London Calling

A Guest Post...from Kenya

Since Kirsten and I aren't doing anything terribly exciting (at least as far as you lot are concerned) I thought it would be interesting to hear from TheLondonAdventure Blog correspondent in Africa, Martyn. Enjoy...

(Kirsten thought I should provide some background info: Martyn is a long time friend of Mads, one of our good friends from the states and we have known him for some time. He is a freelance 3D animator who is on a 6 week job in Kenya)

Nairobi Log, entry 1

Got to Heathrow and went through all the horrendous queuing that you seem to have to do these days. I finally made it through the check-in process and the new enhanced security procedures with just enough time to go and have a coffee before I had to head for the gate. Had it been later in the day I might have gone for a beer instead (I nearly did anyway after all the check-in/security stuff!). Met up with Claudia, the producer, at the coffee shop and it suddenly struck me how odd the situation was. I'd only met Claudia a couple of weeks ago - hardly knew her, and here I was flying off to Africa with her as my guide, my new boss, and my new flatmate! - Scary!

We landed on time in Nairobi, at about eight thirty in the evening and after minimal fuss getting through immigration, baggage collection & customs (well... no fuss at all really - first nice surprise) we were met by our driver and taken to our apartment - which was the second nice surprise.

The apartment is on the eleventh floor of a block called Yaya Towers. It's a complex of mainly business apartments next to a shopping centre. The apartment itself is large - four double bedrooms, two bathrooms (each with bath and shower), three toilets(one in each bathroom, one separate) a large kitchen/dining area and a comfortable lounge area, with two armchairs, a sofa and a telly (with a good number of local & cable channels - including BBC world and ESPN). I suppose you could say it's a little soulless, but it's a business apartment after all. There's 24hr security, daily housekeeping as if we were in a hotel, a gym downstairs, an outdoor swimming pool, and an internet cafe - although all the apartments have internet connections if you have your own computer.

We quickly unpacked and headed down to reception to order a taxi to the nearest local bar, after first enquiring where the nearest decent local bar was, of course. It was a place called Casablanca, not very far - about a 200 shilling (less than £2) taxi ride away, and it was very pleasant. A laid back place with huge great half-bed/half-sofa style seats and people sitting around drinking and smoking hubble bubble pipes (actually a lot more pleasant than cigarette smoke as they smell like incense, vanilla, spices, etc.) There was a huge woodfire outside in something that looked like a large upturned satellite dish. Claudia and I had time for a couple of beers and a pizza while soaking up the atmosphere, before heading to the gate to get a taxi back to Yaya.

I had a restful nights sleep in my very comfortable bed and woke up about 7.00 am the next day, an hour or so before my alarm was due to go off. We traveledd by taxi to the industrial area of town and the studios. Third nice surprise. I'd already seen the studio via their website so had an idea what it was like, but the reality surpassed even my expectations. They had really pulled out the stops to set up our area. I've worked in studios in Soho that haven't been as well equipped or stylishly decorated as this. The studio is a bit of a hidden gem. The industrial area surrounding it is a bit grim, the entrance and first flights of stairs are dingy and a little scary, but as soon as you step into the studio proper it's like another world!

Everyone here is incredibly polite and helpful, it takes a bit of getting used to after living and working in London as your first natural reaction is to be suspicious - which is a little sad. Claudia speaks reasonable Swahili and I've started keeping a little notebook of useful words and phrases in teah hope of being able to use it a little myself before I leave. The only slight disappointment has been the speed of the internet, which has made some things more difficult. We were expecting broadband, but we actually got 64K - which is not much faster than an old dial-up modem.

Tomorrow is Friday, the end of our first week here. On Saturday Aussy Joe (an old friend & colleague of mine) and Kiwi Rich (a new friend & colleague) arrive, so the flat will be full. The last week here with only Claudia and myself has gone just about as well as it could. We both seem to get along well, both professionally and personally, the studio has been setup magnificently, and everyone is fired up and excited about the upcoming project.

On Monday, the Kenyan and Tanzanian animators arrive and the real work starts!

posted by Brian and Kirsten Hennigan @ Friday, October 27, 2006