Uganda Part 2: Queen Elizabeth National Park and Christmas Day

 Day 3: Queen Elizabeth National Park

Rocking the ace bandage

We spent most of the third day on the rough Ugandan roads. The vehicle we were in was well-equipped to handle the terrain, but any day spent entirely in a car in Africa is exhausting. There are no real breaks, pit stops are literally bushes on the side of the road, and the meals kind of leave something to be desired. But the most tortuous part of driving in Uganda was the "African Massage:" Ugandans are incredibly passionate about speed bumps, and they install them on the highway, in every small town, and even on dirt roads. But these are no ordinary speed bumps - they are clusters of 3-5 massive, sharp humps that made our huge SUV feel like a toy car on a washboard. I would equate it less to a massage then a whole body earthquake, but our guide thought it was hilarious.

Crater lake - some of the scenery on our drive

My tent :)

At the equator with the crew

Amazing outdoor shower

Thankfully the scenery was beautiful, and we made it through some foot hills, over the Equator (and had to stop for the obligatory quick photo shoot), and into Queen Elizabeth National Park. Again, our lodge was amazing, and I had another beautiful safari tent to myself. This one came complete with a spectacular outdoor shower, which was so refreshing and back-to-nature at the end of a long drive and in the middle of a stiflingly hot afternoon. Our tents were perched on a high overlook which gazed onto the Kazinga Channel, a large tributary running between two huge lakes in the middle of the park. From the porch of my little room I could see the hippos in the river, see the buffalo razing in the park, and we could hear far off elephants stomping through the trees.

Kob in the sunset

After showers and some quiet time reading with an amazing view of the river, we headed out for a sunset game drive through the park. None of us were particularly excited to get back into the car, but 5 out of 6 of us toughened up and went on safari. The park entrance was a short drive from the lodge, and we had a beautiful drive. We saw a lot of Ugandan kob (looks a lot like the impala), buffalo, elephants in the distance, and a lot of birds.

The savannah was really gorgeous, and in the golden light of sunset, everything looked extra luminous and peaceful. Our guide knew exactly where to take us, and after about 20 minutes we came upon a large group of lions in the tall grass. It was a group of about 6 adolescents and 3-4 adult lionesses. They were lazily lounging on their backs and bellies, rolling in the grass and occasionally getting up to stretch or nuzzle each other.

They were beautiful and fun to watch, but the longer we stayed the more cars arrived, and I was shocked at how close the guides would drive to them. A few times the lions would get up, annoyed, and slink stealthily in retreat away from the road and farther into the thick grass for peace. Eventually we agreed to leave them in peace, since a few of us were having a hard time witnessing how bothered they were by some of the more aggressive tour drivers.

Hippo and sunset!

On our way back to the lodge we saw hippos, elephants and tons of kob and buffalo. We were amazed that we would all be sleeping in the middle of this park which seemed to be absolutely teeming with large animals (and with no fences). We returned to the lodge, showered again (it was really hot), and were pleasantly surprised that we would be dining al fresco. Instead of a restaurant or meal tent, the staff had set all the dinner tables around a central bonfire and lit lanterns all around.

Dinner under the stars

We had a delicious meal under the stars and could hear the animals all around us. When we had finally finished the last course and nightcaps we were informed we must be escorted to out tents because nobody was allowed to walk in the dark without a staff member present. Apparently the hippos frequently wander right into the compound to graze and they are extremely mean and territorial animals.

On safari

I snuggled into bed and fell asleep quickly, but was woken in the middle of the night by all the crazy animal noises. You could hear a LOT of large animals moving, grunting, eating, and communicating all around the tents. Luckily, I always travel with earplugs, and feeling rather secure in my elevated, semi-permanent tent, went right back to sleep. But it sure was an interesting chorus to fall asleep to!

Day 4: Christmas Day in the Park

Waiting for breakfast in the mess tent

We woke up early again, had a cup of coffee and set out on an early morning game drive. Only 4 of us decided the wake up call was worth it, but we went back into the park and drove around exploring. Unfortunately, the animals seemed to be sleeping in on Christmas day, and we didn't see anything even remotely as exciting as the lions we saw the day before. After about an hour of just staring at buffalo butts, we decided to call it quits and head home and have breakfast.

Watching elephants

Drink up!

Everyone met back up at the lodge and had a long, leisurely breakfast. We had no other scheduled activities until mid-afternoon, so we all spent the day wandering the lodge grounds, reading, and gazing at the stunning scenery. After lunch time, a group of elephants came crashing through the trees on the other side of the river and made their way to the waters edge to drink. All 6 of us stood on the hill side watching the family of 5 elephants wade into the river, shoot sprays of water at each other, and then proceed to fling clay onto their backs to keep the sun at bay.

It was a very relaxing afternoon, and I think it may be one of the coolest places I have ever stayed. We were surrounded by so much wildlife, had great beds and beautiful showers, and were fed tasty meals under the stars. I was shocked that this was somehow on my "budget" tour accommodation list.

The last activity in Queen Elizabeth Park was a 2 hour river cruise. We drove to the other side of the park and got into a double decker boat. The cruise along the channel between these two massive lakes was so great! We saw SO many animals along the water. There were water animals like hippos and massive crocodiles, lots of regulars like water buffalos, water buck and elephants, and a million different types of bird. We even saw the rare African Forest Hog.

It was a very peaceful and close up way to see so many cool animals, and floating along the river was a nice change from the bumpy roads of the rest of the safari. When we got back to the lodge, the staff were busy preparing an extensive Christmas Buffet. We got cleaned up and found our table under the clear sky again. There was so much food it was ridiculous. There were stews, grilled meats and fish, salads, breads, and 4 different types of cake for dessert.

Water buck

I was a little apprehensive when I booked the trip because I thought it would be really weird to spend Christmas with a bunch of strangers on a far off continent. But the group I was with was so interesting and so easy to talk to that we had a great time. Everyone at the table had such interesting stories and was very well-travelled. And they even had cool jobs! The Austrian couple was so neat: he used to work for a huge record label and routinely had dinner with people like Bon Jovi, Elton John and Metallica, and she was the veterinarian for the Austrian Olympic horse team.

Christmas Dinner

 I was really fortunate to have such a great group to travel with, share meals with and spend Christmas with. After our huge and tasty meal, we all got escorted to our rooms....I even actually SAW a hippo wandering around outside my room. It was a great way to spend a very non-traditional holiday :)

 You can see more pictures here: https://kristynspictures.shutterfly.com/10245

Uganda for the holidays - Part one and the start of the Gorilla tour!!

Very bruised foot...

I decided to stay in Africa over the Christmas holidays - I had visited my family and "pre-celebrated" a bit with them before I left the continent, and I thought the 2 weeks off of work would be an awesome opportunity to get out of Kisumu and see something cool!! I polled my friends and Uganda was recommended again and again. After a couple e-mails and some haphazard "planning" I was booked on a 7-day gorilla and chimp trekking tour through some of the parks in Uganda.

About 5 days before the trip I was walking out of my office and totally missed the last step, rolling my foot. I went home and iced it, but the more time passed the more I realized I had done real damage....the next day I caved and went to the ER and got an x-ray of my foot. It was an interesting experience, but in the end it seemed that I just had a really bad sprain. I hoped I would be able to walk for my gorilla trek, and a few days later on the day of departure to Uganda, I could hobble from my taxi to the bus with my backpack, but not much further.

Day 1: Kampala to Kibale National Park

After a 10 hour bus ride (that was only supposed to be 7 hours) across the border into Uganda I arrived in Kampala, the nation's capital. It was late, dark, and I had a huge pack, so I hopped into a taxi and found my way to my hostel. The place I had picked was just outside the main center of town and was a typical backpackers place. I was too tired from the long trip to be hungry anymore, and after a beer at the bar crashed in anticipation of the first day of my tour.

Tea plantations

The next morning I got picked up at the crack of dawn by the tour company in a big 10 seater safari SUV. Curious to meet my fellow tour mates, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy going and fun they were right off the bat. There was a young couple from Mexico who had been living and working in England for the past 10 years, a slightly older couple from Austria who had travel to Africa every year for the past 18 years, and another loner like me (a younger guy who was working in Dubai).

My "tent" accommodations :)

We spent the WHOLE first day driving: out of Kampala, through tea plantations, with a quick and forgettable lunch at a roadside tourist trap, and all the way to the west side of the country into Kibale National Park. We were booked at the coolest eco lodge, and I had an amazing safari tent all to myself. It was a raised wooden platform with a huge canvas tent all under a large thatched roof. It was almost like being indoors, except the walls and windows were just flaps and mesh, but there was a real queen sized bed, and an intriguing "eco" bathroom complete with the ever-popular sawdust toilet, tiled floors, and even hot water delivered to your shower upon request. The 6 of us had a great first dinner at the lodge, but were all excited to be out of the car and get some rest.

Kibale - Home of Chimps

Day 2: Chimps in Kibale National Park

Our first real adventure day! We woke up super early, tried to choke down breakfast before any of us were even awake, and headed to the gate of the Kibale National Park to try to find chimps! The 6 of us and our assigned guide sat through a brief orientation then headed out into the forest. I had put on a ace bandage, laced up my shoes incredibly tightly, and was hoping I would make it through the hike. Luckily the terrain was generally pretty flat and the trails were wide and well maintained, so I did pretty well most of the time.

Before the hike!

We hiked for a only a few minutes before we heard them: a huge group of chimpanzees was ahead of us and in the trees. I was excited and started to get my camera ready....when all of a sudden I almost bumped into a chimp on the ground! He was just casually strolling across the trail and the guide didn't even see him!! The chimp was completely calm, and crossed in front of us and sat down about 3 meters ahead and just watched us. We were all amazed, and we could hear the commotion of all the others in front of us, but he didn't seem fazed.

Eventually he got up and walked towards the rest of the noise, and we all followed him. Before we knew it we were surrounded by chimps. When we were briefed we were told not to get within 5 meters (15 feet) of the chimps, but our guides were incredible lax on that rule. When the chimps were lounging on the ground, they let us get extremely close, and it was shocking how chill the animals were with all of us awkwardly stomping around in the thick underbrush trying to get their pictures.

We must have seen about 30 chimps on the ground or in the trees. I got within 10 feet of the alpha male, who was an old greying chimp who seemed stoic and respected. He laid on his back on the ground, legs crossed, periodically chewing a leaf or stick and just watching the others. We saw a group of 4 or 5 younger males chasing a female in heat through the treetops (and even witnessed some mating).

Alpha male chimp

We saw a group of adolescents climbing jackfruit trees and throwing down the HUGE fruits. Once the ginormous (and dangerously heavy!) fruit hit the ground near us, the chimps would scurry over, collect the broken pieces, and climb quickly back into the trees with their spoils and chomp loudly over our heads. We saw a mother chimp and her tiny baby on the ground grooming each other. And we saw a group of older males doing ritualistic grooming, where they hold one of each other's hand over their heads and groom each other underneath simultaneously. It was so great!!!

Mommy and BABY chimp

We were only supposed to be allowed to have an hour with the chimps, but it was our guide's last hike (he was being promoted to another park after 15 years of service) and his birthday, so they bent the rules a little more and we stayed for almost 1.5 hours chasing the chimps through the forest. It was  really such a great experience! They are so human-like that when you look at them and they are staring back at you, its very difficult not to just start talking to them expecting them to respond.

Red colobus monkey

After they finally dragged us away from the chimps and out of the forest we headed back to the lodge for lunch and a rest. In the late afternoon we took another flat hike, this time around and through the local swamp ecosystem. There were so many different species of monkey! In one hike we saw red colobus, black & white colobus, baboons, red tailed monkeys, gray cheeked mangabeys and L'Hoest's monkeys. It was only a 2 hour walk around the periphery of the swamp, but the monkeys were EVERYWHERE!!

At the end, a family of baboons was out and about and feeding on the ground along the trail we were on. I stopped for a looooong time and watched a mother and her baby. Again, they let me get incredibly close to them and I had such a great time just observing them while they chewed on grass and ambled around.

Mother and baby baboon

What I didn't realize is that my group had kept walking, and before I realized it I was WAY behind them and hobbled/jogged for a few minutes before I caught up to them. Thankfully it was just a well marked loop trail, but my foot did not enjoy my extra efforts and I was pretty sore and swollen at the end of the day. Overall it was an incredible first day of wildlife viewing! We saw so many different species, got ridiculously close to a lot of wild animals, and I was physically able (though in a fair bit of pain) to hike for the whole day.

After with our guide :)

We had another great dinner at our lodge and were all excited to get off our feet, the amazing beds, warm showers, and the rest of our tour!

You can see more pictures here: https://kristynspictures.shutterfly.com/10245

Kenyan coast part 3

Day Five


After another overwhelmingly attentive meal at Mida Creek Eco Lodge, Benson and I set out for our canoe trip. We walked about 20 minutes through farms and pastures to the creek and found our boat "Captain." My dreadlocked Skipper was an interesting sight, as he was standing by the water with no shoes and just a long stick...and no boat! After a few minutes of waiting and some loud whistling by the Skipper, I saw a canoe approaching in the water. Benson and I were told to ditch out shoes, and we "walked" along the muddy creek bed towards the canoe - but the mud was deep, sticky and quite tricky to navigate, and more than once my foot got stuck so deep that I had to grab a hand to pull it out or both feet would get stuck.

Typical traditional house

Eventually we made our way to the canoe, the men in it jumped out, and we jumped in. Benson and the Skipper used the long pole and a paddle to push us through the creek and we navigated towards an island upriver. It was quiet and beautiful. The water was calm, there were NO other tourists, and it was a beautiful sunny day. After a while we made it to the island, and we hopped out to explore.

Lovely day for a canoe trip

A small community of people lived on the tiny island in the middle of the creek, and Benson took us to the village where I was offered "coconut wine." In theory, that sounds kind of delicious....but the more I asked about the homemade beverage the more nervous I became. It wasn't made from actual coconuts, it was made from the flowers of the coconut palm: when the tree flowers, some guy shimmies up the tree, ties ropes around the flowery bit and binds up the whole flowering part into a sort of pod, and then the flowering parts all ferment. Then, they "tap" the fermented pod of flowers and let it drain into a bottle. The result is a milky, white liquid that I can only describe as awful.

Coconut "wine" - aka mnazi

I was handed a water bottle full of the stuff, a wooden straw, and a small shot glass. I was told to pour a cup, let it settle, and drink with the straw off the top (to avoid whatever gunk sinks to the bottom of the cup). It smelled like sour socks. It looked like spoiled milk. It tasted like the combination of the two....I really tried to like it, and I pride myself on enjoying adult beverages that make most people recoil, but this was the most foul beverage I have EVER tried. The locals call it mnazi, but man, if anyone ever offers you some just run away!

After handing the rest of my bottle to the Skipper and trading it for a fresh, delicious coconut, we walked through the rest of the little village. It started to rain, so we ducked into an empty room in the local school house. I guess I wasn't fast enough, because before I knew it little kids were dashing by the door trying to get a peek at me. When I realized it, I hid behind the door and jumped out and startled the next kid who tried to sneak by and steal a glance. The kids loved it and suddenly the whole room was full of little ones shaking my hands, touching my hair, and trying to play with my camera. I let them hold the camera and take pictures of each other, which they loved, and we were all entertained until the rain finally stopped.

We said goodbye to the adorable kiddos and headed back to the canoe and headed to lunch. We paddled to a tiny, deserted island























Find more pictures here: https://kristynspictures.shutterfly.com/10134

Last minute trip to the Kenyan Coast: Part 2!

Mmmm: cheese!!

Day Three

I had read a lot about a bakery/coffee shop somewhere in town, so I decided to explore the area and attempt to find it. I got up pretty late, threw on a bathing suit and dress, and started wandering around town.  I walked for quite a while but I eventually found the place. It was quite a hot hike to the small strip mall, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the shop was next to a full fledged delicatessen! There were French cheeses, Italian cheeses, salami, olives, prosciutto, and bagel chips. I was in heaven!!

It had been a while since I had real cheese and bagel chips don't exist anywhere near Kisumu, so I bought some delicious cheese, peppered salami, some assorted olives and a huge pack of bagel chips. After gathering enough supplies for a picnic for 4, I went to the coffee shop and had breakfast. It was pretty late in the day, and although I had hoped for fresh pastries, they were all out. But they had delicious brownies,  and I was on vacation, so I had a brownie and an awesome iced coffee for breakfast.

My only real goal for the day was to find the turtle sanctuary I had read about in my guidebook. After finishing my coffee I decided to walk to the beach and along the ocean all the way to the turtle sanctuary...which I estimated to be about 2 miles. I walked for a while and decided it was too hot and I wanted to go for a swim. After the long, hot walk and a lot of swimming I was actually hungry. I sat on the beach and had my little picnic of bagel chips salami and cheese. I suddenly remembered that it was actually a national holiday, so I called the turtle sanctuary make sure they were open. Sure enough, they weren't. So I lingered over my little picnic, applied sunscreen for the 4th time (SO HOT) and wandered the 1.5 miles back the way I came. I sat at a nice looking beach bar named Hemmingways and had a mojito and read a book. It was such a pretty day, and I hadn't sat somewhere and read in a while, so I was pretty darn happy.

Sunset and our view from dinner

Interestingly, I had heard that one of my Kisumu friends was in the same small village for the holiday to go diving, and while I sat at the bar she returned my texts and proposed to meet up for dinner...at the hotel bar next door to the beach bar I was sitting at! I paid my tab and walked over and sure enough she was just sitting and relaxing about 50 yards away from where I was :P

We sat and chatted, had dinner at her beach hotel overlooking the water, and caught up. It was so perfect to just sit and watch the sunset and enjoy the warm evening while having a tasty seafood dinner on the water. All-in-all it was a pretty relaxing and easy day, and it was nice to meet up with a Kisumu friend!

Day Four

I woke up determined to achieve 2 goals: to get to the turtle sanctuary and to check out somewhere else to sleep. I liked the little sleepy village of Watamu, but it was touristy, I was full of Italian food, and I was a bit tired of getting hassled by the "beach boys." All over the coast are young men who stroll the beaches looking to make money of tourists any way they can: they will help you find the dive shop or fishing operator you want, will play "guide," sell you less-than-legal goods, and (I've been told) offer a variety of "services" I wasn't looking for. So I had a leisurely breakfast at the Italian cafe across the street from my hotel then found a tuk-tuk to take me to the turtle sanctuary.

Getting mugged by monkeys

It was a few miles outside of town, but I got there no problem and just in time to watch a small group of tourists leave and have the place to myself. I got a tour of the little place from the knowledgable volunteer, and learned about what turtles nest on the Kenyan beaches and what times they are around. It seems I was there in an off time, and no baby turtles would be hatching during my stay, but I got to see a few of the rescues they had taken in and were nursing back to health. Most had minor issues like eye infections or a broken flipper, and they were all doing great!

Mugshot of the glasses breaker >:(

It was cool to see the big turtles flopping around in their giant kiddy pools, they are such pretty animals!!

Trees reclaiming the ruins

After the turtles, I wandered to the deserted beach across the way from the sanctuary that the turtle tour guide had recommended. There were only a few other tourists around, but by the time I got out my towel and went to lay down, big FAT raindrops started coming down. I gathered all my things back up and ran for cover in the trees past the dunes. The rain showed no signs of stopping, and I was getting soaked under the trees, so I walked down the beach path to what looked like a private house. I hoped to just stand in the carport and wait out the rain, but the nice housekeeper of the property ushered me into the doorway of the kitchen and tried to feed me.

I politely declined since I was dripping wet, and sat on the stairs under the cover of their front stoop and called a ride to come rescue me. After about 30 minutes, my tuk-tuk returned and shuttled me back to town to get my luggage. I thanked the nace house keeper, headed back to Watamu, grabbed my bags, and headed out of town towards a small eco lodge called Mida Creek. First, I stopped at the Gedi Ruins.

Gedi Ruins are the remnants of a small Swahili village that are just inland of Watamu. It's a walled city made of coral from the nearby coast and is complete with mosques, houses, and advances like drainage gutters and overhead basins to flush toilets (according to Wikipedia). It is rumored that the ruins are haunted, and I arrived in the late afternoon after a rainstorm, and the steamy, deserted ruins definitely had a haunting quality to them.

I was greeted at the parking lot by a huge troop of monkeys - on the road to the ruins my tuk-tuk driver insisted I stop and buy 20 cents worth of chopped up bananas ("You'll see why!!" he excitedly urged me...) and as soon as I was out of the tuk-tuk I was swarmed by monkeys. They were bold and practiced: before I knew what was happening, one monkey jumped up, grabbed some banana out of my hand, knocked my sunglasses off my face, and landed right on them on the gravel path. I was so annoyed!! He popped one lens out of my new prescription glasses and put a HUGE scratch right down the middle of the remaining lens.

Gee, thanks. Now you tell me...

In one throw I chucked the rest of the bananas a few yards away and handed the empty bag to my driver as he laughed and took pictures of the monkeys scrambling around me and looking at me expectingly. I was less than pleased, and asked him to watch all my things in the tuk-tuk while I wandered around the ruins. I had opted to not take a guide, and was really glad to have the whole place to myself. There was a winding trail through the excavated sites, but strolling around by myself I could see how the place gave off a haunted vibe (eerily silent, dark and winding paths through thick forest, lots of animals in the trees watching you...). I even ventured a bit off the trail a few time when I saw a wall or tower that hadn't been excavated yet just to see what it must have been like before it was rediscovered and cleared for tourists.


I saw the ruined mosques and houses, but my favorite part of the whole place was a giant tree that the park authority had built a wobbly ladder/staircase into. You can climb up into the giant tree and stand on a rickety platform and see the main clearing of the ruins from above. The climb was short, squeaky, and pretty interesting, but it was worth the view!

I was glad I hadn't caved to all the pressure at the main gate to get a guide, and was happy with my eerily quiet walk through the ruins alone. The deserted paths and foggy forest were really neat to see alone, and although I'm not usually a fan of ruins, I really enjoyed the experience.


I returned to my tuk-tuk to find it also deserted.....

My driver was nowhere to be found, although he had agreed to stay by the tuk-tuk and watch all of my belongings....After a lot of shouting his name and finally having to call him, he reappeared ("I was just nearby!"...sigh). We took off towards Mida Creek, which is a creek that is just south of Watamu. The eco lodge was a few kilometers inland of the coast and totally off the grid. I happened to be the only guest, and the staff of four gave me an overly warm welcome and showed me to my own cottage. It was a fantastic room with a huge bed down stairs and a large covered deck on the second floor with three more beds and a couple of hammocks. I opted for the giant bed downstairs, but the upstairs looked like a cool place to lounge in the evenings and stay cool.

The head staff member, Benson, offered to walk me down to the creek and show me around while the rest of the staff was cooking me dinner. He looked bored, and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful sunset, so I took him up on the offer. We took a short stroll to the creek, which was totally empty since the tide was completely out. We walked across the creek bed and he pointed out different snails and frogs and creek animals for me as the sun set over the far bank.

Lamp lit dinner for one

When we returned to the lounge of the lodge I found that the staff had whipped up an amazing meal for me. I had chicken, fries (a Kenyan staple, but a refreshing change from Italian :P) fresh veggies, and fruit. It was kind of overwhelming being their only client for the evening, but they were all awesome, and I bought Benson a soda to drink while I finished my Guinness and he told me about all the activities I could choose from the next day. I settled on a canoe trip up the creek to an island complete with a hot lunch on a deserted beach.

I went back to my huge cottage and was pleasantly surprised that it was cool, breezy, and perfect which was a sharp contrast to my stuffy Watamu accommodations. I had a great night of sleep and was excited for my last full day on the coast.

Last minute trip to the Kenyan Coast - Part One!

Kenya’s Independence Day (Jamhuri Day) is December 12^th, and this year happened to be the 50^th anniversary celebration. Since it’s a national holiday, everyone takes off of work and a lot of people end up traveling. The holiday itself fell on a Thursday, but since it was such a big anniversary, the president randomly declared Wednesday and Friday holidays, too, and with about a weeks notice I had a 5 day weekend ahead of me!

Flying into Mombasa

My boss was in Kisumu on Monday and Tuesday before the holiday, and late on Tuesday night I was debating if I should go somewhere…work had been stressful, and there had been some muggings and protests in Kisumu and I wanted a little break. She suggested I head to the coast, so I looked at plane tickets. Our team had to work on Wednesday, and plane ticket prices were pretty high on Thursday, and I was lamenting the spike in prices on the days I wanted to travel. But since she’s the coolest boss ever, she suggested I just leave on Wednesday and come back on Monday to avoid the rush!

With Ana-Claire’s blessing, I booked a 7am flight to Mombasa, Kenya! Since it was about 1am by the time I finally decided, I packed some random stuff into a small backpack (basically 2 bathing suits, 5 sundresses, and sunscreen) and hoped I would be able to find a decent place to stay when I arrived. I have actually never just shown up into a town and tried to find a last minute place to stay, so I was a little nervous, but Africa is teaching me to go with the flow more J

Ana-Claire was actually flying on the same connecting flight to Nairobi, so we rode to the airport together at the crack of dawn. After a quick 45 minute hop to Nairobi, we parted ways, and I got on my flight to Mombasa. That flight was also under and hour, and before I knew it I was on the coast! I got off the plane and the first thing I noticed once I hit the tarmac was overwhelming heat and humidity. Kisumu is a bit elevated (though it’s still pretty toasty) but the temperature at seal level was stiflingly hot! I didn’t mind it at all, and was psyched for the sea breeze and the change of scenery: I didn’t realize it, but I had been in Kisumu for 3 months straight with no more that 36-48 hours of break – that might be a new record for me since I almost always have a weekend getaway or road trip planned! I had been working so much and have no car, so I had been pretty stationary for once.

 I grabbed a shuttle to the city and started my adventure. I had decided around 2am that I didn’t want to stay in the city of Mombasa itself at all (crowded, dangerous, full for the holiday) and needed to find a bus that took me north. I wanted to head to a city called Malindi that is about 2 hours north of Mombasa on the coast and was supposed to have amazing beaches and interestingly, lot of Italian restaurants due to the concentration of Italian ex pats and tourists that live and vacation there. The shuttle dropped me off at the spot where all the mini buses congregate, and I was instantly directed and whisked away by business minded Kenyans into an “Express” matatu to Malindi. I was promised it was a direct bus, and was graciously given one of the front seats (2 people on the front bench seat in addition to the driver). It was my first long distance matatu ride, and I had heard so many interesting stories that I was kind of excited to conquer another method of third world travel and see what it was like.

Most of the ride was easy enough – we left the station after about 15 minutes of the driver hustling passerbys to fill the bus to capacity. We made it out of Mombasa and seemed to miss the notorious city traffic and were in the suburbs and outlying villages pretty quickly. I dozed a bit, lulled by the car and the extreme heat, and woke up a few times to gorgeous peeks of the turquoise ocean and white sand that I could see when we went over bridges that crossed rivers which led to the ocean. The bays and inlets were beautiful, and I was excited that I was ditching the bustle of the city and the crowds and headed to a small beach town!

I dozed again and was awoken by sudden silence: not a normal feeling in a crowded mini-bus that’s about 95 degrees and hurtling over hippo-sized speed bumps. I looked around and realized the driver was slowly drifting us to the side of the road and the matatu was dead. We pulled over and all climbed out of the bus to assess the situation, grumble, and watch the action. The intrepid driver got out some water, a rag and some very homemade looking tools, lifted the entire front bench of seats (apparently that’s where part of the engine is, no wonder it felt like my flip-flops were melting to the floor!). He fiddled, he banged, he tweaked, and he tested.

Broken down matatu

Nothing.

So he restarted the fiddling while more-than-fully-loaded matatus drove by, slowed down just long enough to have us all refuse, then heckled us. Miraculously, after about 5 minutes of what I could only distinguish as indiscriminate banging and poking, the little bus fired to life, and we all enthusiastically piled back into the vehicle (deathtrap).

About 30 minutes later, the apocalyptic looking dark clouds that had been amassing inland were beginning to drift toward the shore – and our route – and before I knew it we were now speeding down a two-lane road, blindly passing, in pouring rain. We had to roll all the windows up to stay dry, and let’s just say that 14ish people, in stifling Equatorial heat, with rolled up windows is not the most pleasant experience.

Malindi beaches

Eventually the rained stopped, and we made it all the way to Malindi! The driver dropped off all the other passengers and was even nice enough to help me find a place to stay. I asked him for a recommendation, and he took me to one of the places list in my guidebook, so I figured it couldn’t be too bad! I was showed a room, showed the pretty old looking shared bathroom, and told breakfast was included for about $15. I could see the ocean from the window, and it seemed fine for at least a night, so I agreed and immediately threw on a bathing suit and new dress and went out in quest for food!

I wandered towards the ocean, and found a long pier. There were lots of young boys fishing or just hanging out, and they all kept saying “Ciao, bella!” which at first I thought was a bit odd but rather cute, so I mostly ignored it. I was surprised that the water here was a murky, silty brown color, not at all like the beautiful water I had seen the whole drive! I figured it was maybe just the spot I was in, and there was nothing happening on the pier, so I walked further down the deserted and undeveloped waterfront to a few small restaurants. One looked beachy and rather authentic (read: cheap and maybe had seafood), so I stopped in and ordered a water, cold Coke, and a beer all at once….I had purposely had nothing to drink for the long ride and was starting to feel it!

 

The menu looked pretty “eclectic,” but I decided to brave it an ordered the seafood cocktail. I thought I would try an appetizer and order more if the food was good….but the app came and it was a pile of pretty undistinguishable sea creatures all covered in some sort of awful mayonnaise type sauce. Maybe mayo fans would have enjoyed it, but those who know me well know the stuff makes me cringe, and I scraped as much off as I can, ate some, and gave up. But the Coke and the beer were awesome, I could see the waves, and everything was so cheap that it didn’t really matter too much.

GELATO!!

I walked backed toward the pier and my hotel, and found an adorable little café that sold real, homemade gelato! Since my seafood app had failed, the next best thing was dessert, so I got a scoop of Nutella and a scoop of pistachio flavor and watched the kids playing soccer on the beach.  The gelato was amazing, and on my wandering path back to my room I stumbled upon a museum…I thought there would be an interesting display on Swahili architecture or the local culture, but the lower level of the museum was 3 large rooms with displays dedicated to one weird, prehistoric fish that had been caught off the coast of Malindi over 60 years ago. I didn’t really get it, and left after a quick stroll through the

After the museum I went back to the guesthouse – the beach looked really crumby the whole way, and the water was full of runoff from the heavy rains flooding a nearby river, so I decided to make a plan to find a better beach.  I asked the front desk, and they said the water would be like that for a while, so I asked him to help me find a dive company to try SCUBA diving – he arranged it all for me. Before I knew it I was booked for a 7am pick up for the dive outfit in the next town over! They assured me the water was great there, and offered to pick me up and take me anywhere after the dive, so I had an escape plan J

World's Loudest Mosque

I got a much-needed shower…and even though I was told the guesthouse had hot water (and there was none), I was incredibly happy for the cold shower and probably wouldn’t have used any warm water anyway – it was just SO hot outside!! I tried to make myself presentable, had the guy at reception suggest a restaurant and make a reservation, and headed out to get some real seafood! I ended up at a place named “The Old Man and the Sea” – it looked nice and had good reviews, and the menu was all local seafood!

Treat yo self

It took a while to get service, but I ordered a yummy shrimp cocktail (hold all sauces!!) to start, which was good, and champagne-poached red snapper. The whole meal was great, the house white wine was perfect, and all together the whole thing only set me back about $17. After that it was pretty late, so I got a ride home instead of walking and went back to the room….but it was so ridiculously hot that I ended up turning off all the lights, turning on the ceiling fan, opening up the main door to my room for a breeze and just laying on my bed in a sports bra and shorts trying to get comfortable. There was a tiny bit of cross ventilation, but the mosquitos were everywhere, so eventually I closed up the front door and climbed under my net and struggled to get comfortable in the heat.

Then there was the mosque: the call to prayer from the neighboring mosque was SO LOUD that earplugs did nothing. There was singing, talking, and what seemed like yelling for about 20 minutes. It finally got quiet, and I drifted off for a while, but it really was incredibly hot and I woke up a number of times and tossed the sheet off or squashed evil mosquitos inside my net.

Around 4am the mosque fired up the terrifyingly loud speakers again, and the initial screaming/singing was so haunting and shocking that I almost jumped out of the bed.  I won’t lie, I was extremely annoyed, tired, itchy from mosquitos, and sticky from the heat. It was too early to actually get out of bed and start the day, so I laid there and stewed, but by the time I drifted back off to sleep the alarm was going off and it was time to go diving!

 

Day Two: Diving in Watamu!

I formally decided to absolutely not stay in that torturous place for another minute longer than I had to, and packed up my bag, had my included breakfast, checked out, and found my ride to the dive shop. I was collected by an older Italian couple, the owners of the dive outfit, and happily whisked away in an air conditioned van to the small town next door called Watamu. It was an entertaining drive, as they were ridiculously Italian and yelled “Mama Mia!!” at the bad drivers on the narrow and busy roads J

 

We arrived at the dive shop, I was given all the normal gear, and paid a whopping 80 Euros (sigh, Italians!), and got onto the boat! The beach was absolutely gorgeous, with white sand, clear turquoise water, and cool rock formations mushrooming out of the water. Embarrassingly, it took me and the dive master what felt like an eternity to squeeze me into the provided wetsuit – even with his help it was super difficult for me to wiggle into the suit! It was so hot, and as soon as you start sweating, its almost impossible to force those things on.

 

But I finally zipped it up, threw on my tank, and had 2 awesome dives in the clear, bathtub-warm water. The coral was cool, there were a lot of pretty little fish, and we even saw some eels and big schools of medium sized fish hanging out at the edge of the reef. I was hoping to see some turtles, and I had even seen a few on the surface on the ride out, but they were being rather evasive. But overall the dives were really nice, and my guide was very patient and pointed out anything colorful he found that I missed.

The water was so warm that by the end of the second dive I couldn’t WAIT to rip off the wetsuit. I actually took off all my gear and then went for a swim along the side of the boat to cool off! It was such a beautiful day, and the water and beach were really perfect. We rode back in and my dive mates and I hung around on the beach of the dive shop for a while chatting in a weird mix of English, Spanish-Italian (I spoke Spanish at them, and they spoke Italian back at me) and Swahili.

Eventually, we all got hungry and the dive master offered to give me a ride into town to find a place to stay, so we headed into the little village. It wasn’t a huge town, so after wandering around for about 10 minutes and asking about availability and pricing, I found a decent guesthouse with a ceiling fan and it’s own bathroom for about $15. I dumped my bags and went to go find some more Italian food!

 

I was pleased to find a nice hotel with a huge walled garden and a pizzeria only a few blocks down the road. As soon as I sat down I was brought a complimentary glass of cool champagne and a huge bowl of olives…so those who know me well know that I was already in heaven before ordering!

Show off

I had to try the pizza, and it was great! They had a huge stone oven in the garden, the crust was thin and crispy, and the cheese, olives and prosciutto on the pizza were all perfect. I scarfed almost the whole thing (which I regretted a little shortly thereafter) and then walked to the beach. I realized I had left my only travel towel at the dive shop, so I decided to walk the mile or so along the beach to go rescue it.

It was such a nice day and the water was so warm that the long walk along the beach was toasty but great. Being a single, white lady walking alone, the random idle men lounging on the beach would jump up and attempt to join me in my walk, but after a short chat I would firmly tell them I wanted to walk alone and would say goodbye, which worked surprisingly well.  I walked through two bays and saw children playing in the waves, people windsurfing, and lavishly huge mansions on the water.

 

I snagged my towel and kept walking, it was so nice, I had no plans, and was happy just wandering the shore and exploring the area. A persistent local eventually started strolling with me, and I figured I might as well learn about the area , so I asked him all the things I had been wondering about. For “high season,” the beaches were relatively deserted, and he said the tourists weren’t coming this year because of the terrorist attack on Westgate and the poor Italian/European economy. He said everyone was going to Tanzania this year because it was cheaper and people thought it was safer.  He also said almost everyone in the area learns to speak Italian in order to cater to the tourists that had adopted the area as their annual vacation spot.

After a little while and a long walk, I bought him a Coke and said goodbye. I walked back to town on my own, and stopped once to take a swim in a deserted bay with a few kids playing in the sand.

I found a little bar & grill on the beach close to my guesthouse, bought a giant water, and sat and watched the sunset over the fishing ships in little bay. After hydrating, the sunset, and a mosquito-infested shower, I went back to the same restaurant for dinner, and had another extremely welcome glass of champagne, a cheese plate appetizer (it’s impossible to find good cheese in Kisumu!), and a delicious meat lasagna.

It was a really great start to my solo beach vacation, and I was very happy that I had moved over to the little village of Watamu!

Find more pictures here: https://kristynspictures.shutterfly.com/10134