Ahoy! i know, i know, it's been forever since i've updated, but i've been waaaaay too busy spending time in paradise!!
Yes, this past weekend was the Mombasa trip. And yes, look at the pictures, it was fantastic. Sigh, it was SO depressing getting off the airplane in Nairobi, where it was cloudy and blah and i had to go to work right away. AH!
Okay, let's start from Thursday night. So we were flying with Kenya Airways, known to be unreliable in terms of punctuality, and oh boy did they live up to their reputation. We had booked the 6pm flight, but when we got to the airport they told us it got pushed back to 7:30. We managed to whine our way into getting on the 5:00 flight, but because they did the same thing to us coming back (we were supposed to be flying out at 5:30am but got put on the 6am flight instead), i think it just means that Kenya Airways epically fails at bookings and scheduling flights since most likely what happened is that both flights we were supposed to be on just weren't booked up enough, so they cancelled them. Sigh. It was more a pain in the ass than anything, and the flight was delayed anyways, (Africa time people, it really does exist) so when we landed in Mombasa some 40 minutes after taking off from Nai-Bob, we were pooped! And that's when the journey really began...we left the airport right smack in the middle of rush hour and so the trip took over 2 hours (in normal time, it should take some 40 minutes). Mombasa town is actually an island, separated from the mainland by a creek, which means that you have to take a 5 minute ferry to where we were going (Diani Beach) which considering Kenyan drivers, means you wait for an hour and a half.
So. We made it to our final destination (Stilt's Backpackers) and it turns out we were staying in TREE HOUSES!! Well, actually it was more like houses on stilts (hence the name) but it was still AWESOME! Check out the photo! We passed out way early on Thursday night and were woken up bright and early by MONKEYS (!!) jumping on the roof of our tree house and running around our porch, knocking over furniture! i tried taking a photo but the little suckers wouldn't stay still for long enough. But it was pretty surreal nevertheless!
So we had breakfast in the main tree house (bar/restaurant/library/common area) then off we went to the beach! Let me just summarize my first impression as we stepped out onto the actual beach: HOLY CRAP. Or, what the eff did i do right in a past life that i somehow ended up here!? BE.AU.TI.FUL. The whitest sand i've ever seen, that was so fine, it felt like you were walking on memory foam. The Indian Ocean, water that seemed to be four different shades of turquoise. And best of all, no other people! We lucked out! Turns out November is considered off-season, so there literally was NO ONE else on the beach. You'd see people here and there (especially around resorts and the beach bar that we spent most of our time at) but i'm talking handfuls. But allow me to just let the pictures speak for themselves. See the normal throngs of people that normally pollute any nice beach? No? Exactly!
On a somewhat humorous side note, we had been TERRIFIED that it would rain all weekend, a fear that was confirmed by Yahoo Weather, which predicted scattered thundershowers all four days that we were there. I should've known better, since every time i check Nairobi weather it tells me its pouring rain when it's actually sunny outside, but nevertheless, rain in Mombasa would've been not so fun. But there wasn't a SINGLE cloud in the sky all weekend! NOTHING! The dude that owns the hostel told me it rained for some three days a few weeks ago, but that was it. And it was 30+ degrees (in shade...) all weekend. Someone should really tell Yahoo Weather they should just give up on Kenya, since the only thing certain about weather in Kenya is uncertainty...
But anyways, back to the main plot line. So we beached ourselves, ran into the water, cooled off, dried off, ran back in to cool off, dried off, etc. The water was SO warm in certain places, it was almost like someone had been boiling it. I managed to get a bit of a tan, and the evening i kept it low-key, hanging out with the other people staying at Stilt's, having some beers and hitting the sack relatively early. On Saturday we went to the beach bar i mentioned before (40 Thieves) and sat there all day, running to the water to cool off, drying off, running to our table to have a Tusker's, running into the water, drying off, Tusker's....you get the idea! It was so beautiful and so relaxing, it was surreal. i don't even know how else to articulate it.
On Saturday, we also rode camels down the beach! Ah! It was slightly terrifying when they were sitting down and standing up with us sitting on top, as they have to awkwardly fold their legs into a Z-shape and it kind of thrusts you around, but other than that it was pure perfection! Best money i ever spent, because really, when else are you gonna have that (photo!) opportunity!?! You realize you're all getting that photo of me on the camel for Christmas, right? Don't think i can be that heinous? Ha! I have to say though, afterwards was a bit painful in the lady bits, as i really don't think God ever intended for humans to ride camels like they're horsies, but it was more than worth it.
While were still on the topic of the beach, i have to digress into a somewhat disturbing observation. So there's this trend in Nairobi where super old, super saggy white men hang out with young, gorgeous, Kenyan women. You see it all around in restaurants and bars, but its at least somewhat more subtle. On the coast? This tradition's on SPEED!!!! These men and their lady friends are everywhere and they're all over each other, and some even have BABIES!!!! EEEEEEEEEW!!!! What's even funnier is that white women engage in this practice as well. There's these dudes that patrol the beaches (they're called "beach boys", how creative) and they pretty much just pick up lonely, older white women. So these women buy these men some drinks and some dinner, and for the duration of these women's holidays, they, um, GET IT ON!! Hahaha it's so gross to see a rather gorgeous, young black man with abs of steel and an over the hill, overweight, saggy white woman cuddling in an, um, sexually suggestive position (let's just say that in order to keep it classy....but let's just say there was boobie touching involved). I mean, i understand that you're on holiday, and you have this opportunity you might not have at home, but EEEEEEEW!!!!!! I DON'T WANNA LOOK AT IT ALL WEEKEND!!!!!
But alright, freak out over. So on Sunday we left Diani (*tear*) and went to stay in Mombasa since it made more sense since we were flying out so early. We visited Fort Jesus, an old Portuguese, um, fort and it was alright, but the rest of the town suuuuuucked something fierce. My guidebook had recommended going to the Old Town, but all the stores were closed and the entire quarter was full of drunk old men and homeless people. It was actually one of the scarier instances to happen since i've been here, so we booked it on out of there. We went for a few beers to a fancy pants hotel with a roof top bar (hence the sunset panorama pic) and then Mombasa scored some major points at dinner time. My guidebook had strongly recommended this hole-in-the-wall Indian place, and we paid some $3 for some of the best Indian food i've ever had. And it was all you can eat. Yum? I think so! And then Mombasa lost all points it had gained when we were walking back to our guest house. The entire street was lined with homeless people (like, literally lined with some 30 or so people) and it was super scary because we were getting chased around by a 9-10 year old kid that was sniffing glue out of a bottle, so we ran back to our room, locked the door, and stayed there until it was time to go to the airport. The moral of this story? If you ever end up in this part of the world, avoid Mombasa town. Seriously. Sketch. As. F***.
So. We flew back into Nairobi and i shed a single tear while getting off the airplane (i had half a mind to just stay on and tell them to take me back). i went home, showered, had some coffee and went to the office. All this week we've been going to the youth centers and conducting some forums, but i'll talk about those sometime over the weekend (and add some photos) since i sense this entry's getting kinda long and because i'm very very tired (but i knew you all would get angry if i stayed quiet for too long!)
And that was the weekend! Jealous? You should be! i'm super excited now because i work this week and next week and then next Saturday, i'm off to South Africa! YEY! I'm excited beyond words. i'm also quite excited because when i get back, its only 2 more weeks until i come home!! Just in time for Christmas!! AAAH!!
Love love love and see you soon!!
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