Within only 12hours my position on staying in Kenya changed completely.
After posting my last blog entry, I have received a mail from the German embassy in Nairobi requesting Germans in Kenya to sign up for the “Repatriation Programme”.
Just 2-3days before, the embassy announced, that they won’t plan such a programme in Kenya due to the availability of commercial flights. So. I started wondering, what happend, which made the embassy change their mind so quickly. According to the internet, flights with e.g. KLM,BA,AF etc. were still available.
I reached out to a couple of people to see what their opinion on the current situation is. In January (in Greece) I met a British women living in Nairobi. She told me, that the British embassy told her to “leave the country asap” so, she (and all the ones she knows in Kenya) were flying out on the next available planes.
One Kenyan told me, that he expects the current lockdown to become more severe in a few days. When asked, why he believes that, he could not say. It was just rumours, nothing confirmed. The Corona-cases have not increased for a couple of days (there were only 7 last week). But, I got a very bad feeling talking to the different people and seeing the embassy changed its mind so rapidly.
So on Sunday I called the embassy because I wanted to know, what was going on. In the mail, I had received they offered a slot on Sunday for any questions about the repatriation programme. The information I received in the call were very vague. My question, what has changed since the last email stating there was no repatriation programme planned, remained unanswered. The first response was “That is a long story”. When I kept asking, I suddenly received the response, that the embassy never said, that such a programme is not planned…. Which is really strange, since I still have the email stating exactly this. Also when I asked what the recommendation is – stay or leave – I was told, that it is my decision and that this programme runs only once, so if I missed the repatriation flight, I will be on my own. I also asked, if I decide to fly home, shall I register for the repatriation flight or shall I book a commercial one. The answer: “If you can book a commercial one, then book the commercial one.”
Instead of bringing clarity, the call confused me even more, because I still did not know, what has changed. All I knew, was the following:
Corona development in Kenya:
On 13th of March, the first Corona-patient was diagnosed in Kenya, the contact people were traced and two of them were also diagnosed with Corona by the 15th of March, All their contact persons were put in quarantine. The Kenyan government also decided on 15th March, that only Kenyans and people with resident permits are allowed to enter Kenya under the condition, that they self-quarantine for 14 days. People who had arrived in the last 14days also had to self-quarantine. Furthermore, social distancing was encouraged, schools and universities were closed etc.
As of March 15th, the only thing you saw in the news, was Corona, Corona, Corona. The government heavily promoted social distancing, personal hygiene etc., buses and trains were cleaned regularly and the number of passengers was reduced to about 60% of the capacity.
On Monday 16th March, 4 more cases had been confirmed (total 7). All had been in contact with the other patients.
So the measures put in place, were quite strong and I was confident, that Kenya will contain the virus. No new cases had been confirmed by Saturday, 21st March.
So what caused the German embassy to suddenly have a repatriation programme and why did the British embassy suddenly even told expats to “leave the Country asap”.
I was getting a bad feeling, that something is going on, I am not aware of. So, after the call with the embassy, I booked a flight back home with AirFrance on Wednesday, 25th March.
Hahahaha
In Sunday afternoon, the president announced, that 8 more people, who entered the country in the past 14 days had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Angrily, he said, that these people did not adhere to the rule to self-quarantine, but continued business as usual after arriving in Kenya, potentially spreading the virus. The government was on Sunday trying to track about 400 people, who had been in contact with the new patients.
So, obviously the tough rules imposed by the government, were not taken serious, so more strict measures had to be taken, for example:
– Churches/Mosques were not asked anymore to close, but were forced to do so.
– All borders with neighbouring countries were closed
– All international flights to be grounded on Wednesday, 25th March at midnight until further notice incl. repatriation flights organized by embassies
My AirFrance flight was scheduled for Wednesday 25th March 23:50. What did the travel ban mean for me ? I did not know. I called AF, they did not know anything about the new travel ban and I spoke to two different people there. I tried to precautionally get a seat on the Monday or Tuesday flight, but that was not possible. Then I called Kenya Airways, as KA was supposed to operate the flight to Paris. KA also did not know and recommended me to call again on Monday. I hoped, that if the plane starts 10minutes before the travel ban becomes effective, I will be fine, but I wanted to get the confirmation by the airline, that they are still conducting this flight.
On Monday I called, KA again and was informed, that my flight will be cancelled, though in the internet, it still stated “confirmed” and they asked me to call AF to check my options. Due to the time difference, the offices in Paris and Frankfurt were still closed and there seems to be no Kenyan office, only one in Nigeria, again in another time zone.
In the meantime, I had learned that there are 3 repatriation flights from Kenya to Germany on Monday and Tuesday, but from Mombasa, not Nairobi. So, just in case, I checked the availability of flights and trains to Mombasa and noticed very quickly, that making it to Mombasa in time is not feasible.
Believe me, I got worried not only due to increased risk of Corona spreading in Kenya, but also due to the fact, that I would have been locked in a country for an undefined period without any possibility to fly back to Germany, in case I am needed here (e.g. parents getting sick or similar). Furthermore, given that the women center, I was supposed to work at, had to close, it also seemed, that all I can do for the NGO at the moment is doing some work on the Laptop, what I can perfectly do from Germany and practicing self-isolation in Kenya for I do not know how long, does not sound so great.
So after waiting for another hour, the AF offices were finally opened and after another hour being on hold, I finally had a very nice lady on the phone, who again confirmed, that the flight is cancelled. She booked my on another flight, which was supposed to take me 4 days to return to Germany:
– Monday evening flight to Dubai ; Transit time in Dubai 13h
– Tuesday evening flight to Paris ; Transit time in Paris 38h
– Thursday afternoon flight to Frankfurt
At least, I knew I will make it home and started packing. I continually tried to change my flight to Frankfurt from Thursday to Wednesday, but no chance – the waiting lists for the flights were already huge. So I finally booked a flight with Lufthansa from Paris to Germany and arrived on Wednesday given that a hotel room was the same price as the LH flight, I preferred the flight.
So, yes I made it home. Some will say, that I am stupid for going to Kenya in the first place, but you know, the Corona situation escalated so quickly, (Germany had only 2.500 cases two weeks ago and now ist almost 40.000), though I had the hope that we all learned from China and Italy and I also hoped, that people would follow quarantine, if asked to do so, but I was mistaken.
Flying these days is quite dangerous, as you do not know, who is sitting next to you and social distancing is quite difficult when the plane is full. So I am now in complete quarantine – no one is allowed to enter my space, only my little doggy, I can’t live without dogs.
There is one thing, I want to mention, which really made me angry. The flight, which was cancelled, was operated by Kenyan Airways and scheduled for yesterday (Wednesday) evening. Yesterday, I have also received another email by the German embassy, announcing that Kenya Airways is offering an additional flight on Wednesday evening (10pm) to Amsterdam to help Europeans to get home. Kenya Airways sold the economy tickets for 2.960 USD !
My flight to Frankfurt via Paris was only 500EUR and it got cancelled by KA. That is obviously how KA wants to make more profit by exploiting travellers in this situation.
Wanderlust 