The Coast

After Safari I felt like I'd already had the best vacation ever but my office wasn't set to re-open until Jan 6 so we decided to explore another part of Kenya. I'd like to see as much of the country as I can while I'm here so this was a great opportunity to travel to the east coast.

We took the very old overnight train from Nairobi to Mombasa. We boarded around 6pm and the train started moving shortly after dark. We booked a second class compartment so it was just big enough for 4 shelves for us each to sleep in. Cozy but fine with friends...awkward with strangers :) Since the train is old it is very lurchy and we were about 8 cars away from the dining car so traveling to and from dinner and breakfast was an adventure in balance and agility. I got up early with the sun and enjoyed watching the more tropical scenery we had entered during the night. We arrived in Mombasa around 10am and headed straight to the coast.

Well, straight including an hour wait for the most ridiculous ferry I've ever encountered. It was absolutely jam packed with all kinds of vehicles (trucks, cars, bikes, push carts, etc) as well as a could thousand human bodies that all piled on and off in one gigantic mass. All this wouldn't be entirely unexpected except that the distance of water we were crossing was less than 100 meters. I'm no engineer but I would think a bridge would be much more economical and efficient. Our taxi driver said this is a big controversy in town because studies have been done showing that a bridge would be simple to build here but some big money in town must have a hand in the ferry business because it isn't happening.

We finally made it across and drove a very bumpy road through a mass of forest well out of town. We pulled into our lodge driveway and the ocean suddenly appeared before us. Our lodge was very rustic but picturesque and right on the end of the beach so it was very secluded and quiet. The bungalows had thatched roofs and windows with no screens so the monkeys were free to move in and out as they pleased. We couldn't have any food in the room and no shiny things could be left out or they would disappear. A little inconvenient but they were so fun to watch!

The Indian ocean was clear and warm. In fact, in the afternoon when the tide was out the water was actually to warm to be pleasant. A fun change from the Pacific in Vancouver! Also very different from Vancouver was the sun...it was so strong I had to stay in the shade of the palm trees most of the time. A fact I learned a little too late unfortunately. The second morning two of us walked down the beach to meet some friends at another beach. We thought it would be an hour walk but it ended up being two. I wasn't worried though as I had been over-protective and wore a long-sleeved shirt for the walk. I was sweating like an idiot but I knew Andrea and my mother would be so proud of my responsible choice. Sadly, I neglected to put sunblock on under the shirt and got a fairly decent burn on most of my back as the sun was behind us. I felt so cheated!

But of course I could not stay angry at the equatorial sun for long and made my peace with it by the evening. We had a lovely and relaxing time on the beach for 4 days. I did a little swimming but mostly just frolicked in the water. Fortunately I was in good company because most of the Kenyans from inland aren't very good swimmers either as they don't get much opportunity to practice.

We were there for New Year's and got to see a great fireworks display incredibly close. So close in fact, that pieces of firework fell on me during the display. Oh well, it's all sand and water, right? What could catch fire?

Notice the very sexy strapless shirt I'm wearing in this photo? It's actually another volunteer's headscarf tied around my chest. It was the only thing that didn't irritate my sunburn...sad!

The only part of the trip that wasn't enjoyable was the place we stayed at. Unfortunately we were stuck there for the duration as the entire beach sells out over the holidays. We were 11 in our group so we had 3 cottages. One cottage had no water so they had to shower and use the restroom in the other cottages. Another cottage had too much water with a leaky water tank that dripped into the hallway and bathroom. And a vacation classic: two of the beds had bedbugs.

There were a myriad of other issues but none so unbearable as the uncooperative hostility of the owner. When the people from the no water cottage suggested they shouldn't have to pay full price because they couldn't shower or use the toilet she turned it around on them and accused them of using more electricity than anyone else so they were costing her more than full price. Not exactly a customer service attitude. When the people from the too much water cottage told her their place was flooding she told them they needed to flush the toilet and use the shower more...not easy to do when you are at the beach all day and sleeping all night. When she reconsidered the deal she had struck with the no water cottage for a reduced rate she chose to come collect when only one girl who was incredibly sick was home alone sleeping and brought a heavy with her for intimidation. Finally, the very last morning I was awakened at 6am by a small flood surrounding my bed. Several items were ruined, including my book of Sunday NYT crosswords. For me this was the final straw. For someone who doesn't have any of the normal entertainment outlets: movies, tv, book selection, music or even a radio my crosswords had achieved a level of importance in my life that most wouldn't understand. When she was informed of the issue there was no apology for her lack of action the previous night when we told her it was getting worse, just a demand that we come and pay her for the final night.

So by that last day the tension was palpable and we all just wanted to get away from her. One small problem was that several people had given her their passports and credit cards for safe keeping since one of the cottages didn't have a secure lock. All of this had been returned but she wrote down all the numbers in her little book. Now that we had determined she was a little crazy and very possibly vindictive we didn't want to leave with that info in her hands. So I kicked into negotiator mode and got her to bring us the book, scratched out all our information and then got us out of there without paying her any more money. She was quite a piece of work and one of the girls wrote a parody of the experience to the tune of Hotel California...very appropriate :)

Fortunately we were able to end the vacation on a good note by staying in Mombasa for a day before heading back to Nairobi. Our hotel there had running water, security, and friendly staff so we were more than happy. We spent a day shopping on market street, sightseeing at Fort Jesus (an old castle), and eating Swahili food (which is much better than Kikuyu food as they actually use spices).

I'm happy I was able to get to the coast and see this part of Kenya. It is very different from where I live as it is much hotter (between 40-50 Celcius much of the time), Swahili is spoken more (as opposed to local dialects), and a good portion of the population is Muslim. This is a noticeable difference because where I live it seems to be 99.9% Christian. In addition to the amazement of seeing people wandering around in the long black cloaks with headscarves and veils in the summer heat I was shocked at how safe the city is after dark. All in all Mombasa has a very different feel from any other place I've been in Kenya.

Great holidays for 2010 and now it's back to work!