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.