Welcome to Kenya!

I’m going to continue with my theme of daily highlights, since there is just so much happening here all the time, picking up where I left off in my last Muyenzi Road Show post.

I left you with our hike up Kilimanjaro on Saturday December 22, so let’s go right into Sunday when we said Jambo, KENYA!

Sunday December 23, 2012
We got up early to board the bus from Moshi to Mombasa. We have a good habit of getting to the buses long before they arrive, so we had the joy of waiting for over an hour for the bus to come. It finally arrived around 9am though, so we hopped on, instantly fell asleep, and made it to the border in only an hour or so. Crossing the border was quite the process, as we needed to first stop and fill out departure forms for Tanzania, then get our visas for Kenya, and then stop at the health services to verify our yellow fever vaccinations. Mind you, this is with an entire bus full of people…finally we were ready to go again, but not before one more stop to pick up Kenyan passengers. The bus literally was jam pack full, with people in the aisles, crowded in the doorway, leaning over my head…oh the joys of public transport! The best part of this is that it was probably 100 degrees, and the bus at this point was not starting again. So we all waited patiently for what felt like forever, before we started moving again shortly after 1pm (in case you didn’t notice, we’ve been on the bus for 4 hours now at this point and have barely crossed the border…) Unfortunately, only a few kilometers down the a very poor dirt road, the driver decides the bus still isn’t running smoothly, so we turn around again, do a little make shift mechanic work, and we were on our way. What should have been a “6 to 8 hour ride” took us 12 hours, and by the time we finally reached Mombasa, it was dark, we were tired, hungry, and had no Kenyan currency. All not such good things, but we managed to find an ATM, burger place, and our hotel had air conditioning, so I wasn’t complaining!

Highlight: Actually reaching our destination…KENYA!

Monday December 24, 2012
We planned on spending Christmas on the beach in Diani, so we packed up our things, got on a tuk tuk to the ferry, crossed to the other side of Mombasa on the ferry, took a matatu (bus) to the turn for Diani Beach, got in another matatu to take us to the grocery store (where my lovely marriage proposal happened), picked up a few snacks and drinks, and finally took a tuk tuk to our hostel. Phew…while not necessarily the worst travelling experience, it was a little stressful with all our bags and everything. But we had the beach to look forward to, right??

Well, we literally drove all the way down the road that was lined with resorts, hotels, restaurants, before it ended and turned into a flooded dirt road. Our driver said it was still farther, toward the end of the dirt road…lovely. When we finally got to “Tropical Gardens,” we realize there had been a name change, but we hoped we were in the right place. We were warmly welcomed by the security guard who helped with our bags and led us to the restaurant to find the owners. As it turns out, ownership changed December 1, and the new German couple who now owns the place had no record of our reservation. Great. Now without going into too many details, it was a very frustrating process trying to sort this all out, and we actually considered just going back to Mombasa instead. Eventually, they agreed to give us a room for two nights, but insisted we pay in US dollars. Which was confusing for everyone, mostly us, since we live in Tanzania and are currently in Kenya, so wouldn’t we be paying in local currency? Right, ok, let’s get this all sorted out….

Finally, we get our room, next to the only other people in the whole place (another old German couple), and that was that.

Not really the best way to spend Christmas Eve…

Then to top it all off, come mid afternoon, my stomach started to hurt so the prospect of doing anything/eating anything was less than appealing.

Highlight: Watching Bridesmaids before bed…even though I fell asleep lol.
Tuesday December 25, 2012
We slept in. Maybe that’s all I should say about today.
 I felt so sick, my stomach was just not cooperating, and instead of spending the day on the beach, I sat outside our room reading and watching episodes of New Girl. We did try to get out for lunch, but we were seriously so far down the road that it was hard to get anywhere, especially when everywhere was actually closed because it was a holiday. When we were initially planning our road show across EA, we figured the beach would be a fun relaxing way to spend Christmas away from home, hopefully eat some good food and meet some other tourists. Which we soon realized was not the case, since everywhere was closed and all the tourists were in all-inclusive resorts with private beaches. Lovely.

In failing to find lunch, when dinnertime came around, we were planning on going across the street to the nice hotel restaurant that we ate at the night before. While my stomach still wasn’t doing so hot, I figured that at least having a nice Christmas dinner might make the day better since nothing else seemed to be going right…but when we got there shortly after 7, they informed us that for the night, no outside guests were allowed. AH.

At this point I wasn’t sure if I wanted to scream, cry, demand entrance or just go back to bed. Needless to say, we weren’t in the happiest of places, and although we started walking down the road in the dark because no taxis or buses were running, I couldn’t bare the thought of literally walking miles to find some place that might be open. At this point we split, Marisa trudging on while I went back to the room to enjoy a peanut butter sandwich and read nearly the entirety of The Giver before falling asleep.

Safe to say, I would rather forget Christmas ever happened here.

Wednesday December 26, 2012
That is, unless Boxing Day could be considered Christmas? Wednesday was a big turn around for us. First off, no one back home was celebrating anymore, so we weren’t missing out on anything. Second, we peaced out of Diani as soon as we could and made it back to Mombasa early in the morning to spend a lovely day wandering the city. It was so nice! Marisa studied abroad there for four months, so she was able to show me around, hitting up all the best places. We stopped for a cup of tea and sweets and snacks from Hassan, a very wise old man who has been running a confectionary/tea shop in Mombasa forever. When we walked up, he remembered Marisa and I thought he was going to fall off his chair he was so excited. He told her it was the best Christmas present he could have gotten, to see her again after almost 2 years! Ironically, he’s Muslim, so it’s funny that this was the best Christmas gift for him, but in meeting him it all makes sense. He is such a kind, wise, knowledgeable man, more up to date on movies and technology than I am, and he makes some of the best sweets/snacks I’ve ever had! It was fun to spend some time with him, and I can see why Marisa spent every afternoon with him!

We also toured an old Portuguese fort, Fort Jesus, which was neat to wander through and take pictures of. It was in the fort that I decided today was Christmas and that Diani never happened, which I figured was appropriate given its name. : )

And simply because it was the new Christmas, indulging in a decadent piece of chocolate cake and almond ice cream was the perfect way to end the day!

Highlight: Everything that made our Christmas day a little more enjoyable!

Thursday December 27, 2012
Let Christmas day continue with a little shopping! While I literally have no room to put anything I have, I couldn’t resist the temptation to do some shopping in Mombasa. What did I find? Only four new kangas, a tie-dyed mumu (very loose fitting dress), and my third pair of Masai beaded sandels, which are certainly a glittery outline of Africa, so I couldn’t pass them up. SO exciting! I wish I could have bought 17 more kanga though to be honest, but I suppose this will have to suffice for now.

After our shopping spree, we went to the tea shop again, where we were treated to a delicious lunch of chai, chapatti, okra and cucumber salad. Mmm! We spend the afternoon with him, telling stories, catching up on current events, and learning crazy games played with matchsticks. Remind me, and perhaps one day I’ll teach you too!

For dinner, we were invited to join the family that Marisa lived with while she was studying. So we spent the evening with them, visiting, playing with the kids, watching Bollywood movies, and eating pizza. It was fun to be able to see how people in the cities live, because Mombasa is a far cry from Muyenzi. They couldn’t believe our stories from the simple life, and confessed they couldn’t live without their TV, car, oven, electricity or running water. I suppose I have to agree…While I love the bush, if I was ever planning on staying in Africa long term, it would definitely need to be somewhere a little more modern.

Come 10 pm, it was time to head to our overnight bus to Nairobi! What’s up air conditioning, one person per seat, and enough leg room!!! There’s a first time for everything, and let me tell you, after all the buses I’ve been on here for a minimum of 12 hours each, lack of leg room, overcrowding, and overheating are all cause for a miserable experience. Thankfully, this bus ride was smooth sailing!

Highlight: Good food, good friends, and a good bus ride!