Thoughts from Naivasha | Kenya - Day 38
Should I try and get home?
The British High Commissioner to Kenya has been working to get stranded Brits back home. She was initially involved in the organising of 4 flights, each taking out around 300 passengers. These flights were not exclusively for Brits. The flights were run on a commercial basis.
The planes flew in empty and as the crew were not allowed off, they flew with new crew for the return leg. This naturally meant higher than normal fares. But they were trying to get cargo organised to reduce the fares.
A 5th evac flight went out from JKIA in Nairobi to Addis. Ethiopian is still running flights out of Addis. So passengers bunny hop to Addis and from there to wherever they need to go.
They've just set up a Kenya Airways flight for April 24, Nairobi to London, which could take out more Europeans and bring back Kenyans stranded in Europe after the Kenyan Embassy in London starts to get involved to get their own citizens home.
But of course, tickets are higher than normal even with passengers both ways as planes aren't flying full capacity. And then all Kenyans would, upon arrival be forced to quarantine at their own expense
The British High Commissioner to Kenya has been working to get stranded Brits back home. She was initially involved in the organising of 4 flights, each taking out around 300 passengers. These flights were not exclusively for Brits. The flights were run on a commercial basis.
The planes flew in empty and as the crew were not allowed off, they flew with new crew for the return leg. This naturally meant higher than normal fares. But they were trying to get cargo organised to reduce the fares.
A 5th evac flight went out from JKIA in Nairobi to Addis. Ethiopian is still running flights out of Addis. So passengers bunny hop to Addis and from there to wherever they need to go.
They've just set up a Kenya Airways flight for April 24, Nairobi to London, which could take out more Europeans and bring back Kenyans stranded in Europe after the Kenyan Embassy in London starts to get involved to get their own citizens home.
But of course, tickets are higher than normal even with passengers both ways as planes aren't flying full capacity. And then all Kenyans would, upon arrival be forced to quarantine at their own expense
The last few days have been emotional. I am stuck here doing nothing and feelings surfaced after chatting with a friend. I wish I was doing something. I was thinking I could be helping. Back home I was a postman. I was doing a useful job and the guys are still out delivering mail. They are forced to work in a way where social distancing can be maintained, not just with the actual delivering of mail, but we worked on a buddy system.
What also didn't help was that the 4 who 'left' last week were basically fired. A misunderstanding on my part. I have since chatted to one of them. She wasn't bitter about it and was kinda waiting for it to happen. But it's sad!
Then with all the updates about new evac flights being set up left me pondering.
Should I try to get out whilst I still can?
Assuming I could get one of the limited tickets, there are other hurdles to overcome. All passengers need to provide negative COVID 19 test. Not exactly easy.
One minor hurdle is the curfew. It runs from 19:00 to 05:00. The next hurdle has not yet been overcome. All roads into the capital are blocked. No one is getting through. End of story.
I am just 100km away but I can't even get to the next small town let alone Nairobi. To stop the spread, they make it impossible to go anywhere. Only those stuck in Nairobi can get to the airport.
Update: Have just read that Jambo Jet is running a connecting flight from Mombassa on the morning of the 24th.
So with me being here, I can't make the flight assuming I was able to get a ticket and get a COVID 19 test.
What also didn't help was that the 4 who 'left' last week were basically fired. A misunderstanding on my part. I have since chatted to one of them. She wasn't bitter about it and was kinda waiting for it to happen. But it's sad!
Then with all the updates about new evac flights being set up left me pondering.
Should I try to get out whilst I still can?
Assuming I could get one of the limited tickets, there are other hurdles to overcome. All passengers need to provide negative COVID 19 test. Not exactly easy.
One minor hurdle is the curfew. It runs from 19:00 to 05:00. The next hurdle has not yet been overcome. All roads into the capital are blocked. No one is getting through. End of story.
I am just 100km away but I can't even get to the next small town let alone Nairobi. To stop the spread, they make it impossible to go anywhere. Only those stuck in Nairobi can get to the airport.
Update: Have just read that Jambo Jet is running a connecting flight from Mombassa on the morning of the 24th.
So with me being here, I can't make the flight assuming I was able to get a ticket and get a COVID 19 test.
And once back in the UK what would be my options?
Could I get my old job back? I am sure they would be willing as I was always up for working double deliveries and now even with the Corona pandemic, I would still be up for it.
Doing nothing all day makes me miss getting up for work at 5 am and coming home exhausted having been out in the rain and cold all day.
My father is classed as 'high risk'. He is almost 80. He has to live alone. My sisters drop off his food. The NHS organise his meds. I would need to find somewhere to live. Not an easy task. And not cheap either. More so seeing as I have no friends with a sofa to crash on whilst I sorted something out.
From when the notice goes out about an evac flight, there is not much time to organise one's self.
Could I get my old job back? I am sure they would be willing as I was always up for working double deliveries and now even with the Corona pandemic, I would still be up for it.
Doing nothing all day makes me miss getting up for work at 5 am and coming home exhausted having been out in the rain and cold all day.
My father is classed as 'high risk'. He is almost 80. He has to live alone. My sisters drop off his food. The NHS organise his meds. I would need to find somewhere to live. Not an easy task. And not cheap either. More so seeing as I have no friends with a sofa to crash on whilst I sorted something out.
From when the notice goes out about an evac flight, there is not much time to organise one's self.
And here is the other part of all this. How long is this going to drag on for? No one knows. Germany is slowly reopening. Personally, I think this is way too early.
Social distancing, working from home, staying at home helps stop the spread but the virus is still out there. It doesn't just disappear. Let's what happens in Germany. Will the number of cases suddenly increase again.
I believe Kenya is doing a great job in trying to contain the spread. But my thought here is, now I see that is going to be a long dragged out affair, it would be better to be in the country for which I have a passport, even if right now I feel that I am better off here.
As far as I know of, there are no cases in Naivasha. We are pretty much cut off as there is no public transport out (I am not sure about how far private vehicles are allowed to travel).
I only go out to go to the shop, complete with mask, where I am zapped, and do the mandatory hand washing and then come back. I social distance with the guys here.
So I am safe here. I'm still living affordably. And even if I did want to get out, logistically it's impossible.
Social distancing, working from home, staying at home helps stop the spread but the virus is still out there. It doesn't just disappear. Let's what happens in Germany. Will the number of cases suddenly increase again.
I believe Kenya is doing a great job in trying to contain the spread. But my thought here is, now I see that is going to be a long dragged out affair, it would be better to be in the country for which I have a passport, even if right now I feel that I am better off here.
As far as I know of, there are no cases in Naivasha. We are pretty much cut off as there is no public transport out (I am not sure about how far private vehicles are allowed to travel).
I only go out to go to the shop, complete with mask, where I am zapped, and do the mandatory hand washing and then come back. I social distance with the guys here.
So I am safe here. I'm still living affordably. And even if I did want to get out, logistically it's impossible.
Updates:
I wrote this post yesterday and am having to update things as new intel is relayed to me.
The obstacle of getting across county lines has been sorted. Just a question of paperwork getting issued. No further details as to how exactly. I Will update as soon as I know.
I wrote this post yesterday and am having to update things as new intel is relayed to me.
The obstacle of getting across county lines has been sorted. Just a question of paperwork getting issued. No further details as to how exactly. I Will update as soon as I know.