Leaving Zanzibar and Being Sick at Nairobi Airport
Sunday, September 11, 2005 
We were scheduled to leave our place on Nungwi Beach for the drive to Zanzibar Airport mid-morning.
That still left time for one last walk down the beach and the local lanes lined with bougainvillea bushes and grass-roofed buildings for some last minute souvenir-shopping. After all, we couldn't take Tanzanian money out of the country officially, so we might as well spend what we had left over.
Some bargaining at the little shop where I'd spotted the big blue tinga tinga painting with panels of animals the day before used up most of the rest of our money (about thirty dollars). I was really pleased with this pur
chase---and it rolled up nice and tight once the merchant removed it from its plywood frame.
Before we left our villa, we also retrieved our passports from the hotel safe. I'd had some reservations (okay, some paranoid thoughts) about the safety of leaving our valuables there because we'd heard that some nearby hotels had been held-up by robbers but it turned out fine.
As for my arm, it was not fine. As I said in a previous post, the black henna on my arm was quite distinctly causing a reaction. Its outline was red and raised and puffy. I told some other concerned members of our group that I just had sensitive skin and that I sometimes had skin reactions that could be taken care of with the allergy medication Benadryl. Unfortunately, the Benadryl was far out of its league. But at the time, I was still hopeful that the swelling would go down soon.
The airport was about an hours drive away. Oh my goodness, it was such a hot day! Probably the most heat we've felt since we arrived in Africa. We sweltered in the airport lounge while we waited for our 3:15pm flight to Nairobi.
Jeff's mom also had to talk Jen out of buying an elephant figurine in the airport giftshop, similar to one that Jen had seen before on the island and admired. Heather had to confess that, er, she was already getting one of those for Christmas. :)
As we took off from Zanzibar and climbed high above the island, I could see the beautiful blue and green jewel tones of the waters of the Indian Ocean from the air. Gorgeous!
But the very last picture I took in Africa (I took over a thousand) was the one on this page of the men clinging to the outside of the local matutu truck.
Our flight from Nairobi to London was delayed for a long time. It was supposed to leave shortly after eleven pm , but the plane did not take off for London until about one in the morning. It was an excrutiating wait for me. By this time, the black henna reaction was making me miserable and nauseous. I couldn't eat the food from the airport-coupons provided to us. My head ached. My arm was beginning to weep from the frighteningly high blisters that had sprouted all down my arm and hand.
The nurses in the medical unit of the Nairobi Airport were kind, and they tried to be helpful, but they had very limited medical supplies in their first-aid kit. All they could do was wrap my arm (in what seemed to be the last gauze bandages they had) and advise me to seek out a doctor immediately upon arrival in England.
We made a cash donation to the nurses towards replenishing the first-aid kit. Note to self: don't get sick or injured in Africa if you can help it. My experience visiting the Meserani Snake Park's little medical clinic had made me aware of that quite recently, but I hadn't planned on using the medical system at all here. In fact, almost all of us travellers had given away all our bandages, antibiotics, etc. to the Meserani clinic. I was lucky to be able to get one antibiotic tablet from Jo while we waited in the departure lounge. I suspected I might need it.
We were scheduled to leave our place on Nungwi Beach for the drive to Zanzibar Airport mid-morning.
That still left time for one last walk down the beach and the local lanes lined with bougainvillea bushes and grass-roofed buildings for some last minute souvenir-shopping. After all, we couldn't take Tanzanian money out of the country officially, so we might as well spend what we had left over.
Some bargaining at the little shop where I'd spotted the big blue tinga tinga painting with panels of animals the day before used up most of the rest of our money (about thirty dollars). I was really pleased with this pur
chase---and it rolled up nice and tight once the merchant removed it from its plywood frame.Before we left our villa, we also retrieved our passports from the hotel safe. I'd had some reservations (okay, some paranoid thoughts) about the safety of leaving our valuables there because we'd heard that some nearby hotels had been held-up by robbers but it turned out fine.
As for my arm, it was not fine. As I said in a previous post, the black henna on my arm was quite distinctly causing a reaction. Its outline was red and raised and puffy. I told some other concerned members of our group that I just had sensitive skin and that I sometimes had skin reactions that could be taken care of with the allergy medication Benadryl. Unfortunately, the Benadryl was far out of its league. But at the time, I was still hopeful that the swelling would go down soon.
The airport was about an hours drive away. Oh my goodness, it was such a hot day! Probably the most heat we've felt since we arrived in Africa. We sweltered in the airport lounge while we waited for our 3:15pm flight to Nairobi.
Jeff's mom also had to talk Jen out of buying an elephant figurine in the airport giftshop, similar to one that Jen had seen before on the island and admired. Heather had to confess that, er, she was already getting one of those for Christmas. :)
As we took off from Zanzibar and climbed high above the island, I could see the beautiful blue and green jewel tones of the waters of the Indian Ocean from the air. Gorgeous!
But the very last picture I took in Africa (I took over a thousand) was the one on this page of the men clinging to the outside of the local matutu truck.
Our flight from Nairobi to London was delayed for a long time. It was supposed to leave shortly after eleven pm , but the plane did not take off for London until about one in the morning. It was an excrutiating wait for me. By this time, the black henna reaction was making me miserable and nauseous. I couldn't eat the food from the airport-coupons provided to us. My head ached. My arm was beginning to weep from the frighteningly high blisters that had sprouted all down my arm and hand.
The nurses in the medical unit of the Nairobi Airport were kind, and they tried to be helpful, but they had very limited medical supplies in their first-aid kit. All they could do was wrap my arm (in what seemed to be the last gauze bandages they had) and advise me to seek out a doctor immediately upon arrival in England.
We made a cash donation to the nurses towards replenishing the first-aid kit. Note to self: don't get sick or injured in Africa if you can help it. My experience visiting the Meserani Snake Park's little medical clinic had made me aware of that quite recently, but I hadn't planned on using the medical system at all here. In fact, almost all of us travellers had given away all our bandages, antibiotics, etc. to the Meserani clinic. I was lucky to be able to get one antibiotic tablet from Jo while we waited in the departure lounge. I suspected I might need it.
posted by Spider Girl | 1:20 PM
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