Something just broke

An epilogue, or epi-blog, as the case may be…

When we last left our intrepid traveler, she was en route to London by way of a brief and altogether unmemorable stay in Nairobi. After being fleeced by the taxi driver that picked her up from the airport, she spent the day napping, watching bad movies, and carefully guarding her belongings. There was little else to do, as the hotel was in the outskirts of town and not conducive to walking around.

Early this morning, she rose and begrudgingly took the same taxi, relying on the old wisdom of the devil you know being better than the devil you don’t. After a little over-priced last-minute souvenir shopping, she headed to her assigned gate, suffered two additional security checks, including an unpacking of the carefully engineered space-occupying masterpiece that was her carry-on. She was called to board, whereupon she notified the world of her movement.

Imagine then, her surprise when the huddled masses were shepherded out of the jetway and back into the lounge. Without the same pressures as the other passengers (i.e. screaming, hungry, bored children), she relaxed with her laptop. Unaware of the time that had elapsed until her laptop battery was abruptly depleted, she soon realized that it had been two hours without a word of explanation from the airline.

The captain had the unhappy task of eventually informing the somewhat irate crowd, many of whom had been monitoring the busy worker bees hovering around the craft, that an engine part had malfunctioned – an engine part that was not to be had in Nairobi, but that would have to be flown in from London on the evening flight. Timid flight attendants followed behind with paltry offerings of snacks as the travelers made their way to reclaim luggage and join the queue for hotel assignments.

Nervously, she watched as her suitcase was loaded onto the rack on top of the bus taking her to the city center of Nairobi and to the gilded halls of the Hilton. Food, beer, heated swimming pool, air conditioning, and a hot bath went a long way to dispelling our traveler’s anguish at the delay. Another bus awaits her in the morning, where two Virgin Atlantic planes should be ready to wing their way to London.

And they all lived happily ever after. 