Zanzibar Meetings 2 - Reconnecting

In the end, my flight arrived in Zanzibar late evening. I was stunned at how the airport had changed since the old days. 

The airport back in 2006...

It felt like it was the size of a large house. Most transactions were done on paper. It was rather quaint.

 

... and now, twenty years later

I'm told that tourism has increase fourfold between the time that the two photos were taken. Very impressive.

We arrived at the hotel by midnight. I made my way to my room, tired but happy to be back in Zanzibar. My room was large, clean and had everything I needed. I didn’t realize until the next morning that I had a view of the Indian Ocean (and the pool). Things were looking up.

 

* * *

While I enjoy meetings in locations like this, the problem is that we don’t really have much opportunity to take advantage of it. You have limited time to take a dip in the pool or go for a swim in the ocean. I suppose that there’s a feeling that the organization has spent all this money pulling people together that we need to squeeze in meetings sunrise to sunset. Though there have been complaints in the past that there hasn’t been enough unstructured time, they haven’t been heeded. The temptation is too great to load up the schedule and not feel like you’re wasting people’s time. Case in point, after getting in late the night before, I had an early breakfast meeting with my supervisor prior to the full day of meetings.

It was good to reconnect with people, some of whom I’ve known for almost twenty years. It was strange at times. The comradery. The discussions. It all seemed normal after all these years except that, given that I’m leaving at the end of the month, it’s not.

 

New Room

At the end of day one, which was day three for those who hadn’t been struck in Nairobi, I went back to my room, considering maybe a dip in the pool. There was a knock at the door and it was one of the organizers of the meetings along with a guy from the hotel. He told me that there was a mistake the night before when we arrived and I was put in the wrong room. After telling him that I was perfectly happy with my room (ocean view, spacious, etc.), he assured me that the change would be an upgrade. So I packed up my bag, met them at the reception and we took the elevator towards my new room.

As the elevator took us to the top of the building, I thought that at the very least, the room was going to have a nice view. That ended up being an understatement.

We went through the double doors and the view was stunning. Not only was it the penthouse, it was the top two floors of the building. I’ve had a few decent hotel rooms throughout the years, but this was in a different league. It will easily be the biggest hotel room I will ever have.

There was a massive common area – the width of the entire building – which included a second-floor loft. Floor to ceiling windows offered amazing views. There were about six TVs, three dining areas, a kitchen area, etc. I would share the room with two of my country director colleagues though I never ended up seeing them in the room. It was a bit of a shame that I didn’t get to spend much time there given how nice it was. Apparently, it was at no extra cost so I didn't feel bad.

I was on the top two floors of the high-rise

 

Dhow repair guy working near the hotel

Sunrise from my room

Zanzibar Meetings 1 - Travel Woes

As I entered my last month of employment, there remained two travel obligations. The first would be to go to Zanzibar and the second, later in the month, to Somalia to bid farewell to my team. One rather inconvenient task that needed to be done in the midst of the travels was the renewal of my Kenyan visa. Given that the process involves my passport being in the hands of the government for a couple weeks, I needed to build my travels around it.

Aware of the importance of the visa, I was ready to forgo my Zanzibar travels if necessary. The renewal of my visa is synonymous with the renewal of my family’s visas, and we can’t have a presence in the country without legal status. As it worked out, the plan would be that I would go ahead and travel to Zanzibar, return to Nairobi, submit the visa application and two weeks later make a shortened trip to Somalia just before my final workday. We’re only partway through but fingers crossed that everything happens as planned.

* * *

The Strike

My last time in Zanzibar was about seven years ago, also for regional meetings. It’s less than an hour and a half by plane from Nairobi so it’s an easy flight. The challenge in this part of the world is not so much the flight itself but whether or not the flight even happens.

I was scheduled to fly out at 8am on Monday (Aug. 31). Given that there were rumors of a strike by airport (JKIA) employees, my taxi was set up for 5am. Upon arrival at JKIA in the dark of early morning, I quickly realized that the strike was indeed happening, at least in part, and the place was packed with people. Some bleary-eyed travelers were still around after flight cancellations from the night before trying to sort out their fate.

It was an ugly scene, and I was getting nervous that my flight might not happen. I say nervous but, in all honesty, I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the trip. I often question the fruitfulness of these types of meetings and there would be a lot of emphasis on the way forward, something I’m not going to be a part of. Regardless, good soldier that I am, I pressed on.

The queues were long everywhere. I wasn’t worried about the long wait so much as whether the navigation of this gauntlet was going to be futile. We just couldn’t get any definitive information about our flights. I suspect it was because there were ongoing efforts to resolve the labor dispute and the airlines were optimistically processing passengers in that hope.

I eventually arrived at my gate where a few dozen people were already settling in for what could be a long wait. And a long wait it was. By noon things were looking dismal, and the airline still hadn’t said one way or another as to whether we might eventually fly. In fact, staff in these situations tend to make themselves scarce since they don’t know any more than we do and they, understandably, get tired of fending off the never-ending questions. 

We could see the plane was sitting on the tarmac, but there weren’t any signs of activity around it.

As time passed, the airport continued to fill with thousands of people, sitting, lying, standing, drinking, eating, etc. It reminded me of many years ago when Priya and I were stuck overnight in Amsterdam during a winter snowstorm. Priya was a few months pregnant, and we ended up trying to find a quiet and not-so-chilly place on the floor to lie down for the night. Weary bodies were everywhere as people had to wait through the night as the weather and runways cleared for possible flights the next morning. On this occasion, the airline finally threw in the towel by about 3pm. The group of fellow staff (about 20 altogether) and I gathered to ponder our options. We’d already lost one day of a five-day schedule and rumors of strike negotiations weren’t positive. The first idea that came from the regional team (already gathered in Zanzibar) was that we could recover our checked-in bags (who knows how long that would take given that the airport employees were on strike), rent a bus and travel across the border into Tanzania to Arusha (6 hours not counting airport time) and fly to Zanzibar from there (another hour). 

I immediately dismissed this idea as ludicrous and suggested that I would wait in Nairobi and take my chances on a flight the next day. The others, possibly naively, seemed interested in trying it, albeit not enthusiastically. I didn't see any way all this could happen where they would arrive in Zanzibar before Wednesday. I figured that if I skipped on the bus idea, caught a flight the next day, strike resolution pending, I could probably get there by the next evening (Tuesday). Regardless of how this would play out, I had no interest in staying at the airport any longer. I bid my farewells and made my way home, uncertain as to how this was going to play out.

The others, sadly, weren’t out of the woods. My fears about the bag retrieval were realized. Almost all of them had checked bags (not me) and some ended up waiting until almost 10pm before the last bag appeared and they were able to go home (or to their hotel). Very long day for me. Very, very long day for them.

Late in the evening, the regional team finally decided to pull the plug on the bus idea. I realize that they had invested a lot of money in these meetings and they desperately wanted everyone to fill these hotel rooms sitting empty in Zanzibar. Admittedly, the travelers from Nairobi made up about a third of the attendees overall and this was a significant blow to the organizers. But the bus idea was a desperate grasp at straws (a hail Mary) that should probably never have been on the table.

That night I slept in my own bed and joined the meetings electronically the next morning increasingly doubtful that the trip would happen. The regional support team worked diligently all morning trying to sort it out with our travel agent. By mid-morning we received word that the strike was over and, gradually, planes would begin departing Nairobi. By early afternoon we received word that some of us could catch an evening flight. Others would catch a 3am flight (ugh). Though I offered to remain behind if it meant someone else (with a longer future with the organization than I) could get a seat, we all were able to get seats on the two planes – mine would be the evening flight.

* * *

Arriving at the gate at JKIA, and after you've checked in and proceeded through immigration and security, there is always another check-in with the airline staff before entering the gate area. It seems redundant since there was already a check-in and issuance of a boarding pass, but, at least in this case, it worked to my advantage. After cracking a few jokes with the airline staff, the guy that was looking at my documents ripped up my boarding pass and issued me a new one – in business class. I didn't even ask. I don't know if it had something about my mileage program status and an overbooking or if he was trying to do me a favor. I’m not normally very chatty with service industry people but this may be an indicator that I should probably do so more often.

It was feeling like I was finally going to make it to Zanzibar.  

 

Vacation 4 - Kentuckiana

I should start by saying that the word “Kentuckiana” is a thing. I’d never heard it before we started visiting the area but the term is used it quite often. I suppose it’s a handy term given that the greater Louisville area spills over into Indiana. I’m not sure if it’s used much elsewhere in either state. Probably not a lot. Apparently, a couple hundred years ago, Louisville’s neighbor across the Ohio River, the less famous New Albany, IN, was the dominant city. But an industrial boom in the 20^th century generated tremendous growth in Louisville thanks to shipping, railroads, manufacturing and, of course, bourbon.

Coming to the end of the long drive from Michigan - Crothersville exit

But our visit would primarily take place a half hour farther north. Scottsburg, I should say, is one of the most uninteresting places in America. I’m guessing that most residents would not disagree. And, strangely, I don’t mean it disrespectfully. But it’s flat. No mountains. No body of water. No views. No distinguishable characteristics. It’s a bunch of buildings surrounded by farmland.

And yet it’s always the most relaxing part of the journey for me. I oddly look forward to my time there. Nothing interesting means no FOMO. It’s a sensory deprivation town.

To be fair, there is a town square with some older buildings around it, but it’s far from vibrant. Folks in town generally flock to Walmart and the strip of fast-food places as you enter town. The square does have a nice coffee place which, when there are no noisy kids, is a decent place to get work done (and it has some killer chocolate chip cookies).

After leaving the countryside a few years ago, my mother-in-law relocated to Scottsburg. It made more sense after my father-in-law passed away. We were already familiar with the town given that it was only about 20 minutes away and was the destination for their basic shopping needs. I think the transition for her was relatively straight forward. Could I live there? Probably not. Uninteresting is fine when you have an intense job and you’re looking to clear your head on vacation. Long term it would get old quickly.

Having said that, Louisville is relatively close so you’re within reach of interesting things. I have grown to like Louisville though I’m not sure I would want to live there either.

* * *

One challenge when traveling in the US is making sure that the girls stay active. Priya and I have our workouts and those happen early morning regardless. But the girls need some sort of push and/or activity that draws them to doing things, particularly when it’s hot and humid outside. At the very least, we often go for walks and one walk that we do most visits is across a pedestrian bridge (former railroad bridge) over the Ohio River in Louisville. 

It offers great views of the city and is a popular jogging/biking path. Temperatures and humidity were quite high making the walk less pleasant than it normally would have been. But it was good to get out. After the walk we stopped at a tiny Japanese restaurant in Jeffersonville for some ramen then on to some overpriced ice cream.

On another day we went to a place called Activate which is what they call “an active gaming experience”. We’ve been there a few times with the kids. It’s a chain and they continue to expand around the US and Canada. It’s a pretty cool idea. You go in and it’s dark like a movie theater or a laser tag place. There are about a dozen rooms, each with a different game that combines physical activity with some sort of technology. One room has a checkered disco floor, and the objective is to work as a team to step on the correct color of lighted tiles as the colors change increasingly quickly. Another room has a big pole in the middle and a roving eye that you avoid (like hide and seek) while you dart around the room pushing numerical buttons. There’s another room that has moving laser lights that you have to avoid (like in heist movies). And so forth. It’s a bit expensive, but it’s fun and kids get a workout without noticing.

Another go-to activity is the gym at the YMCA. That’s where I go to work out and we would sometimes go in the afternoon with the girls to play basketball. The key is to find things to do with air conditioning. As the planet warms, this is going to be increasingly important.

* * *

Alas, we finally came to the end of the long vacation. After almost five weeks, we were ready to get back to Nairobi and get back to our routines. We were also looking forward to getting back to the cooler weather of the Kenyan winter. It’s not chilly this time of year, but at least it’s not hot.

After a week at home, I’ll be off to Zanzibar for a week of meetings (assuming they get my visa done in time). Then the 3-week countdown begins until I come to the end of my job. It’s a mix of excitement and apprehension. I’ve never not worked so it will be interesting to see how I adjust. For now, excitement is winning out over apprehension.