Stuck In Kenya: Lockdown Extended For 30 More Days

The partial lockdown in Kenya gets extended by 30 days – A total mind fuck

June 6, the day Kenyans and stranded Mzungus were waiting for. President Uhuru Kenyatta once again addressed the nation on the state of play.

It was a good speech. I livestreamed it on KBC. Nothing like the bollocks that comes from Number 10 or The White House. Speaking in front of State House in Nairobi, Kenyatta didn’t mumble. He spoke clearly and concisely. None of this “Stay Alert” shite or “It’s going to disappear” wishful thinking.

He acknowledged his advisers and their expertise. And he laid it out clear. He, himself, wanted to get the economy going again but accepted the advice given.

If the infection rate carried on as it was the numbers would rise so high that Kenya’s health department just wouldn’t be able to provide care for such a number of patients.

But he was keen to provide some relief.

The hotspots in Kilifi and Kwale (two counties on the coast immediately north and south of Mombasa), as well as in Eastleigh (Nairobi) and Mombasa Old Town, had been contained. The lockdown within these counties would be lifted.

The 7pm to 5am curfew was to be relaxed with new times being given as 9pm and 4am. This would give traders more hours in which to make a living and get home before the curfew began.

None of which affected me.

But then the killer blows:

International travel ban extended another 30 days. So the airport wasn’t going to reopen. Maybe some domestic travel, if at all.

The cessation of movement into and out of Nairobi Metropolitan area (imagine Greater London) would also be extended by a further 30 days. This basically fucks up Kenya.

So for me, nothing has changed. But I get it.

Europe is only starting to open up. All countries have decided on a different approach. A few countries have stated that all citizens from Great Britain for example, will be required to self-quarantine upon arrival. We get ‘nul points’ at the Eurovision song contest but for mismanaging the Corona pandemic a full ‘dix points.’

So assuming I could get an evac flight to Holland or Germany and a connecting flight to Tallinn, as Estonia is one of those who laid out their plans which included quarantining Brits, I would have to undergo 14 days self-quarantine based purely on my nationality, even if I left Europe when Corona was, we assume, still in Wuhan and I have been here in a country with 70-80 deaths for four months (Is that a violation of my rights? WTF).

Great Britain also announced that arrivals would need to under go 14 days self-quarantine. So I replied on the HOME OFFICE tweet:

A Rupert is an army word for those who sit behind office desks and have (mostly) no fucking idea about the real world yet give the orders.

And now I can’t fucking go anywhere anyways. No idea if there will be anymore evac flights.

But this delay gives me time for Europe to normalise. I hope that by July 1st most of Europe will be reopened without the need to quarantine arrivals and hostels will be open.

And going further afield as well. Domestic travel in Vietnam and Malaysia has resumed and Thailand expects to reopen for international tourism by the end of the month.

Hoping for a return to normality and the resumption of international flights was really pushing the boat out. It is still early June.

But 30 more days. Jesus fucking Christ. I’ve been in Naivasha 12 weeks. Another four is on the cards. This is going to require some self-discipline.

Read more of the ‘Stuck in Kenya’ series on Vagabond Journey:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5