Life's a Beach

We limited our time in Kenyas two largest cities, Nairobi and Mombasa, to as little as we could, wanting beachlife and knowing that we would be coming back to both at some point soon. So after hitting the porttown we started an itinerary of beachhopping along the Swahili- Coast with our first leap being to Shimoni. In the tiny fishing village just a few kilometres from the Tanzanian border we met up with a group of Israelis we had first met in Addis Ababa and stayed two nights camping with them and exploring the mangrove shores. After Shimoni, Elias and I moved on north to Diani, one of the most postcard- perfect beaches I've ever seen, where pearly white sand lined with coconut palmtrees meets the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean. It was also in Diani that Emily decided to make an unexpected return to this blog, faithful readers may remember her from the start of the trip in Berlin, Prague and Hungary. She took a short trip to her Fatherland of Kenya together with her sister Mokasa, and we met one night in Diani. Otherwise our time here was spent doing exactly what we had intended, namely not a lot during the days and a few drinks in nice company during the hours without sunlight. Our next stop was Malindi, a small town with a beach which after Diani felt only mediocre also the place is flooded with Italians making it even less appealing. However we did manage to meet up with Emily and Mokasa here for a bit longer this time making it more pleasant. We made an excursion to the nearby beach of Watamu one day which was a much more interesting location. In the morning the tide goes out for hundreds of metres leaving coral and rockpools exposed to our greedy eyes, then after midday the tide comes back in with the difference in depth going up to as much as 3 1/2 metres. Next on the list was Lamu, an island I had heard many positive reviews about, and my high expectations were well met. As soon as you step ashore you step into a new relaxed world, no motorised vehicles to be found, instead an army of some three thousand donkeys patrol the narrow alleys of the gorgeous old town. We spent a few days getting lost in the labyrinth of mosques, markets and Swahili architecture and one day on the beach Shela, the flat island is however very vulnerable to the elements and our entire stay was accompanied by strong winds. Sadly tourism here has been hit hard due to it's proximity to Somalia and the Al Shabbab with a couple of kidnappings and murders occurring on and around Lamu in the past year. After leaving the island-life something unusual happened as I backtracked on myself, something that very rarely happens on my trips if it isn't necessary, but when we heard Itamar and Rei (two of the Israelis) were in Diani, we changed our plans of heading inland and chose to get one last sip out of paradise. We had a great barbecue back in our old campsite joined by all the monkeys and an English couple living in Nairobi called Sarah and Pete. After this one last indulgence our holiday from holiday was over and we got our sunburnt bodies back to citylife in Mombasa.

Moyale, Mo Problems!

Moyale doesn't really have a lot to offer apart from being a border town, so after a few hours sleep we got out packs on our backs again and started looking for means of transport taking us even further south. After a few hours haggling we managed to get a ride with a truck carrying stinking cow hides. During my travels I have been on many a bad road but the one between Moyale and Marsabit is a very possible contender for worst road ever, even calling it a road is doing it too many favours. And not only is the stretch of dirt bad it is also infamous for it's banditry and just days before our passing the area had blossomed into a tribal war, leaving traces of burnt down huts and school buildings along the way. We sat on top of the truck in scorching sun on the extremely bumpy and dusty dirt-track gripping onto the iron bars for dear life over 11 hours before finally reaching Marsabit. By the time we arrived every muscle had been exercised with the glutus maximus taking most of the punishment and the warm shower which awaited at our hotel was one of the most rewarding I've ever taken. The following day was spent exploring Marsabit which is your typical roadside African town, kind of like something out of an old western movie, containing a bank, a small market, some small bars and a few dodgy hotels/brothels all set along a red dirt road. Surrounding the town is a number of extinct volcanic craters which we tried to find, however the one which we did see was flooded and not very special. After two nights we continued on the bumpy road to Isiolo this time choosing the slightly pricier and more comfortable option of bus, about halfway into the drive our behinds were blessed as the Chinese labourers had managed to put down tarmac for the rest of the journey. Isiolo is pretty much a larger version of Marsabit with the same commodities on offer just in a wider variety set along an asphalt road and with Africa's second highest mountain, Mount Kenya, as it's backdrop. We did the usual walkabout and then moved on toward Nairobi. Our first minibus took us to Nanyuki where we could get on the back of a motorbike which dropped us at the equator. At the imaginary divider of the world we could stare in amazement at the wonders of physics as Coriolis Effect was demonstrated to us before getting several cramped vans to the Kenyan capital.

Addis Abyebye

Crossing back into Ethiopia went just as well as the journey had in the opposite direction. In Harar we all got back to the touristway of thinking, walking around yet another ancient walled city, however this may be the most charming so far with narrow alleyways leading between colourful houses. At night wild hyenas roam the streets, they are very tame though and we could even hand feed them raw pieces of meat. After a few days savouring the liquids available in a country which doesn't impose Sharia law we once again headed for the central hub which is Addis Ababa. We only stayed two nights on this visit then split with our newfound travelbuddies and said one final farewell to the capital and it's inhabitants we had come to know over the past six weeks or so. Elias and I then commenced a long southward bound stretch with it's first stop being Shashemane.
Shashemane is a small town surrounded by land which was once donated to the Rastafari movement by the late Emperor (or Rastafari God) Haile Selassie. After wandering around for a few hours we finally found the dreadlocked population and it's quite remarkable to find a slice of the Caribbean dead in the middle of rural Africa. Reggaebeats and Jamaican accents mixed among the bananaplantations with scents of West-Indian cuisine and marijuana, but sadly it was full of hustlers who were all out to get our money so we were quite relieved when we could get a ride to Awasa. We had intended to spend some time in Awasa, but we couldn't find any decent accommodation so we decided to keep moving south and thereby shorten the following day's travels. We got to Dila where we slept for a few hours before getting an early bus which took us to the frontier-town of Moyale, here we could cross over to the Kenyan side of town and find a place to sleep. It was a bit sad to leave Ethiopia which has been our home for a long time and I'm going to miss a lot of things: the friendly and beautiful people, the difficult language of Amharic where a simple phrase like "thank you" has six syllables, the bustrips which on a map look like a few hours at most but end up taking two days due to mountanious terrain, vehicles in bad condition and strange road-planning and of course the cheerful jeers of "YOU! Give me money!" On the other hand it is nice to know that we have only just entered a new country with loads of new impressions to come.