Visiting Nairobi, Kenya

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

I was disappointed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

BUT very impressed with Nairobi. A worthwhile tourist stop.

I had a ride share in from the airport during a drenching rain storm that killed between 1-20 people, depending on the news source reporting. Happily I was on the ultra modern expressway, a toll road. A project of the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).

To get myself organized, I checked in first to the super fun Jabulani Nairobi Backpackers Hostel.

Getting ready for Barbecue Saturday Night. 😀

Location in the Westlands district made it convenient to get to restaurants, shops, and modern shopping centres. Expats here don’t lack for much in the way of international stores.

Carrefour grocery stores looked much the same as in Europe.

For day hiking, my hostel recommended Karura Forest, one of the largest urban forests in the world.

Trump ruined my first few days as it took time to change my ongoing flight from Dubai / Oman to London.

I’d hoped to do some hiking in the Kenyan highlands — but the rainy season had already started. It would have been a hassle.

My last 3 nights I booked into posh Wildebeest Eco Camp to live it up.

$61 / night for everything. Gourmet meals included.

I was keen to visit nearby Uhuru Gardens National Monument and Museum. On arrival it was inexplicably closed. Nobody knew why. A common problem in east Africa.

Also nearby and hugely popular is the Nairobi Safari Walk and Animal Orphanage. (PHOTOS)

Click PLAY or watch my short video on YouTube.

It’s at the gate to Nairobi National Park, inside the city itself.

I did the obligatory visit to the National Museums of Kenya. Small, but interesting.

On the same ticket you can see the Nairobi Snake Park and Aquarium. Neither is well maintained — but I am fascinated by snakes and reptiles.

There’s a small Botanic Garden, as well.

One last thing ➙ HUGE problem in Kenya for me was that my Canadian credit cards only worked occasionally. Many ticket offices don’t take cash. A few drivers don’t carry cash.

Those same cards worked all the time in Tanzania.

I was relieved to get out of the country.

I wouldn’t return to east Africa unless it was for a guided hiking adventure or another safari.

Fidelity by Thomas Perry

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Excellent. Though some feel it’s not as strong as most of the rest of his terrific books.

Fidelity (2008) is a stand alone novel.

When Phil Kramer is shot dead on a deserted suburban street in the middle of the night, his wife, Emily, is left with an emptied bank account and a lot of questions.

How could Phil leave her penniless?

What was he going to do with the money?

… Jerry Hobart has some questions of his own.

It’s none of his business why he was hired to kill Phil Kramer. But now that he’s been ordered to take out Kramer’s widow, he figures there’s a bigger secret at work — and maybe a bigger payoff.

As they race to find the secret that Phil Kramer so masterfully hid, both Hobart and Emily must question where their true loyalties lie and how much they owe those who have been unfaithful to them.

The Crossroads by C.J. Box

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

The Joe Pickett books by C.J. Box are some of my favourites.

The Crossroads (2026) is #26 in the series.

Super entertaining

This novel takes a unique turn by placing Pickett’s three adult daughters in the leading roles while Joe himself fights for his life after a brutal ambush.

  • The Investigation: Joe’s daughters—Sheridan, April, and Lucy—refuse to wait for the new sheriff’s investigation and decide to find the attacker themselves.
  • The Three Ranches: The “Crossroads” of the title refers to a junction where three different ranches meet, each owned by a family with a motive to kill Joe.
    • The Thompsons: A billionaire couple involved in a top-secret development project.
    • The Bucholzes: Owners of a cattle company that may be a front for more sinister activities.
    • The McElwee Sisters: Rumored to be involved in an illegal drug trade.
  • The Daughters’ Roles: The three sisters split up, each investigating one of the suspect ranches simultaneously to avoid tipping off the culprits.

Surprisingly, fan favourite Nate Romanowski is only an incidental character in this one.

Hijack – season 2

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

Season 1 was excellent.

Reviews for Season 2 of Hijack are significantly more polarizing than the acclaimed first season.

Not nearly as good, in my opinion. The plot less clear. Some episodes dragged.

I did like the very end of the finale. A smart conclusion.

Two years after the flight KA29 hijacking, Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) finds himself caught in another hostage crisis, this time on a Berlin underground U-Bahn train.

Idris Elba can do no wrong for me. He’s the main reason to watch.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Murder at World’s End by Ross Montgomery

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Not bad.

Reviewers love this book.

The Murder at World’s End (2025) historical mystery novel by Ross Montgomery, marking his debut in adult fiction. It is the first installment in a new series titled Stockingham & Pike.

Set in 1910 Cornwall, the story revolves around the real-world mass hysteria following the appearance of Halley’s Comet.

  • The Premise: Fearing an apocalypse caused by the comet’s “poisonous tail,” the eccentric Viscount of Tithe Hall seals every window, door, and keyhole of his remote island estate to protect his household.
  • The Murder: Despite the absolute lockdown, the Viscount is found dead in his sealed study the following morning, shot with an ancestral crossbow.
  • The Investigation: With a local inspector determined to frame a young under-butler named Stephen Pike due to his past criminal record, Pike teams up with the foul-mouthed, sharp-witted 80-year-old family matriarch, Miss Decima Stockingham, to find the true killer within the manor.

Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Love the concept. But the 3rd book in the Jane Hawk series seemed to drag.

Jane Hawk Books

The Silent Corner(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Whispering Room(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Crooked Staircase(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Forbidden Door(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Night Window(2019)Description / Buy at Amazon

Jane Hawk knows she may be living on borrowed time. But as long as she’s breathing, she’ll never cease her one-woman war against the terrifying conspiracy that threatens the freedom—and free will—of millions.

Battling the strange epidemic of murder-suicides that claimed Jane’s husband, and is escalating across the country, has made the rogue FBI agent a wanted fugitive, relentlessly hunted not only by the government but by the secret cabal behind the plot.

Deploying every resource their malign nexus of power and technology commands, Jane’s enemies are determined to see her dead . . . or make her wish she was.

Jane’s ruthless pursuers can’t stop her from drawing a bead on her prey: a cunning man with connections in high places, a twisted soul of unspeakable depths with an army of professional killers on call.

Propelled by her righteous fury and implacable insistence on justice, Jane will make her way from southern Southern California to the snow-swept slopes of Lake Tahoe to confront head-on the lethal forces arrayed against her.

We Did OK Kid by Anthony Hopkins

On By Rick McIn books, moviesLeave a comment

Every list of greatest actors includes Anthony Hopkins.

Unique and fascinating performances, including — of course — Hannibal Lecter, for which he won his 1st Oscar.

We Did Ok, Kid: A Memoir (2025) was widely praised by critics.

I enjoyed the book, but found it somewhat too self effacing.

Very little time was given over to his best and most important films.

He talks about his decades-long estrangement from his daughter and his battle with alcoholism.

Details remembers his childhood as a “loner” and “underachiever” in postwar Wales, heavily influenced by a “tough” father.

He includes many of his favourite poems, a nice touch.

related – Kate Mossman was disappointed.


Eric Maurice McCharles 1931 – 2025

On By Rick McIn McCharles family, photos, video11 Comments

Dad died March 9, 2025, at night, peacefully in his sleep.

Both the Canadian Red Cross and B.C. Health Care system were fantastic supporting his final days.

I was thinking this would be the way I’d like to go.

All palliative care was delivered in the home. Better than the hospice or hospital, in our experience.

___________________

I’d always liked the photo below on a German document. Dad had it posted on the fridge.

We could assume it was a military I.D. from his years serving with the Canadian Armed Forces in Deutschland — BUT it turned out to be his German Fishing Licence from 1962.

I’m posting this photo as it preceded the injury suffered while Dad was playing hockey for the Canadian Forces team. He lost an eye from a skate to the face which led to a medical discharge from the Army.

… Dad loved fishing. He owned 6 boats over his lifetime.

End of life came shockingly quickly.

One day we were grocery shopping and downing chicken wings at the local eatery. The next his bodily systems began to shut down.

One of the first warning signs was a loss of interest in watching his favourite TV shows: Hogan’s Heroes, Perry Mason, Matlock, Father Brown, Bonanza, Beverley Hillbillies, Green Acres.

Dad loved routine. Every day the same schedule. Any change not appreciated.

Here’s a slideshow of photos from his retirement years. Dad died age-94 — still with a driver’s licence.

Dad and I spent many days at French Creek Marina watching birds in the river delta.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Mom & Dad bought insurance in 2014 which paid for most of their funeral expenses. In fact, all we had to do was make one phone call to a 24 hour / day number and most of the arrangements were made for us. It simplified things immensely when we were grieving.

In addition, they’d simplified their estate as much as possible. We still had one investment that required probate, but the rest was very easy.

Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundathi Roy

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Arundathi Roy is best known for for her novel The God of Small Things (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the biggest-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author.

BUT she’s actually only written two novels.

Arundathi Roy is more of a political activist than writer.

Mother Mary Comes to Me (2025) is her memoir, critically praised. I enjoyed it, as well, but found it too self-critical.

It’s original in publishing an autobiography much centred on her complex relationship with mother, Mary Roy.

I wish she’d write more novels.

Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer 

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Rubbernecker (2014) is an award-winning crime novel by Belinda Bauer that follows Patrick Fort, a medical student with Asperger’s Syndrome who suspects the cadaver he is dissecting was murdered. Most reviewers describe it as a dark, original, and compelling thriller with a uniquely well-drawn protagonist. 

According to The Sunday Times, “one of the most startling plots in contemporary crime fiction”. 

Patrick Fort: An anatomy student who sees the world through the lens of his neurodivergence. 

The Coma Patient: A significant portion of the book is told from the perspective of Sam, a man in a “locked-in” state after a car accident. 

… detailed accounts of car crashes and anatomy lab dissections may be too gruesome for the squeamish.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.