What a day! What an awesome day today has been. The previous day I went to bed with a pounding headache due to overthinking and anxiety, hoping and praying that come the following day, I will finally travel home.
I manage to drag my weary self out of bed at 2pm so I can begin to pack for my journey home. The rain pounded through the night and I kept drifting in and out of sleep anxious to check updates on our repatriation WhatsApp group to confirm that our flight home was still on course.
I carefully pack my suitcase now almost sure that we are going home because there hasn't been any hint of cancellation. Earlier in the morning, I contacted the testing centre where I had my Covid-19 test and they assured me that I would get my results in the afternoon. I needed them to apply for home self-quarantine. It was important that I get the results because considering the money I had used to pay for my stay here, I could not afford any further hotel costs, also, I did not think I was psychologically able to handle being cooped up in another hotel.
Just before I start packing, the email I had been anxiously awaiting pings and I hurriedly open it. I am negative, I don’t have Covid-19, therefore I can apply for home quarantine. Adrenaline flows through my body and I do an energetic jig. Once I calm down, I quickly follow the procedure outlined for the self-quarantine application and send in my application.
I then take a shower and go downstairs to prepare my usual meal. Other Kenyans who I will share this flight with have successfully checked in online and the mood is lively and upbeat.
Later in the evening, I settle down to eat having checked in successfully, now sure of the journey ahead. I call mum and give her the update, then text a handful of friends. I am trying my best to inform as few people as possible about tomorrow's confirmed flight. I don't want to imagine a repeat episode of what happened last week when our flight was postponed.
Later on in the night, I receive an email from Kenya Airways informing me of a one-hour delay — rather than 1.30pm, we shall be leaving at 2.30pm. I decide to wake up at 8am to shorten the day after Lanre and I agree that he will come for me at 10.30am to drive me to the airport.
Texts start streaming in at 6.30am from friends and family excited that I am coming home. At 8am, I jump out of bed, do a happy dance and head off to the bathroom. Within an hour I am packed up and ready to go.
Lanre finally arrives and we load my luggage into his car. I then bid my friends at Staycation goodbye.
I am among the first Kenyans to arrive. I spot a big group of individuals of Asian origin, more than 100, whom I gather are also being repatriated today. I and three other Kenyans proceed to our check-in counter.
That is when I realise that the process won’t be a walk in the park. Social distancing measures are in place and everyone has a mask. Even though we don't recognise each other, we know we are all part of the WhatsApp group, and after a few awkward moments, we start talking when we realise that they require documents such as a quarantine hotel booking, which none of us has. We also have to print out our negative Covid-19 certificates among other forms.
There's a lot of back and forth, and eventually after realising that we won't get the hotel bookings, we are asked to indicate which ones we prefer to go to when we land. Finally, one by one we are cleared.
It will be a long wait as we are scheduled to depart at 2.30pm. Every minute feels surreal, I am yet to accept that I am not dreaming. By 3pm, the flight has not yet come in yet, but we don’t complain, all we care about is that we get to fly home. When the plane finally lands at about 3.30pm, you can see the joy in everyone's eyes. I feel very patriotic and have never been happier to see a Kenya Airways plane.
We finally board, everyone sitting on their own to observe social distancing. It is a moment of immense relief when we finally take off. The crew are all in protective gear, and as they serve us, we feel safe. After a hot meal, I curl up hoping to sleep but I am unable to because of the excitement, so I end up thinking, mostly wondering whether I will get approval to self-quarantine because my email approval had not come in by the time we switched off our phones for the flight.
At 11pm, we finally land and break out clapping, thanking God for a safe journey. After a health check, we are allowed to proceed to the immigration counter, where the process is very fast. Before moving to the conveyor belt to look for my suitcase, I go looking for the counter which someone in the WhatsApp group had said we could apply for self-quarantine.
I am instructed to fill a form and after a few minutes, my name is called out. It turns out that my forms had already been approved and printed, including a driver's pass to allow movement past curfew hours. This feels completely unbelievable.
I bid goodbye to a few of the Kenyans from the group and then happily collect my suitcase and head for the exit.
It feels like every employee at the airport is determined to make things easy for us and I thank everyone that I interact with. Soon I am on my way home.
Ms Ndinda is Research Manager, Transform Research Africa Ltd. She is stranded in Nigeria, where she has been since March 21.
TOMORROW: I am finally home after three, long and anxious months in Nigeria. It feels like a dream, a dream I don’t want to wake from
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