basically so they could use the food up. And slowly the food supply dwindled and I was given a suite where I could cook for myself.
Some of the staff lost their jobs. The Jane Guest House was owned by a German guy with a Kenyan wife. They had flown to Germany at the end of February. I never did meet them.
It was a very stressful time for me. Yes, I had freedom. I wasn't locked in my room all day but the whole situation made me suffer from anxiety and is possibly still affecting me now.
I was stuck in Kenya. No other guests, just the few staff members. And the only place I went was to the local cafe.
Everyday we waited for news. There was always news but never any good news.
Cases increased, then came the deaths.
Like everyone, around the world, we didn't know how long it would drag on for.
Time passed slowly. I tried to do my blog, read, exercise.
Then the European Governments started to organise evac flights out, back to Europe. I passed up opportunity after opportunity. I had nowhere to go. Most countries were closed. I was tarnished by having a British passport. My options were limited. Dad had to live alone. Difficult times!
Eventually, I thought, bugger this, and took an evac flight out to Amsterdam and a connecting flight to Serbia.
108 days spent in Kenya, 105 of them stuck in Naivasha.
Here are all the posts written and produced whilst in Kenya:
- How to get a Kenya visa on arrival at JKIA | Kenya
- Corona Diaries 1 Travelling during the Coronavirus | Kenya
- Crescent Island Game Sanctuary | Kenya
- Corona Diaries 2 On the road during the Coronavirus pandemic | Kenya
- Corona Diaries 3 Self Quarantine in Naivasha | Kenya
- Corona Diaries 4 Why you didn't see me scrambling to get on the last flight out of Kenya
- Corona Diaries 5 Staying sane during the coronavirus pandemic
- Getting Kenya visa extension
- Travel plans for when the way forward is open
- Lockdown is the perfect time to go on a fast
- Should I try to out home whilst I still can
- Why I am posting rewrites of old blog posts
- Wade asks me my reasons for travelling
- Corona Diaries 8 Day 53 A little ray of hope
- President Kenyatta Addresses the Nation
- Corona Diaries 9 Corona isn't the only issue here
- Another evac flight is scheduled
- Flooding at Lake Naivasha Kihoto
- Fears and Frustrations
- Fears, frustrations and now dilemmas
- Time to try and get out of Kenya
- Hopes dashed
- Finally I escape from Africa