I am taking this quick moment to fill you in on the past couple of days' events.  As I write, I am in the middle of nowhere in a schoolyard for 607 local children.  The view is incredible - 360° panoramic scenery.  Hills and bush land as far as the eye can see.

We arrived in Nairobi two days ago and found Arthur, our ‘fixer' there, waiting to greet us and our very busy first day in Kenya.  After a quick breakfast with Terry, we went off to ‘location Africa' to get the permits required for filming in Kenya.  US$800 later we were off to town.  

We had pretty much given up on getting a visa for Nigeria after all the dead ends and false information of the past weeks in Australia, including a total waste of a day in Bangkok.  But, on hearing our tales of woe, Arthur told us that his Pastor was Nigerian and might be able to help… seemed like a long shot!  Turns out, the Pastor knows the Attaché to the High Commissioner of the Nigerian Embassy in Nairobi.  We could barely wipe the grins off our faces when in a matter of minutes our visas were granted, stamped into our passport and back into our eager sweaty hands.  Just goes to show it's not what you know, but who you know.  Nice one Arthur!

Time was really beginning to run out as we had a ten-hour drive to Marsabit ahead of us.  We had been told by everyone that we could not drive past Isiolo after dark as there were bandits with AK47s who would not hesitate to kill so we would have to stay the night half way and check the security situation in the morning to see if it was necessary to take armed guards with us or join the convoy.

... still we had a few more things to do in town.  The traffic by now was almost gridlock but we got to a sports store to buy some trophies for the match and some footballs.  We then headed to Arthur's house so he could pick up some stuff for the trip and we got the chance to meet his wife Rose and youngest son Issac.

Finally it was time to hit the road.  About forty minutes into our drive, police looking for bribe money stopped us at a roadblock.  We had been warned that there was a probability that this would happen as corruption is rife in Nairobi but Arthur handled the situation like a pro and we were on our way after only ten minutes.  After about three hours, Arthur decided that it was best to stop for the night at a lodge in a small place near Mt Kenya called Naro Moru, a beautiful place with good food and a lovely room in a log cabin near a river with fresh trout.  We slept like babies until 6:00am the following morning when it was time to get back on the road...