We caught the train into London and went via the Circle Line to Kensington High St. We drew £1900-00 out of the bank and paid our final instalment of £1868-00 to Kumuka¹. From there we went to Harley St², where all the doctors hang out – Rolls-Royces, BMWs and Mercedes very thick on the ground, polished gold plaques proclaiming the presence of flash specialists behind painted, locked doors. We found the International Vaccination Centre & made an appointment for next Monday.
We cruised on a bus for an hour or so and ended up at Hyde Park on a beautiful evening so we wandered around amongst people in horrid deckchairs, sat beside the Serpentine³ while the sun went down behind the trees and watched the squirrels play on the well-kept lawns. We caught the Underground from Marble Arch to Liverpool Street then the trains home.
¹ Our 16-week Overland Expedition, travelling north from Nairobi in Kenya via Uganda, Zaire, Cameroon, CAR, Nigeria, Niger, Algeria, Morocco and Spain begins in August.
² The prestigious street in Marylebone has been noted for its medical specialists since the 19th century. Coincidentally, it was named after Thomas Harley who was Lord Mayor of London in 1767, seven years after my ancestor Matthew Blakiston occupied the same position (see the earlier post https://curseofthetraveller.com/?s=the+house+of+blakiston about my family backstory).
³ The Serpentine is a small man-made lake created in 1730 at the behest of Queen Caroline, the wife of King George II.
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