roadwarriorafrica

I love Cultiva, as well as Boho Eatery, The Wine Box (Cave a Manger), The Wine Shop (Loresho), Ankole Grill, La Salumeria, and INTI.

Aero Club is a great place to stay - especially for accessing Safarilink. There are also some great boutique hotels in Karen (leafy and green).

HouFlyer61

Thanks for those other restaurant names. The look great. I'll keep that in mind should we return to Nairobi!

HouFlyer61

After 7 nights in safari camps it was time to return to the USA, and eventually home. We planned a several day stop in Houston, where we lived on and off for 30+ years, before returning to Key West.

My last post ended at Nairobi's Wilson Airport. I'm going to back-up 5 minutes as the landing view was fun. I don't normally get to look out of the front window when landing.


Our Qatar airways flight was scheduled to depart Nairobi at 1:30AM the following morning so we paid for a room at the Aeroclub. We'd hired a driver for the afternoon and again for a nighttime trip to the airport. The afternoon excursion was to a farm-to-table restaurant called Cultiva. And it was OUTSTANDING. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but the food exceeded all expectations.

We started with a local beer plus a Gin based cocktail. We always like to try craft beer and this was the first place we'd seen any since we arrived in Kenya. The craft beer was good and the gin cocktail, made with Four Pillars Gin and home made lemon grass soda, was awesome.


The restaurant had a large show kitchen and lots of seating. There was a baked good counter and an ice cream counter too.




We love to try new foods, and it had been quite some time since we had something really new. Until this restaurant. For starters, we had "Organic fried moringa pods & whole jalapenos in a chili spice & butter". It was sorta like eating Edamame. The waitress suggested we not order it unless we'd already had moringa pods somewhere else. LOL. We ordered anyway and were really glad we did.


Here's one up close....


For the main course, we had a calzone and some "purple haze gnocchi, purple sweet potato, truffle cream, wine, parmesan." The calzone was good. We'd never had sweet potato gnocchi, and it was outstanding.




We rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and back to Aeroclub for a sleep and shower before heading to the airport.

There was no traffic at 11pm for our trip to NBO. We were surprised by a few things
1) Security check on the road to the airport. We had to exit the vehicle and walk through scanners. The driver did not have to exit. It was starting to rain and we didn't have umbrellas.
2) You get dropped off away from the terminal building, and not under any cover. It was now pouring rain. We had to make a mad dash to the terminal, with luggage, and we were soaked by the time we got under cover.
3) It was unclear which terminal we needed to be in for check-in. The taxi driver wasn't sure. I did a quick query on my phone and I found the same info as the driver, but the data was wrong. We asked for Qatar at the first terminal and we learned we had to walk two terminals over. Outside. Most of it was under cover, but the small sections between terminals, we got wet all over again as we walked those gaps.

At check-in, I saw I was selected for additional screening, the "SSSS" code nobody wants to see on their boarding pass. So I knew I'd have extra fun in Doha.


The lounge was Turkish Airways lounge. We walked until it felt like we had exited the secure area, and then we walked a bit more until we reached the Turkish lounge. There were a handful of people there. Lots of food available. We only had water.






We headed to the boarding gate at the advertised time, only to find a documents check and folks just waiting to board. I was convinced this flight was going out very late. It ended up going out on time.


Qatar swapped jets -- no Qsuites to Doha today. We were on a 777 with the old style seats -- the seats I first flew on with Qatar many years ago. They were comfy and it allowed us to have a nice meal together.


Pre departure beverages:


The flight to Doha was relatively short, like 5.5 hours. Had to have some Gosset brut Grande Reserve champagne.


I just wanted a light snack for my midnight meal. Amuse bouche.


Cream of Fennel Soup to start for me. It was delicious.


Followed by a cheese plate.


Then some sleep. And before we knew it, we were landing in Doha. It was a very quick trip through security, and back into the terminal.

We did visit the lounge on this stay, but only for a few minutes and only to get some water.

We spotted retro branded Qatar aircraft. It looked really cool.


And we also spotted the jet taking us to Houston.


Obligatory Bear photo in Doha.


Soon it was time to go through security ahead of a US bound flight. And I had to do the "SSSS" screening, which turned out to be no bid deal -- they just swabbed once the inside of my carry-on, my back-pack, and my hands. 30 seconds later, the swab came back negative and I was cleared to board. My boarding pass was now very colorful.




Pre Departure Beverage again. this time in a Qsuite.


Before I knew it we were in the air. I spotted the World cup stadium made of shipping containers, The National Museum of Qatar, and the Museum of Islamic Art on the departure. Oh, and the city itself. All beautiful views.









We flew right over Kuwait City


I had small bit to eat just after takeoff. The "breakfast fare". Then the plan was to wait until near landing, and have a bigger lunch. It mostly worked out that way.

Getting ready for Breakfast...


I opted for a light menu item, Thai chicken kaho soi with egg noodles. It was delish.


Afterwards I settled down for several hours of sleep. I may or may not have read a few pages of a book or watched part of a movie. Who knows. I was resting well.

A couple hours out from Houston, I asked for the food I had reserved at the beginning of the flight. Broccoli Miso Soup. It was excellent.


Arabic Mezze. Always a great choice.


And the best food of all, saved for last, Char Grilled Kofta and Lamp Chop. It was divine.


Landing in Houston was uneventful, as was renting a car. Except that I forgot to confirm the mileage. Always confirm the mileage. Avis admitted I couldn't possibly have driven 30,000 miles in 4 days when I returned the car. It's just not possible.

A few days later we were headed to Key West on Delta. Happy to be heading home.


We had a tight connection in Atlanta and did just fine. Our bags did well too.

On the last leg, we had some Old Fashioned Cocktails. They come in a can, though you normally don't see the can.


The Delta Purser encouraged us to try the Espresso Vanilla Martinis by giving us each a can for home use. They were good but strong. If you don't drink coffee, be aware they will keep you up!


Finally touchdown in Key West followed by the exit through a construction zone. Good to be home.






Let me know if you liked this trip report....give me feedback on what to keep / what to change. If you've not done these before, they take a bit of time.

Next trip planned is in May/June -- Tel Aviv via Abu Dhabi (Etihad); Montenegro (Turkish); Croatia; Houston (BA First Class); home. Safe travels all.

halfcape

I totally enjoyed your trip report and photos. And I am looking forward to your next TR! Thanks for sharing.

akhibhag

The picture of moringa pods took me back to India. Growing uo, we had a moringa tree in our backyard and anytime my mom didn't know what to cook for dinner, all we had to do was pluck some moringa off the tree, clean, cut and boil it in a spicy curry!