My mom and I touched down, sleep-deprived but optimistic, expecting our pre-booked driver to be waiting with a cute little sign and some sense of order.

Spoiler: No driver.

Cue panic. The airport was starting to shut down for the night, fluorescent lights buzzing out one by one, and the last thing I remembered my grandparents saying was, "Make sure your mother comes back alive." Excellent. No pressure.

Local taxis? We'd heard the warnings: "Don't trust them unless you want to disappear." Fabulous. So here we were two women in a mostly closed airport, no ride, and very limited options.

We spotted a random tour operator wrapping up his night. I explained our situation (read: desperate flailing), and bless him he called his last driver and asked him to come back for us. Hero move.

The driver arrives. We drive down the exact dark alleys like in all the horror taxi stories. Ok, well this is where we get robbed. Excellent. I may have made the kind of decision that could get me whacked at Sunday dinner. But no…..we pull up to a locked gate.

He tells us to stay inside the car while he bangs on the gate of our hotel, which, by the way, was wrapped in barbed wire. Charming. He somehow manages to wake up a half-asleep "security guard" (more like a guy in flip-flops with a flashlight), gets us in safely, and refuses to leave until we were fully checked in. Honestly, the kindest, most lowkey terrifying rescue I've ever experienced.

So naturally, I tipped him $20 USD. Which was what his boss charged me for the ride!

Which immediately led to: Photos of his entire family, A dinner invitation & A promise to pick us up again the next day. Honestly, had we not already booked another driver for our tours, I might've gone. I was emotionally invested by then. He was grateful and so were we!

The next morning: Enter Mr. Martin our official guide and his BOSS.

The man shows up in a full suit. At 9 a.m. In Nairobi. In the equatorial sun. I don't know what corporate dress code he was following, but this was commitment. His boss, apparently doing a surprise quality inspection (??), hovered awkwardly before finally driving off, leaving Martin with us. We gently suggested he ditch the jacket and show up "more casual" tomorrow. He nodded solemnly. The next day, he returned… still wearing a tie. Hands down the most adorable taxi in Kenya! But back to... Nairobi itself. Sketchiest place I've ever been? Maybe…..but I'm not done traveling just yet! TBD

Sometimes you just have to trust a total stranger, ignore the barbed wire, and hope your survival instincts are sharper than your mother's side-eye.

And yes, Mom made it out alive, and I still got my spaghetti and meatballs when I got home. No cement shoes, no offer I can't refuse, no family exile. Miracles happen.