The Joys of Nairobi Airport – Mark Tanner

There’s nothing like arriving from a long flight, stepping out of the plane and feeling the warm blast of equatorial air that meets you.  At Nairobi, once you have made your way up the boarding gateway, you enter the main concourse which is lined with Duty free shops and departing passengers.  Following the signs you make your way to the Visa and Immigration check-point. Here you can pay for your Visas in US$, € and GB £. When we were there the queues were not too long, the process is slowed down because you now have your fingerprints scanned and a web cam takes a picture of you. I tried to look my best but after a 9 hr film fest on the plane I was probably not looking great!  Once through passport and Immigration it’s down the stairs to the baggage reclaim. There are not too many carousels so it is easy to find your flight. Whilst we were waiting we wandered over to the Bureau de Change and change our sterling into Kenyan Shillings. We also noted that the Barclays Bank at the exit of the baggage hall had an ATM on the outside. When we passed through it was easy to find our driver who welcomed us enthusiastically and showed us to our transport.  All in all as airports go it was a fairly painless experience!