Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category
A visit to London’s newest tourist attraction: the Sky Garden
October 28th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
In recent years, the skyline of central London has been reshaped by a number of tall buildings which have attracted popular names like the Gerkin, the Shard, and the Cheesegrater. Another is the Walkie Talkie at 20 Fenchurch Street which curves outwards at the top and 35 floors up this building is a new attraction […]
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Will Kenya be the next country to be troubled following a visit by the Darlingtons?
October 25th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I have a bit of a track record. So many of the countries we have visited in the last decade or so have just suffered civil war or political turmoil or do so shortly after our time there. Don’t believe me? Check out this list. As regular readers of NightHawk will know, we […]
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Notes on Nairobi (10): “Pan” and farewell
October 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Our seventh and last day (Thursday) was a low-key affair. Richard was away in Uganda and in the morning Emily had matters to attend, so Vee and I chilled at the hotel, just packing and reading. We were collected by Emily and Catrin about 12.30 pm and made a return visit to the Westgate Shopping […]
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Notes on Nairobi (9): National Museum and Snake Park
October 22nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Day six (Wednesday) of our trip started with a morning in which Vee and I did our own thing. We organised for Kennedy to drive us from the hotel to the National Museum which proved to be full of well organised, well labelled, and most interesting exhibits. On the ground floor, the Birds Of East […]
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Notes on Nairobi (8): beads, giraffes and Blixen
October 21st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
“Jambo!” (“Hello!”) as we say here in Nairobi. Day five (Tuesday) of our trip was Mashujaa Day, also known as Heroes’ Day (“mashujaa” is Swahili for “heroes”). This is a national day in Kenya, which is observed on 20 October as a public holiday to honour all those who contributed towards the struggle for Kenya’s […]
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Notes on Nairobi (7): baby elephants and babysitting
October 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Day four in Nairobi was a Monday so Richard was at work, but Emily & Catrin picked up Vee and me from the hotel about 10 am. Nairobi roads are pretty amazing – choked with cars, lorries, buses, colourful minibuses called “matabu”, policemen, vendors walking between vehicles, and even on occasion lines of cows. Eventually […]
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Notes on Nairobi (6): just chilling
October 18th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Day three in Nairobi was Sunday and even more chilled out. It rained heavily in the night and was still raining over breakfast, so we thought that we might have to abandon the plan for Richard and Catrin to make a return morning visit to use the swimming pool at our hotel. But the rain […]
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Notes on Nairobi (4): Grandparents’ Day
October 17th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Our first day in Nairobi was a Friday and the last day at school for Catrin before she starts a week’s half term break. Vee and I flew out just before the start of half term because the Friday morning was designated as “Grandparent’s Day” to quote the flyer (I’m sure that should be “Grandparents’ […]
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Notes on Nairobi (3): arrival
October 15th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I flew from London to Nairobi on a daytime British Airways flight, so we arrived mid evening. It took just over 8 hours but, since Kenyan time is just two hours ahead of British time, there was no jet lag. We were met at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by our son Richard and […]
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Notes on Nairobi (2): the city
October 15th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Today Vee and I fly out to Nairobi to see our son and his family for a week. Some facts and figures on Nairobi: The city was founded as a rail depot by the British colonists in 1899 and made the capital in 1907. The name comes from the Maasai words ‘uaso nairobi’ meaning ‘cold […]
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