Email access...

Nairobi, Kenya

Ever since leaving Egypt, internet access, and thus email access, has proven to be a bit of a challenge. Sudan, surprisingly, had decent access, but Ethiopia only had expensive dial-up. Here in Nairobi, there are plenty of places to chose from, though all seem to cram as many computers as they can into a room and while speeds are better then dial-up, I'm not going to be downloading any movies on these connections.

Here's a little nugget of information.... Lonely Planet, the guide book that just about every traveler carries with them, usually lists prices for most things such as restaurants, transporting and lodging. It's a common joke among travelers that you generally need to double the quoted price to get an idea of the current price since most of the guides are always at least 1-2 years old. However, there is one quoted price, and probably the only one, that has actually gone over the years and that is for internet access. Even here in Africa, actual prices are well under what the guide quotes (which was printed in 2003).

Another interesting fact regarding internet access is that I think upscale hotels (read: Hilton, Sheraton, etc...) have caught on to the fact that most people don't make expensive phone calls from their rooms anymore so in an effort to recoup that lost revenue, they charge absolutely insane prices for internet access. Here in Nairobi, the Hilton Business center charges 20 Kenyan Shillings for one minute of access. The universal rate on the street among every internet cafe is 1 Shilling per minute! Sure, the Hilton Business Center is nicer, and maybe the computers are a bit better, but not 20 times better! In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Sheraton Hotel charged 3$US per minute (around 26 BIR) whereas the street rate was around 0.20 BIR, or a markup of over 50 times. I guess if you can afford paying around 200$US/night at the Sheraton then you're unlikely to balk at paying 3$ for internet.

What does all this have to do with anything, well when it comes to posting pictures and updating blogs, the better the internet cafe and the connection the quicker I can get things online. Here in Nairobi, selection is plentiful but quality is only marginal. It also doesn't help when the connection keeps going down and the power flickers on and off periodically. (Thank goodness for the UPS that my terminal is plugged into...)

So, long story short, photos are coming but it will take some time...

Kenny