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Stuck In Kenya: Lockdown Extended For 30 More Days

Nomadic Backpacker is still trapped.

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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:

Lockdown extended by 30 daysA 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

Filed under: Epidemics, Kenya

About the Author:

World Traveller – Global Nomad. Former electronic technician, racing cyclist, barman, mountain runner and mailman. Now perpetual vagabond. Blogs at Nomadic Backpacker. has written 10 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

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Trevor Warman is currently in: CDMX Mexico

3 comments… add one

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  • Sarah BB June 8, 2020, 10:51 pm

    This post did make me laugh, I had to google the meaning of Rupert when you tweeted. It’s a brilliantly British insult! What a shit show the UK is right now, embarrassing how countries with much less resources and developed infrastructure are doing such a better job comparatively. Hope you get out soon dude.

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    • Trevor Warman June 9, 2020, 1:42 am

      Thanks Sarah. Re Rupert, i’ve been reading SAS and MI5 MI6 stuff since the cold war. Thx too for the RTs.
      Also @ Wade
      The extended curfew has given hope. My cafe was previously closing at 6.20. Kenyans dt eat that early. So being able to close at 8.20, the girls said they were ‘quite busy’ on the first night.

      The gov promised more ‘stimulus checks’ for the hardest hit.

      Food has been distributed. Even here. Mini buses filled with rice, maize flour, veg, soap etc.

      Kyrgyzstan will reopen flights June 15. Thailand July 1. Vietnam and Malaysia for domestic travel. Georgia too though u might need a covid test. I saw that Andy was going to USA and onto Georgia.

      Egypt Air are running a few flights mid June.

      @Wade i am retweeting all updates i find on every country east of UK. Seems like nothing in Africa is moving yet.

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