Nairobi aka "Nai-ROBBERY"

I am writing the story of how we were robbed now as I am floating down the Nile on a cruise ship…I am in a much better state then when this whole ordeal happened and no doubt, I am sure I will tear up just thinking about it. But, now looking back at it, everything that happens to us will be part of our journey. We have to take in both the good and the bad (although luckily for us, we have had tons of amazing experiences and just a few bad ones to try and cloud our views) and it will be these details that we will never forget and that will undoubtedly shape us for the future to come…so here we go!

Jeremy and I had just hopped off of a 6 hour bus ride from Arusha to the Nairobi International Airport. We were both sick and were not looking forward to our 10 hour layover before our 5 hour flight to Cairo (at 4:45am in the morning). We immediately befriended a fellow Canadian named Kip and agreed our best option was to head to the local pub, grab some food and drinks and talk the night away (Kip was flying to Amsterdam the following morning at 8am). While we were walking, Kip met up with Rob (Dutchman) who was on his same shuttle bus. It turned out Rob was catching the same flight to Cairo as us and he happily joined our group. So…here we were, a group of 4 of us. We found a table at the Terminal 2 Pub in the front corner where we all piled up our bags in the one corner. But…because we have so many valuables in our purse (i.e. our money, credit cards and passports) and our electronics bag (2 canon cameras, laptop, binoculars, iPods, Eurotrain passes etc.) we always make sure to have them on us or under us. So, we naturally put both bags underneath the table. I can’t stress this fact and even when we went on Safari’s and left our camp for the day, we would take these two bags with us just because we didn’t want to take any chances – why risk it right?!?

Halfway through our conversations on Tanzania, Kip asked if any one of us had been to Zanzibar – Rob had not so I got Jeremy to grab the camera and showed them the beautiful pictures of the beaches and the vibrant oceans. We figured this is where the people next to us learned of our valuables. Jeremy accidentally put the bag with the other bags adjacent to his chair (but still right next to us and our table). At one point when I was telling a story, I stopped talking and stared at our bag, it had grabbed my attention, but I didn’t realize why (I mean it was still right next to us). A minute later it happened again and this time Jeremy looked back at it too…we were sick and tired from travelling and did not realize that the couple next to us (whom minutes before was a party of three) were slowly pulling the bag towards them. When they got up to leave, I noticed the woman was standing for a very long time in front of our view and not even a couple of minutes after she left, I looked for our bag and knew it was gone. The ironic part of this story is that just before this happened, Rob was telling us just how corrupt and bad Kenya was for robberies. He was in a hotel in downtown Nairobi and was gone for 1 ½ hours. When he returned to his hotel, everything was gone – stolen! All he had was his clothes on his back and luckily his passport (which was later attempted to be stolen at a Market in Nairobi). I sympathized with him and told him I could not imagine losing the pictures – the items and clothing could all be replaced with money but no matter what expense, you could never buy back the pictures.
Jeremy and I were escorted to the only exit gate where we (with the aid of the airport security) started stopping every vehicle and looking in their cars. I have never cried so much and in front of so many strangers. For the most part, everyone we stopped understood and sympathized with us and told us to be thankful that we still had our lives – something that up until this point, I had not really even realized. Although it was hard to see the good in this, the more I stayed with the parking security, the better I felt. They were so kind to me and I was even given a pair of sandals as a gift (in my current state, I had sprinted from our table without my sandals and was thus barefoot). She wanted me to have a good memory of Kenya because so much bad had happened to us. I stayed at the exit gate for about 3 hours while Jeremy went to file a police report and look in and around the pub. At first, we were told that this was a rare occurrence at the airport, but the more people and workers I talked to, the more I learned that Terminal 2 pub was notorious for theft. One of the security guards told me to get the police to check the pub itself as he was confident that it had to be an inside job. The more we thought about this, the more sense it made because the pub had security cameras but when we asked to see them, their response was very vague and they informed us that the footage would be too dark. We passed this on to the policeman but they basically told us there was nothing we could do.

Jeremy went back to the pub and offered the workers $200US cash for any information but nothing came about. We desperately looked through garbage cans, bushes, shrubs and bathrooms but we found nothing. The policeman informed us that these criminals work in sets of three. Once the realize they have a job, the one goes to get the car while the two (usually a couple like in this case) distract and do the stealing. From there, they simply have to walk a few steps to be picked up on the street and then the exit is a short drive away. Looking back at it, there were so many signs that we should have seen. I should have realized that the bag was moving, Jeremy should have known that when he looked at the bag, it was in a different location from where he had put it and we should have realized that the couple was constantly looking at us, watching our every move. If I could only go back in time and ask Jeremy to grab that damn bag, that bag that we have guarded and protected so much in the past. We were so close and that is was kills me to think about. The old familiar phrase that haunts me right now, “Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda”. I only wish that karma will come back to that group of people and they will get what they deserve.
We said good bye to Kip (after many more tears and hugs) and together with Rob, Jeremy and I checked into our airline. Had there been a plane to Saskatoon, I think I would have taken it…Jeremy was great as usual and was a good shoulder to cry on. I think he was in shock and the full effect of what happened did not really hit him until he had landed in Cairo.

We phoned both of our parents once we landed in Cairo (at 1:30am Saskatoon time) and cried on their shoulders. They were all just relieved that we were okay and gave us nothing but loving support (thanks guys, much MUCH appreciated). I have since put on my ‘Big Girl Panties’ and although we are both still unable to act on Rob’s advice (“One day we will be able to laugh at this whole experience”), I am no longer crying and we are enjoying our days of travel.