Monday, June 7th & Tuesday, June 8th: Let the Adventure Begin!

Today my journey began! After enjoying my sister Clare's graduation party at our house on Sunday, I finished packing my suitcase, EMS hiking back pack, and carry on. Luckily, I was able to say goodbye to all of my extended family and friends at the party before leaving the next day. My Mom gave me her Bishop Loughlin track t-shirt, that has a big lion on it, to wear on the flight as a good luck charm for the flight! My grandpa, "Pop-pop", ran track at Bishop Loughlin.

My flight left from JFK at 6:00 pm on Monday. Julia met me at the airport. Our flight from NY to Zurich took about 6.5 hours. Swiss Air was terrific -- good food,(even Swiss chocolate covered in soccer ball tin foil print for the World Cup), along with a good selection of movies. We arrived in Zurich feeling like we were contestants on the show "The Amazing Race." We had little time to spare between arriving and catching our flight from Zurich to Nairobi which was about 7.5 hours long. I slept for most of the second flight and read part of my very interesting book, "Let My People Go Surfing - The Education of a Reluctant Businessman" by Yvon Chouinard. He is the founder and owner of Patagonia. He went into the business world for the sake of earning money to give away to those in need. I was able to see the bright lights of the city of Nairobi from my window seat on the plane!

Julia and I were picked up right away by Gerund, one of the drivers from the Mount Kenya Hiking Company. He drove us about 20 minutes from the airport to our hotel, Kenya Comfort Hotel. In the hotel, we have two twin sized beds that have giant nets to drape over the beds while we sleep to prevent us from mosquitoes and insects! These nets are quite common here. I have malaria pills to take for the duration of my trip. Before going to bed, I was able to email home and PC to let them know we arrived safe and sound. I laid out my clothes for the hike tomorrow. I'm very relieved to be here finally. I can already tell that this is going to be a real adventure and a true test of going beyond my comfort zone!