My trip into South Sudan was a good one. I returned to Nairobi last night. The trip length ended up being extended, so I was able to stretch my time to 10 days so that I was able to travel to more of our field sites. It was great to be able to meet more of our great staff who are doing all the work, and to see what is being accomplished.

However, I’m not exactly legally back in Kenya yet. Allow me to explain. I jumped on a 15-seater Caravan out of Malakal yesterday morning. I needed to get to Loki (aka Lokichokio, the most northern access point into Sudan from Kenya, about 30kms from the border with Sudan) to catch a commercial flight at 5pm to Nairobi. We ended stopping at three different bush airstrips on the way out, landing in Loki with about 8 minutes to check in for my flight. I made the connection! However…since I didn’t fly into Sudan on a commercial flight, and since I was rushed through the check-in process for my connection (literally doing that on the airstrip), I never got my re-entry visa and stamp back into Kenya. Then, since Loki is already in Kenya, when I landed in Nairobi, I came into the domestic arrivals terminal, meaning I didn’t have to go through customs. You see what I’m getting at?

I didn’t think of it until later in the evening, but this could cause me some problems for the next time I try to fly out of Kenya…I have no proof that I ever entered. It just so happens that my roommate is flying into Sudan via Loki today. So I filled out the visa application and gave it to him, along with my passport. Now, when he comes back into Kenya later this week, he’ll attempt to pull the right strings and get the right stamps. Ah, what are political borders anyway!?

Anyway, over the next several days I will be unpacking some of my experiences from the last week and a half. So don’t go too far.

Also, if you’re interested, and have Google Earth (which there is not reason why you shouldn’t have it!), then you can download my flight track from yesterday. Get it here (right-click, and choose ‘Save link as’).

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