On the road again

The week in Nairobi ends with a whimper. Steeling myself for the cross-town drive to the airport - but at 5.00am, even Nairobi hasn't got that many traffic horrors to throw at me. (Kenya has the highest rate of road fatalities per head of any country in the world.)


Nairobi airport is a revelation. We lived in Kenya 25 years ago and the daily flight to London caused a stir at Jomo Kenyatta International. There were a handful of other flights to Europe, and some short hops to countries in the region like Uganda (when it was peaceful), Zimbabwe and - whisper it - South Africa - despite the anti-apartheid boycott.


The only way to get to West Africa was via Europe. Or up to Addis Ababa to take that amazing survivor Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian saw it as its duty to keep Africa connected at all odds. Unfortunately bits used to fall off its planes - different now I'm sure.


Now, the roll call of flights leaving Nairobi is dazzling. For an ex-geographer, map nerd and Africaphile, it's heaven. I want to go to all of them: Douala, Lubumbashi, Maputo - perhaps not Abidjan right now. And definitely not Luanda which is the world's most expensive city to stay in.


What isn't heaven is the airport itself. Really showing its age. Only two cafes - neither offering much more than white bread sandwiches - for an airport that is heaving round the clock. The coffee's OK though - this is Kenya after all.


Anyway on to Johannesburg for the weekend. The big question: will I be able to watch England v France (the annual Six Nations rugby tournament for the uninitiated) on TV down there? I needn't have worried. Satellite TV sports coverage is one of South Africa's great gifts to the continent. Six channels.

I have lots of work and good friends in South Africa. The food and wine (of course) are out of this world. But I don't tend to linger in Johannesburg. It's a tense place even if the dangers are probably exaggerated. 


It's Sunday so that means Mozambique. Not Maputo, which is closer to Johannesburg than Cape Town, but Beira, about half-way up Mozambique's 2500 km of mostly gorgeous unspoiled coast. It used to be Mozambique's second city. Will probably regain that title soon with all the minerals being dug up in its hinterland.


I'm in Beira for work (higher education not minerals). No-one goes there for a holiday nowadays. It was very different 35 years ago. More about Beira in the next blog.