The beach is that way!

For a small price you can take an overnight train from Nairobi to the coastal city of Mombasa. Its approximately a 16 hour train ride, but frequently takes longer due to unforseen circumstances, like flooded tracks, or mechanical problems or who knows really, its Africa, there isn't always a reason. Karla, a medical student here from Winnipeg and I boarded Friday night, and our train was right on time and arrived in Mombasa at 9:30 am Saturday morning. The ride through the country in the morning was so much fun, every few minutes there were screaming and waving children running after the train. The rail line is lined with tiny villages, and the children must be accustomed to the passing train every morning at the same time as they yelled out "give me sweets" "give me ANYTHING." I had brought with me the last of my Canada dollar store items and had so much fun throwing out the red and white beach balls and bracelets to the waving hands. I was warned that Mombasa was humid and hot. It was easy to feel the temperature and humidity rising in our little tin box throughout the journey. I had no idea, however just how much of an sauna it was. I hesitate to even write what may be taken as complaints for the outstanding heat as I'm sure most of you reading this will at least roll your eyes. Karla summed it up nicely when she said to me, "I'm loosing fluids in an alarming rate!" We started out our adventure by taking a 3 wheeled and 3 passenger taxi called a Tuk Tuk from the Railway station to our hotel. After insisting on the "discount" which one could argue is the standard rate they should have charged in the first place, we stepped into our air conditioned room for a quick wardrobe change into our swimsuits and headed to the beach. We took a matatu 30 mins or so to a town called Mwtapa on the coast north of Mombasa Island. I could just about smell the ocean and after a short walk on a dirt road, lined with kiosk stands selling, mostly bathing suits (used) and casava root chips we saw the beautiful sight of the Indian Ocean in front of us. The beach we were directed to by a friend from Nairobi, was called Pirates Beach, and was a public beach where mostly the local Kenyans went for their weekends. The mood and feeling of the beach was very rastafarian and laid back. I was so parched from the ride that I was desperate to find a cold drink. From my short time in Mombasa, the one thing that stood out for me was how "easy" it was to make friends. Well, that depends I guess on what your definition of friend is. I suppose the relationships were mutually beneficial, where the tourist can, for a "appropriate fee" benefit from the Kenyan's friendly knowledge of the area, and often whatever service he happens to be in, such as boat tours, walking tours, handicrafts for sale, interesting stories or any other number of random things. I would say we made at least 20 + "friends" every day. At pirates beach, though, we were happy to make friends with two locals who were in the business of glass bottom boats. Since the water at the shore of the beach was at least 25-30 degrees celsius, it was advantageous to get out further into the deeper water for a refreshing swim. Also, it was nice to get a guided tour through the coral reefs and sea shore. The coastline and the aquamarine water were incredibly beautiful. There was a muslim apartment complex in the distance, that was built on the edge of a cliff to look like a ship. When the tide was low you park the boat and walk up along the ocean floor to see the staircase that leads into this coral palace. It was fun to see all the creatures living in the rocky sea floor, and meet the fishermen as they walked their daily catches home. After the tour, we were invited to sun tan on the roof deck of the boat, and enjoy the sun. It felt a little bit like we were on a parade float, I must say, as all the children were waving constantly, yelling our names, dancing for us, and the guide's friends all came up to the boat one at a time to talk to us. We learned lots about their little community and even some new Swahili words. Our guide's names were Mark Fisher (I doubt that's his real name) and Gustafa. It was sort of surreal to be waited on hand and foot, literally, in such a service driven community. When we said we were hungry, they promptly brought us a delightful dinner option (today's catch of fresh red snapper) right to the boat where we lay, and then cooked it for us in the local fashion. Oh yeah, and there are camels on the beach (of course you can ride one for a small fee, seems to be the theme of tourism). The next day, we decided to tour around whats called "Old town Mombasa." Its an amazing labyrinth of narrow streets, Mosques and fish markets/stands, with of course, lots of curios stands selling Kenyan handicrafts. Mombasa has incredible heritage as it was one of the first ports to connect India, and Europe trade routes into Eastern Africa. Unfortunately and sadly it also has a long history of being a port for slave trades. I read in the lonely planet about a 15 km underground cave south of Mombasa that was a holding cell with shackles and chains for slaves before they were bought or sold. Why anyone would want to tour such an evil place or any of the other historical slave ports is beyond me, thats not a piece of history I wish to dwell on. Just beside the entrance Old Town Mombasa is a huge architectual relic fort called Fort Jesus. It was built in the 16th century by the Portugese and has a bloody war history through the slave trade era and the change in power and religious clashes that occured in Mombasa's history. Mombasa has peacefully come through its difficult history, and is now known for its rich diversity of spices, fabrics, cultures, religions and people from all over the Middle East, Europe, India and Africa. After our cultural safari in what felt like at least 45 degree weather with extreme humidity we had to cool down some how. We asked at our hotel for the nearest pool and were directed to a fancy fancy hotel nearby that featured a rooftop pool. It was literally heaven on earth, and we lounged by the completely deserted pool for many hours enjoying the rooftop breeze. The last day of our weekend getaway was spent mostly trying to get to the beach. We ventured to the south coast, to white sand beaches Diani beach which required taking a matatu to the ferry terminal, riding the free pedestrian ferry to Lioni, where we boarded another matatu to Ukunda town, where we had to switch matatus again and finally make our way to the beach road. There were lots of old and delapitated hotels that were forced to close last year after the post election violence, but we managed to find a beautiful beach front German hotel to "borrow" lounge chairs and umbrellas from. It was nice to find a private beach to get a bit of some distance from the local "beach boys" who lined the beaches hawking all sorts of things to the tourists, like safaris, jewlery, handicrafts or even just begging for money. I must say after all that travelling on local transportation, and trying to shop in the markets for kikoys and kangas, the bartering for every financial transaction became exhausting. Especially when you know you are getting taken for a "white" ride everytime you even try to get something. I guess its a way of life, and as one local explained to us, its business. It was a nice weekend for sure, and above all a learning experience. I'm surprised at how much I appreciate being back in Nairobi, where the nice cooling breeze is refreshing, and I have come to know how to navigate my way through daily life. 3 weeks until I'm joined by the best companion of all, I am ecstatic thinkng how much fun this will all be with Morgan. I'm told its warming up in Canada, and despite the fact there are no seasons in Africa, I can tell its spring, and I'm feeling like its time for my independent journey to come to a close, and my adventure with Morgan to begin.....