Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport – this is the main airport in the country. It is located in Nairobi City, about 20km from the central business district.

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is the main airport in Kenya and the busiest in East Africa. Initially, it was referred to as Embakasi Airport because it is located in Embakasi area, some 20kms north of Nairobi city. It commenced its operations in the late 50s but due to the dramatic increase in commercial and developments activities some years later, there was need to expand it so that it could be able to handle the increased capacity.

The expansion began sometimes in the 70 and in 1978, a new terminal which could handle international flights was built and the name changed to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport which was named after the first founding president of Kenya. Since then, the airport has been expanding as the demand for its use increased and new terminals have been added. There are currently five commercial terminals at the airport all which serve commercial and domestic flights.

Today, the operations at the airport have immensely increased and airports serve about 19000 passengers from Africa, Europe and Asia. It also has direct flights to African countries, Europe, Middle East and Far East and there are plans to construct a new terminal which will enable the operations to have direct flights to USA.

Kenya Airways is the official airline in Kenya and works closely with our international airlines to offers as a competitive edge to the aviation industry.

Below are aerial views of the images of the airport;

East or West Home is the Best

It had been years since I went to Sweden to pursue my degree in Architecture, and I over stayed there since I got a landed a job there, but upon completion of the contract, it was time that I went back home. There had been many expectations that my folks back home had on me, and it was time to prove that I indeed was to live to their hopes as promised.

As I passed through the immigration checkpoint, I had this feeling that I might have overstayed in the Scandinavian countries more that I had promised. I really missed my parent and my siblings and I felt that they too missed me. I wanted to be part of them again after living for 7 years in Diaspora.

There was no hustle in the KLM airlines which was to fly me back to Nairobi. Actually, I had waited for long for such an opportunity to come through. Finally, it was here. I had bags full of luggage – my personal effects and the few things that I had bought for my family back at home. The flight must have taken relatively longer than I had anticipated because I arrived in Kenya two hours to midnight.

The Taste of Nairobi Life

From the looks of things upon arrival, I could tell that much had changed. Of course I expected so since the new Kenya constitution was promulgated and new county government took the management of various regions. However, as I met two of my brother who had been waiting for me to arrive at the airport, I felt as if life was the same way as it used to be. They helped me with the luggage and took me straight to a restaurant that had accommodation in, where they had plan for my stay through the night.

However, I knew very well that after meeting them, there wouldn’t be any special night for me even though I was tired. I never had to ask so. Even after I went to take a shower, I left them in the sitting lounge waiting for me and from the look in their eye; I could conclude that they wanted me to share some more time with them.  I knew quiet well that I had a lot that they wanted to hear and therefore, I hurriedly showered and after refreshing up, we went out.

Our firsts stop was at the Coffee Java House, where we had some bit of pleasure as we sipped the beautifully prepared Kenyan coffee. Afterwards, it was time for dinner. By this time, it was already late and we couldn’t get the specific foods that we had ordered for.

We decided to go to Nairobi west and have some ‘nyama choma’, which is one of the favorite delicacies of Nairobians. Our first stop was the Carnivore Simba Saloon. I may have said that all we were interested in was eating some ‘nyama choma’ (roasted meat), but once any person reaches the Carnivore, then it’s always time to prepare for the Nairobi nightlife.

Things to do in Nairobi

Actually we partied the whole night and getting up in the morning was a quiet cumbersome. When I finally managed to get up, my brothers surprise me with a visit to the Nairobi National Park. Before I left, the park was well managed, but now their seemed to be a lot of changes. The wildlife crew was much friendly and hospitable, and from the look of things while in the park, the number of wildlife had largely increased.

From the park we visited University of Nairobi, where I wanted to say hi to my kid sister. She was so much pleased to see me because since she was a child she looked up upon me as a sense of inspiration and a mentor.

Before we headed the day or got to get back to schedule our activities, I suggested that we visit Mama Ngina Children’s Home. This is one place that I always loved visit during my high school days and I believed that I always inspired the under-privileged kid there in a way. Most of the faces there were knew kids, but it didn’t take long for me to get along with them. But the time we were done there, it was time to think about visit the rural areas where my dad and mum lived.