Coastal Adventures

LAMU

So, a very brief write-up of going down the coast I think. It would be nice to have been able to write more but I needed to be writing it up as we went along really. Mainly we just kinda toured the coast, looking at a few stuffs as we came down, not really doing so much as it was really hot and Phil was really feeling it. So Phil arrived on the Friday night and I picked him up from the airport with Evans (taxi driver) who actually was waiting for someone else from the same flight so we had someone else drive us back. The traffic was horrific as it was about 7pm and the Mombasa road gets really snarled up. So it took forever to get back to the guest house. But then I warmed up the dinner I had prepared earlier and we ate with Emma, Hassan and John before going up and sorting out all our stuff for the flight the next day.

The flight to Lamu was very cool. We flew first to Malindi, and the view was pretty good but it was cloudy most of the way. But then we took off from Malindi and we were sitting on the side with the good view of the sea, it was a really short 20 min flight. But very cool, and full of tourists. So we arrived at Lamu, and had a beach boy who insisted he wasn’t a beach boy attach himself to us all the way to the hotel we were staying in. We stayed at Kipepeo, but I would probably find somewhere different to stay if I were going again, as this place was a really small room which was really stuffy. I’m sure there are nicer and more airy rooms around for even cheaper now. We didn’t do a lot in Lamu, cos it was really hot so we had a wander around for the first afternoon and had lunch at a place with really really tasty coconut dishes with coconut rice, oooh, it was just the yummiest. Other than having a wander around that afternoon, and looking in some shops, we didn’t really do a whole lot. It was enough just to have a look around really. I ordered a bag made in one of the shops. It’s not an amazing bag, could do with some lining and stuff, but I got to choose the fabric, and he made it for me for 250/- which is 50 less than he sells the kikoys he made it out of.

The next day we visited the Lamu Museum, which was very interesting. We had a guide who took us around, and was very knowledgeable. He was a trainee tour guide, or tourism student, which is what a lot of the guides are. They tend to be very good, although there have been a couple on my travels who haven’t been so great. I learned the other day in a meeting with someone from NMK that they even use them at the National Museum, although it seems that at a couple of the prehistoric sites I visited they have guides on hand for free, or possibly for free. It could be that you usually have to pay but because Mwangi had called ahead and let them know I was coming that I got freebies. Who knows. Anyway, Lamu Museum was very interesting. I particularly liked the mini display of an archaeological site in a cabinet, showing the stratigraphic layers and stuff, and the display of ‘archaeologists tools’ which consisted of a little paint brush, a trowel, a mini photo scale, and a mini sieve complete with accompanying sand. So cute!!! I also liked the kanga, which nowadays has a traditional Swahili saying on it, in Swahili, but they had one in the museum which had a saying on it in Arabic. Very cool. And there was the thing that women used to have to carry around to cover themselves up with. It’s like a T shaped wooden frame which used to have material hanging over it which they would have to carry and would completely cover them. Must have been good for the arm muscles carrying that thing around all day. Along the same lines, there was a woman doll in a room dressed for wedding or something, with an accompanying sign telling us everything a woman had to do to be ready for the wedding. Sounded much like a full time job being a wife, but I guess it is still in many places.

In the afternoon we lazed around for a few hours hiding from the hottest time of the day, which seems to be what most people do there, then at 2.30 I mooched along to go and pick up my bag and buy a couple of kikoi. One of them was meant to be a present, but in one of the places we stayed (I think it was Nyali beach) I had taken one of them out of the bag, and then when I went to pack them the next day it looked as though something had gotten in and had itself a meal as there a couple of little holes in it. :( Very sad. So instead I shall keep it for myself J and I bought another one for the present instead. I’ve packed them away in my suitcase and I really hope they don’t get chewed in there. I gave a thorough shake out as when I opened it I found a thing (are they called silverfish? I don’t know if that’s right but it’s the name I have in my head) which also seems to have eaten a couple of little holes in the lining of the case. Grrr.

So, then I chilled and mooched for a little while at the room, and had a shower while Phil went to take pictures of the fort before it got dark, which is does really quickly over here. The next day we had booked ourselves on a really early coach from Lamu. The coach left the mainland at 7am, so we had to be at the jetty by 6.15 for the ferry across. We were very glad of leaving super early (5.30am) and arriving at just about 5.45 as by 6am which was when we were told to be there by, the ferry was jam packed, and they still carried on packing on people and goods until we pushed off at 6.15! The bus was easy to find, what with that being all there was when we got off the boat, just a row of buses waiting to get filled up. The journey was rather bumpy, although I’ve been on roads just as bad, if not worse, but it was a really uncomfortable bus, the kind where your bum has started aching within an hour or two and you don’t quite know if you can stand the discomfort for another three or four. We did, and we arrived at Malindi at around lunch time I think.

MALINDI

We checked into Ozi’s guest house, which was actually really cool. I really liked Ozi, he was very friendly and we had a good natter about archaeology and heritage and stuff while we were there.
*oh, I wish I had my camera on me right now. Instead of seagulls by the seaside, Mombasa has crows, and there are currently about 5 sitting on the railings in front of me, although they keep flying off and coming back again. One of them is very interested in me, he sits on the pillar at the corner and keeps looking at me.*

So, Ozi’s, only 800/- b&b! Awesome. Breakfast had proper fresh juice as well as eggs and loadsa toast and coffee. Way better than the breakfast at the place we stayed in Mombasa, and a damn site cheaper. That first afternoon I believe we went off to the Italian Supermarket all the other way across town, although we were planning on walking it but somehow got completely turned around and lost, so we caught a tuk-tuk instead. The supermarket was closed when we got there, so Phil went and got some money out and then we chilled out at an uber fancy bar restaurant place full of fancy Italians. Good coffee though. The Italian supermarket was not worth the wait, and so we wandered down the road stopping for ice-cream and stuffs along the way, finally catching another tuk-tuk back to the hotel. We had dinner at a place that was really tasty, but freaking expensive and stingy on the portions. I should write to the Rough Guide. It was The Old Man by the Sea, in case anyone wants to know. The next night we went to the slightly cheaper I Love Pizza, which was pretty good but still not quite cheap enough.

WATAMU & GEDI RUINS

So, the next day was Tuesday and after Phil had had a whinge and I’d gone out to buy him lots of medicines (400/- for a load of rehydration sachets, some anti-biotics, and two other types of drugs to take for a week = bargainous) with strict instructions that he should have finished the bottle of water we had left by the time I got back. Silly boy was dehydrated. Once we kept him drinking lots he was much less complainy! :) So, that cleared up we headed to Watamu for lunch. Being low season the locals have turned into cheating arses. We had a little tour around the town, and then were taken to somewhere to have lunch where they tried to fleece us completely. Luckily I am incredibly stubborn and I just laughed at them when they told me the price to start with. We still got overcharged I think, but we paid a fair price that I was happy with. It was funny though, after I balked at the price he gave me they proceeded to get a little receipt slip and write out exact prices making it to less than I was originally told but still over twice what we paid in the end. After I told the guy who was insisting that was the price he was crazy, what was obviously the owner sighed and gave in. He knew I wasn’t stupid. Such bastards though, I bet every year they fleece hundreds of poor tourists. Anyway, once that palaver was over with we tried to find a hotel with a pool by which to lounge. Then we tried to find the sea. Then we went off the other way, shook off some more locals, and eventually found the sea. Then we shook off another local guy, and proceeded to walk along the beach. It was a looong beach, and it was hot and sunny. And very windy. And all the hotels were closed for the low season. But we met someone walking along the beach, who was a local but a nice one who was just on his way to work, who said that Ocean Bay (I think was what it was called) had just re-opened for the high season and pointed it out as we passed it, although we could tell what with it having people on the terrace and all. Very swish place. We had a couple of very nice non-alcoholic cocktails, attempted to lounge on the sun-loungers overlooking the sea but then were told that that would cost us 1000/- which is crazy as the pool was only 500/-. Anyway, it was very windy so instead we found a sheltered spot to chillax for a while and plan our next port of call.

We left the hotel wishing we were staying there (and that it were less windy) and got on a handy matatu to Gedi. We were sat right up front so we got the driver to drop us at the right place, where there was a handy sign pointing to the ruins. After a short walk, following signs, we came to it at about 4.30pm. Sadly, that was the time the office shut, and the curator was in a meeting. So I didn’t get to talk to him, but instead we had a nice walk around the ruins, and monkeyed about with some monkeys. It really is beautiful there, and very atmospheric at the end of the day, although I wouldn’t really recommend staying until it’s properly twilight without your own transport. As it got to 6pm we decided we should probably head, so we said our goodbyes to the monkeys and headed towards the main gate. We asked the guard the easiest way back to the main road to get a matatu, and he promptly instructed one of the guys who was about to head off to guide us. It was a really nice walk along the local footpaths (of the kind that are just worn away by people’s feet) past shambas and corn fields. And he hailed a matatu for us with barely a nod of his head as soon as we emerged onto the main road. Very helpful. And then as previously mentioned, dinner at I love Pizza. Awesome name.

NYALI BEACH

The next day we had a late start, despite the wake-up call from the Juma mosque right next door. At breakfast we met a middle (-late?) aged travelling couple who we later leant our guide book to. And phone, cos they had a silly supposedly international sim card thing that didn’t really work very well. Then we had a wander around the old part of Malindi, which was where we were based, before checking out at 10 and going to wait for our bus, which was due at 11, but that because of the rains making the road so bad only arrived at about 12.30. But we made it to Mombasa finally, and caught a tuk-tuk to the hotel, which was on Nyali Beach. I tried to get his price down but I only managed to get him down a measly 50 shillings. But it was raining so we were just happy to arrive. It was a very resorty type hotel, the kind you would find anywhere in the world, and it was raining, so not the greatest first impression, but it had ac so Phil was happy. We didn’t do a lot that afternoon, apart from decide to stay until Sunday as per the original plans. We also found free internet, and looked up film times for the cinema down the road. We walked up to the main road, and then caught a matatu the cinema. There was also a couple of food places, so we bought a large amount of potato dishes (Phil’s first ever masala chips and some wedges) to act as dinner before the film. Then we saw Prince of Persia! Which I thoroughly enjoyed. A good bit of buckling swash. Also in HD on a fancy digital screen. Oooh.

So the next day we very much enjoyed a lurvely cooked breakfast, and then eventually ventured out for a walk along the beach. We were hoping to find Shiva temple, a cave which became a place of hindu symbolism when a cow rubbed it’s udders on a stalagmite or something. Anyway, we went on a lovely long walk along the beach, and then went up to walk along the road, and then got rained on, and then finally, almost accidentally, we found the cave. Seemingly buried in suburbia. It was almost inspiring. Almost. Generally it was just a cave. I was quite entranced by a leaf dangling from some kind of web in the middle of the air, and while trying to take photos of it suddenly started to feel a burning itching sensation in my feet. I later counted at least 8 mosquito bites spread across my feet, although a couple of them were so close together they all swelled up together. Fun. We left pretty soon after that, and soon found our way to a matatu that took us to Nakumatt Cinemax, where we found ac and cold drinks.

Once back at the hotel I went to have a swim, and then laze around on a lounger, but then I was bitten again and got a bit huffy about being itchy in so many places, and the heat was making it worse, so I went and sat in the air conditioned room watching some film or other on the only reasonable tv channel our tv could get. Phil had a great swim, his first in 20 years as he kept telling people. :) We had dinner at the hotel that night, after an attempt to walk down the beach to find somewhere else. We were the only people at the restaurant, either of them, so we had the full attention of about 7 or 8 members of staff. It was a little uncomfortable. But we got through it, and then I fell asleep while watching another crap film on the tv. I can’t remember which night it was, but one night I fell asleep while watching a film called Rock Monster, made for the sci fi channel. It was so riveting, but sadly I fell asleep before I could find out who survived. I’m guessing the main guy who took the group of random students from America to the random eastern European village in the middle of nowhere survived though, and got it together with the pretty brunette local girl. Rocking. (*snigger*)

MOMBASA

The following day we made our way into Mombasa and checked into the hotel there. It was alright, but not really as nice as the one in Nyali, and I just found out, actually more expensive than the Castle Royal, which I went into today for coffee and asked about room prices. Anyway, I think in the afternoon we pretty much just chilled out and had a wander around the town. I can’t really remember, apart from that we went to Dormans but the coffee there isn’t as good as Java. I only ever go to Java in Nairobi but there isn’t one in Mombasa. We also walked up to the tusks that go over the road, which the guide book said we would want to see. It was on our way to the train station anyway, and we were going to try and buy tickets, although we arrived at about 2pm and they were still on lunch or something, so we decided to try again the following day. And we went to Wimpy instead. Which was interesting. I think there was coriander in the burger.

That evening we met up with Patience and Daren, and Reynolds and Sasha who had arrived from Nairobi that day, and we had dinner at this munglai place. The food was really really good. We ordered a load of dishes and shared, and oooh, it was soo tasty. The next day we did Fort Jesus. We had a guide who latched onto us at the beginning and tried to squeeze us for money despite us telling him we didn’t want to pay for a guide. And then he was a really rubbish guide so we told him to go away and that we wanted to look around by ourselves, which we told him once before going into the museum section, and then he was still following us afterwards so we had to make it completely clear. And then he got all huffy with us because he could have been with other people. Moron. So instead we showed ourselves around, listening in on other guides we saw taking groups around who were actually really good. There was even one guy speaking fluent German to a German couple. Anyway, the fort was interesting, we wandered around and explored a lot, and then sat at the top by the soda shop and had a soda while watching the sea. We sat there for quite a while, and I could have stayed even longer. Mombasa seems to make me just want to sit and watch things around me for long periods of time. Other than Fort Jesus we didn’t do a whole lot. Found somewhere tasty to have food I think, and then just chilled out back at the hotel. We went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner cos we couldn’t be bothered to find somewhere else, and I ordered prawns which was a mistake. For a start they took about 15 mins longer than Phil’s food to come, and then they seemed to have taken advantage of the fact they were battered to use the crappy bits of prawns, with shells on and everything. Wasn’t pleasant. But then we came to Patience and Daren’s for ice cream, which was very yummy, before Reynolds & Sasha joined us to go and watch the USA v England game. Which was awesome. We went down the road from P&D’s to what during the day is a kind of car park, with a big projector screen set up to watch the night games on. Sadly, because R&S were a bit late (their dinner over-ran too) we missed England’s only goal, but were in time to see our terrible fumble causing the USA to equalise. The crowd went completely wild, even though I was disappointed it was still hugely fun because the atmosphere was just so good. Sadly I won’t be able to watch the next England game there because it will only be 5pm so it won’t be dark enough. If only it were just 2 hours later. So, that was fantastic fun, sat on kangas for a little tiny bit of protection from the concrete floor, surrounded by all the locals and mostly kids where Patience & I were sitting. So much fun.

(Now I am writing this much much later, and the memory is even hazier) So Sunday morning Phil and I decided to not have too early a morning, but to still take advantage of the day before meeting P&D for lunch. So we decided to do the walk mentioned in the guide book taking in the other fort (st Joseph), the baobab forest, the ferry port and the pillar tomb. The roads were really pretty at the beginning so we were taking photos, and the Phil decided to stand in the middle of the road to get a better picture. Mistake! A few steps later we came across the sign saying ‘State House property, no photographs’. Oops. We should have turned around then, but we didn’t.

*I’ve cut this bit out, and will post it when I am back home, or if you really want to know what happened you can email me! :) *

So we carried on walking, and possibly saw the other fort. We found the Golf course that it was supposed to be near anyway. We bought some cassava crisps from a street vendor, we had them with lunch later, yumms. The the baobab forest. Hmmph. Well it was foresty, but I am certain that baobabs are famous for looking like an upside down tree with all their roots in the air (there were loads that I saw on the bus to Mombasa later that week, but I didn’t take any photos) but these were distinctly leafy green. Hay-ho. The ferry port was very impressive. Oooh, ferry. Then we stopped and had a ice-cream from the Nakumatt which was equally impressive, before following the directions to find the pillar tomb. There’s a much easier way than in the book though! Silly book. We were weaving our way along the streets around the warehouses, and the mud roads were rather boggy. At one point I stood on a bit that I thought was solid, but instead my foot sunk into squelchy beige mud, containing who knows what. I had to rinse it off in a puddle with a piki-piki driver and his passenger watching and saying pole a lot. (I believe in my head I was screaming: for gods sake stop saying sorry! It would actually be preferable if you were to laugh at me!) (Oh, and a piki-piki, for future reference, is what they call a motorcycle boda-boda in Mombasa, to properly differentiate from the bicycle boda’s and the motorbike pikis.) We eventually found the pillar tomb, nestled inbetween warehouses with a little house nearby and an adjoining mosque. Looking back at the photos it looks far more phallic than I remember it. Then we caught a tuk-tuk back into town. I got quite good at signalling for them. You just kind of raise your arm and they will always see you and come over. It’s amazing.

So after that we whiled away some time by walking around old town again, and vaguely following the walking tour signs before stopping at Leven house opposite P&D’s which has a Swahili cafe, where I had the most deeelicious fruit juice. We saw them come back from church, but chilled out for a while longer to allow them time to change and so we didn’t overwhelm them. Then I helped P make lunch, just sandwiches, but with lots of things in bowls to snack at, as well as popcorn, mmm. Phil and I were snacking, naughty us, before eating properly, so Darren suggested saying grace before sitting down so we could snack legally. Which we duly did. After lunch we played Scattergories, which is always fun, especially when you have an odd memory like mine which recalled that when we played at New Years we had the same letter (T) for the same list, which enabled me to score 12 points because of my wonderful use of alliteration. Thanks to Ryszard for having taught me enough about cars that I could get 2 points for ‘Twin Turbos’. Brill. And we generally whiled away the hours just being sociably comfortable until time came for Phil & I to say our goodbyes and go and get our stuff to catch the train.

The train was cool. It was very trainy! Very much like the Egypt one but somewhat cleaner. They set the beds up pretty much straight away, and we went and had dinner in the buffet car. That was fun. Also, because there were only two of us we had a guy put with us who was on his own. He was Canadian, and his name was Jesse. Heh. What are the chances. Anyway, he was very nice, and we chatted pleasantly all through the meal. Which in itself was funny. You’d think they would take your orders and then just bring you plates of food, but no, tables were already set and they came around with platters laden with food which they tried to scoop carefully onto your plate without spilling any. I should add that it was a very bumpy ride. The train was swaying back and forth quite aggressively. And the starter was soup. *sniggers at the memory* Hee hee hee.

Anyway, I was shattered so I was up for going to bed pretty much straight after dinner, which was good as I needed a lot of time for as much broken sleep I could get. While I used the sink and got ready for bed Phil went and chatted with Jesse, whereas while Phil was doing the same I was too tired (and thus grumpy) to do anything but stare out of the window. I was rewarded by a beautiful view of the milky way though, which I hadn’t seen the entire time I’d been in Kenya. I guess I was just always in the wrong places. The stars when we were at Marich Pass were cool, but there were too many trees so I guess we had half the sky hidden from us.

So the night was quite bumpy, and noisy, but I managed to get some sleep by listening to Takk by Sigur Ros on a loop on my iPod. That album has saved many a night. Then in the morning I got up rather early and took the opportunity to get out of bed when the train had stopped at a station (it was still very bumpy, and I was sleeping on the top bunk. Getting up was all sorts of fun, and I really didn’t fancy trying to do it while still foggy from sleep). Phil woke up not long after I came back from the toilet, and dutifully faced the other way while I got dressed. Soon the bell rang for breakfast, and we rushed off to the buffet car, ravenous for whatever they would give us. And then we had to wait for ages. Anyway, it was pretty good, better than the breakfast at the hotel anyway. And we sat with Jesse again, and this other lone traveller from the UK, who wasn’t overly talkative and seemed a bit strange. He hadn’t really planned his time away very well by the sounds of it. So, he left as soon as he finished eating, leaving us three to chat and drink tea and look out the window at the passing countryside and wonder where we were. And then came the animals. It was quite cool, there were ostriches, giraffes, zebra, gazelle, buffalo, wildebeest, gerenuk... and so out came the cameras and photos were taken. Then amazingly, we arrived in Nairobi pretty much on time!

NAIROBI

This gave us all day to do Nairobi in, which was a wonderful surprise, meaning we could get back to the guest house and relax a little bit, have a shower, before heading out. Also I met Andie who had been put in our room while Hannah & Emma were away. Phil & I went into town to do some curio shopping and have lunch. I excelled myself at haggling over prices. I’ve become quite brutal and have no fear about just walking away if I’m not satisfied with the price. In fact, I didn’t even need to haggle for my bookends. I chose which ones I wanted, told the guy I could get them for 1000 (when I had actually only been offered 1200ksh about 5 months ago, and they’re 2000+ in the Zanzibar curio shop) and wouldn’t budge on the price. He came down and down while wrapping the things, all the while I was saying ‘no, 1000’ and he finally agreed. I think he knew from the start that was how much I was going to pay, but he tried quite hard to push it. However, I still think he agreed far too easily and that he probably still made a bomb on them. I also wouldn’t be surprised If they fall apart as soon as I get them home and unwrap them.


Later on that afternoon I introduced Phil to the Sarit centre. He wanted to drive as we had the car keys, but I talked him out of it. Phil was un-wise to the laws of not being in a car between 4pm and 7.30pm in Nairobi unless you absolutely have to be, because even the shortest 10 minute journey will take an hour at least. I can’t remember what we did there apart from go to Java though, but we didn’t get back until about 7pm. Then we went with James and John (doing his phd at Bristol and over here to look at a coin collection the biea holds from kilwa – surname Perkins!) to Habeshas for dinner, with James sat in the front with Phil to help him navigate and learn how to drive the landrover. Habeshas was good, but I think it will be the last I have. I turned down an invite to go again the other night as I have had it so many times since being here I think I’ve had my fill of Ethiopian food for quite a while.

NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK

So, the following day we took the landrover to Nairobi National Park. We arrived at about 7am after I successfully navigated Phil the busiest route possible to get there! Well, it was the easiest route anyway! In the National Park we happily drove around for most of the day, and only left at 4pm. It was awesome. We went for long periods not seeing anything at all, and we didn’t see any lions :( but we did see zebras, gazelles, lots of deer, some warthog, wildebeest, ostrich, buffalo – including the one who ambled along in the road in front of us for ages – and the black rhino, which was the only one of the ‘big five’ I missed out on last time I was in Tanzania, so I was happy. They were very cool. I think there were 4 of them, from what I remember, and they were munching away in the long grass just mere metres from the car. They were so stunning. We spent ages looking at them before two tourist trucks full of Israelis turned up to spoil our fun. We could hear them coming, they stopped where we had when we first saw them, which is quite far from the Rhinos really, but then they came closer. They were shouting across to each other between the cars, and generally showing no respect to the endangered animals they were looking at. So the Rhinos got a bit pissed off and started to amble in the opposite direction, and we took their cue (before I leapt out of the car to go and break the tourists knees) and drove off ourselves. So yeah, it was a really nice day out, and I got to drive the landrover around a bit before Phil pouted and asked for the wheel back (he’d been driving most of the day!) so he could drive a bit more before we left. *sigh* That evening I drove him to the airport in it anyway, so I got my driving in, although I was spectacularly tired by that point. And really nervous about stopping there, I was like ‘right Phil, here’s your bag, nice to see you, aaah why is that car driving into the door?’ and then I left him to sort himself out. And yes, a car did drive into the door. Phil was taking his bags out of the back, and I was just getting out of the front seat, and this car who had been going into the car park behind us, had decided to change their mind and turn back out into the road. Instead of avoiding my car though, it grated into the back door. I was terrified it would have broken it, or that the car owner would get angry or something, but he just smiled sheepishly, backed up to disentangle itself, and drove away. And the door seemed to be fine. No-one has said anything anyway. Shh, don’t tell anyone.

And so ended Phil and Jessica’s holiday travels!

MOMBASA AGAIN

My revisit to the coast is actually quite a brief story. I didn’t do a whole lot apart from just enjoying hanging out in old town, and spending time with Patience who I love dearly like the sister I never had. She is completely one of the loveliest, sweetest, most genuine people I know, one of three in fact; an elite group of lovely amazing people. So the first night I stayed in Bamburi because it was P&D’s anniversary and I had high hopes of having a nice beach holiday before going to stay with them. It was raining. And it didn’t stop the next day. So I chalked it down to a slight waste of money but a learning experience, and went into Mombasa to once again while away hours until after church (it was Sunday again), however, Patience was ill, she had managed to get food poisoning from their anniversary dinner! :( But that did mean I got to spend less time hanging around on my own. As P wasn’t feeling very well, after chatting for a while, and after Darren came back, I decided to give them a little alone time so I went off for a walk, after which I wrote this:

I’ve just been for a nice walk around the old town. It was lovely, apart from the smell at one point that actually almost made me retch. But otherwise a nice little walk around. Not much seems to be open, apart from the curio shops, and even those were closing. I did hear the call to prayer though so I think that may be a reason...? Not sure. Anyway, now I am sitting here writing this on Patience & Daren’s patio balcony thing, which has an amazing view of the coastlines and out to sea. Perfect weather too, in that it isn’t sunny, so I’m not sitting here in pain from the heat of the sun, but it’s not raining currently either. Fab. While I was out I had coffee in Jahazi’s which was pretty damn tasty. It was ‘Swahili coffee’ (although I asked for normal coffee, it didn’t taste normal, and if it was I wonder what their Swahili coffee actually tastes like!) which is made with spices. I almost asked for some milk to have with it, but I managed to restrain myself. I’ve felt a lot better since though, not having coffee this morning was really not good. Which brings me onto....

I haven’t a clue what that was bringing me into, but I remember writing it in the firm belief that I would remember and carry on. Then again, I didn’t think I would be coming back to it over a week later.

In my few days in Mombasa Patience and I did lots of wandering around old town. There was a dress makers at the end of her road, so the first day we looked up a design of a dress, took it in, and then went fabric shopping, which was good fun although I ended up being very indecisive, and I felt bad as P was still not feeling great. But we found something, and took it in, and less than 24hrs later they had made me a dress from a picture! I tried it on at the time and said it was fine, but when I tried it just before leaving I realised it could do with being a bit tighter around the waist. Maybe I’ll see if I can get it taken in a bit when I get home. We also spent quite a bit of time wandering around skirt and dress shops oohing and aaahing at the gorgeous dresses and skirts, none of which I could afford even though they were relatively cheap. Because Mombasa is part of the ‘Swahili coast’ it is a real mix of cultures, being predominantly Muslim but with a high Indian population. This produces shops selling the most beautiful Indian styled clothes. We desperately tried to think of any occasion where we could get away with wearing something so beautiful as some of the clothes, but came away empty handed. Maybe one day...

Whilst in Mombasa we also took a trip up to Nyali where we went to Mamba Village, a huge crocodile park, to go horse-riding. It was billed as a beach tour, but by the time you get to the beach you only get 20 minutes of your hour there. However, that was plenty enough time for me! Riding a horse has been something I wanted to do since I was a child. At about age 9 we went to the Katsberg mountains (sp?) in SA, and I insisted on going on a horse ride. However, my horse decided to lean in a way I didn’t understand/like so I freaked out, so a very sweaty smelly black man got on behind me to make it better. I have a thing about smells, and so I freaked out even more. Also, I was a young child and brought up in a white area in apartheid South Africa, so maybe I was a wee bit racist, or just scared because I didn’t have much contact with black people. Tut. Anyway, since then I only managed to have about a 2 minute ride on a pony at a kids farm place that I have temporarily forgotten the name of, on my 10th birthday. But I think I preferred milking the cow. Otherwise I don’t think I’ve ever been on another horse. This was my chance. And will be the last time. I am glad I did it, but jeez, it was uncomfortable and I have no balance! I might try it again in the UK actually, see if having a saddle that isn’t incredibly old helps with the comfort, and if being on a horse that isn’t skittish (my horse was skittish – I couldn’t carry a bag or anything flappy, which is how I lost scarf no.2) helps with the balance. Probably not, my balance is atrocious. And damn, we were saddle sore for days afterwards. Ouchy!

We also decided to have a ‘beach day’ one day, which started off good, we managed to get a nice swim and mess about in the sea in before it got rather cold and we had just gone to the restaurant of the Nyali beach holiday resort (where phil & I had stayed) to get a hot drink, when it started to rain. Oh, and I went to try and speak to someone at Fort Jesus for ‘my research’ but the curator is not around at the moment, so instead I spoke to the press officer, who told me a lot of what I didn’t really need to hear, but at least I have something to write, even if it isn’t that great. That was about all I did really. As I said before, it was lovely to hang around with Patience, and with Darren in the evenings. They were very lovely hosts and such a pleasure to spend time with. And I can’t wait until they come to the UK in late 2011!

So that is the end of my update. I haven't mentioned Kilombe, but I may do that at a later date. It was such a short trip I won't worry too much about it being in chronological order!