the kenyan coast

Last week Amanda and I boarded the Crown bus line to Mombasa. The seats were roomy, had tons of leg room and even leaned back. They gave us free water and we were off! Daniel had mentioned that the road to Mombasa, a large city on the coast of the Indian Ocean, was a really nice road. Lindsey had mentioned that at least the first hour of hit was horrible. "Who should I believe" I thought as we sat in Nairobi traffic for an hour before making it out of town. "Lindsey" I said...out loud, in the bus...after the first three minutes of the worst road in Kenya. Amanda thought I was crazy, but then I explained. Half way through we stopped for lunch and Amanda pointed out the portable Mosque that was set up at the bus stop. Definitely a new sight for me. The Kenyan coast is inhabited by a very large population of Muslims. Two hours later we hit pavement. Thank goodness! Without our seat belts on we would have hit the celling for sure...you think I'm kidding...I assure you I am not! After 10 hours in the bus we arrived in Mombasa...that 7 hour estimation was way off!

We were greeted by a fun new friend, Cynthia! Amanda and I met Cynthia in a Dallas REI store two days before coming to Kenya. We quickly discovered that we all went to the same church and that she would be coming to living in Mombasa in October. All of us agreed to stay in touch and did! Cynthia and her team member Jill picked us up in their car and we went back to their apartment on the other side of town. The first thing I noticed about Mombasa was how stinking HOT and HUMID it was! We spent the evening greeting their friends, watching You've Got Mail and making connections! Funny enough, a guy that had been there just two weeks before, also from the Village (my church in Dallas)! Even funnier, I know his sister, Beth! Crazy how people across the world can be connected!

Jill, Amanda, me and Cynthia

pretty bird!

The next day we did a little shopping in town and then headed up the coast for Watamu. Watamu is 2 hours north of Mombasa and is know for the Italian influence and beautiful beaches! We stayed at a place called Karabella, about 50 yards from Blue Lagoon. Yep...couldn't wait to tell you I'd been to Blue Lagoon. Anyway, our room had a large bed, terrible mattress, small kitchen, fridge, real shower with stone walls, and a lounge area on the porch. We went to the grocery store and bought some things. We cooked most days while we were there...but found 2 favorites in town: pizza and Italian ice cream. The first night we met a guy named Don, an American, who had opened an Italian ice cream shop a stones throw away from our hotel. We went no less than once a day and enjoyed flavors like: chocolate, pineapple, mango, lemon, strawberry, peach, and the list goes on! Yuuuuummmmmm! We also found an authentic pizza place with good prices and pigged out twice on really good pizza!

Our Hotel Room

Enough about food...the second day we went on a tour of Watamu and surrounding areas. We visited the Gede ruins and learned a lot about how far back Islamic roots were here in Kenya. We were taken by Turtle bay and then to a cave that the community use for various religious worship services. Afterwards we laid on the beach and got some sun! Unfortunately, SPF 50 was not enough for sweet Amanda and she was crispy by late afternoon. Somehow, with the same SPF, I was fine.

The next day we went snorkeling!!!! It was a ton of fun and the most beautiful fish I've ever seen! For the first time I actually saw a fish that looks exactly like Dorie from Finding Nemo. Very cool! We had a great time and had thousands of fish swimming around us at the reef. Even saw a HUGE eel. I'll pass on eels...for the record!

Hi Mom!

on the boat

The last day we spend exploring the pools of water with sea creatures that are formed when the tide goes out. We saw all kinds of things...like live star fish for example! Lots of fun! That afternoon I got a call from Lindsey and Ryan who had just arrived at Turtle Bay and were staying at a nice resort. They invited us over and we spent the rest of the day on the beach, boogie boarding (way way fun...you should all try it!) and the highlight- watching a sea turtle get released back into the ocean! So cool!

Each night we would get home before dark and be finished with dinner pretty early...this left us with a LOT of free time. We decided that playing cards was a great way to fill time and got really good and two person card games like: war, speed, and go fish. Ok, go fish was a struggle...have any of you played recently? Do you remember all of the rules? Anyway, it is more complicated than it sounds...or should be...but fun none the less!

We headed back on the morning of the 9th and spent our day in Mombasa waisting time until Cynthia and Jill were back in town. We ate a late breakfast, sat in the internet cafe for a few hours, and then ended up at a cafeteria type place for a couple hours at lunch...where we met two Americans and a Canadian that are staying in a town South of Kitale. We ended up talking for a while and they invited us to join them in exploring Ft. Jesus on the other side of town. We threw our stuff in their hotel room and walked on over. Ft. Jesus is cool...but not cool enough to pay $10 to get in. Residents pay about $1...so we knew we were getting ripped off, and they were closing in about a half hour. Instead we got a few pictures and headed down the hill to see the waterfront view. As we walked down we came upon a HUGE soccer game. There were literally hundreds of people crowded around a field less than half the size of a full field. They were loud and it was a blast to watch with Ft. Jesus in the backdrop! So fun!



Afterwards we got a hold of Cynthia and it turned out they had been in town all day but hadn't gotten our message. They met up with us and Jill took us to a really awesome gyro place! So yummy! I even got to snap a picture with the guy who was making Nan out front!


We loaded onto the night bus and got a thorough police check before heading out. I slept a good portion of the night, but not well. We arrived in Nairobi at 5:30 am and waited until 7 to visit Java House before tracking down a shuttle to Kitale. At the shuttle platform we were waiting for two more people before we could go, so I talked to our conductor and mentioned a new way of getting riders. He told me that if I got the last two passengers he would give me 50 shillings a head! Sweet! I was off...I walked around yelling 'enda Kitale, enda Eldoret' which means come to Eldoret/Kitale. Within seconds I had a lady talking to me, who walked me back to my shuttle...it was at that point she told me that she worked there and didn't know why I was yelling. Soon after I went back to yelling and ended up with three men talking to me about not yelling, one being a cop. Needless to say, I made them all laugh and hurried back to the shuttle just in time to see our last two people boarding. No 100 shillings, but still a full shuttle! Unfortunately we ended up changing vehicles in Eldoret...and in true Daniel style got in a huge battle with our driver who put us on a cheaper vehicle and tried to pocket our 20 shillings each. After 10 minutes of reasoning and insisting on a refund of our 40 shillings, he gave in and we won! This tells me that I can go anywhere in Kenya and take care of myself! No worries! We were very proud of the victory in principle and our 20 shillings!





We made it back just fine!

It was a great trip and there are a ton more details I've left off...but I hope you enjoyed the update anyway!

I'll add pictures as blogger allows! Have a wonderful day!