A few months ago the arrivals terminal at the Nairobi airport burnt down in a fire so I was relived to be ushered through a temporary arrivals hall in the car park... Seriously, a make shift customs office in the car park, only on Africa!! Just stop and imagine coming thro the arrivals hall in the car park in heathrow ;) ha! When I walked out there was a friendly Kenyan man, dressed in a crisp suit and smiling with a sign saying William Lara. Sammy, my driver chatted the whole way to the Heron and even shared his sweets with me! Arrived at the hotel and went straight to bed!
In the morning I met Tave in the restaurant and we caught up quickly on all his amazing stories from his Kili climb, what an achievement!! I will admire him but would never ever try such a physical challenge myself ;) after breakfast we set off to the Giraffe sanctuary... the half hour drive ook close on two hours and I saw the reality of the Nairobi traffic - bumper to bumper in the hot blazing sun!!!
The giraffes in the sanctuary are all quite tame, and if you hold your hand out with pellets in it and they come and eat out your hand.
The giraffes have English names like Daisy and Kelly and you can call them and they come to you, like a domestic pet. As we were standing taking pics etc I heard an American ask the ranger if they really knew their names, to which he replied of course... Her next question, in all seriousness, was 'so then do they speak English or Swahili?' I can't believe it!
Did you know?
A giraffe neck is approximately 1.8 meters long, but has the same number of vertebrae as a human neck.
A giraffe gives birth standing up... So the baby usually falls about 6 feet to the ground.
A male giraffe can weigh up to 1400kgs... That's more than a truck!
That eve we met some friends at Carnivores, which is ranked in one of the worlds best 100 restaurants (sure that was a number of years ago - but still!!)
It is an eat as much as you can restaurant and hey bring you salads, potatoes and sauces - but the best thing is the meat! We ate ostrich steak, meatballs, croc, beef, croc, lamb, livers, and Taves favourite - pork sausages!
Our poor veggie friends were limited but we were in meat heaven!!! We also were lucky enough to meet little Anja who was full of smiles and bright big eyes!!
All night Doctor Dawa brings round the delicious 'medicine' for you to drink, similar to a mojito but made with honey etc! Delicious :)
Next morning we got ready and back to the airport to catch our plane to Mombasa. We flew on fly540 which is a budget airline with a tiny plane! When we checked in the lady said please go to gate three... Bosh joked that it was gate three of three, and yes it was! Domestic departures has three gates only ;)
When we landed in Mombasa we were greeted by another enthusiastic driver with our sign for Cherly. For some reason, then Kenyans can't get Cheryl... Every time it is Cherly!
Our next stop was Diani on the Kenyan coast. At this time of the year it is out of season so it is so secluded and beautiful. We arrived and there was the most beautiful sunshine, so we went upstairs and stood on our balcony to admire the amazing view onto the beach. Within minutes we were in bikinis and headed down to the beach... Just as it started pouring with rain!! With limited options we had curry and beers at the restaurant downstairs, while staring longingly at the beach waiting for the sun to reappear... After a few hours we accepted defeat and headed back up to our room, lay down for a nap and passed our for about 4 hours! There are only a couple if things that compare to listening to the rain hitting a corrugated iron roof and the waves lapping at the shore!
We woke up naturally at 6am, which has never happened before!!! When I say naturally it might have been aided by the massive baboons clanging onto the tin roof in search of food, but that's a natural as you get I suppose! As we walked out the room there was a huge baboon on our balcony and we all ran back in screaming, even when we were clapping our hands and shouting they just sit and glare! At breakfast one jumped on our table (while we dispersed screaming) and grabbed Taves toast and ran off. After that we had 'security' sitting with a catty to guard us ;)
The sun was blazing and we sat on the deck chairs absorbing the rays... I would say quietly but you can't escape the vendors trying to sell you anything and everything 'cheaper than water'. It starts in the same way every time - what's your name, where are you from, when do you leave and then do you want xxx (insert every option here!) You can get quite creative with fake names but got to be careful as they remember you for days afterwards and when they are shouting 'Ribbery' (tave's fake name) you need to remember to respond!
We went for a long walk down the beach, where we never saw another tourist for miles and swam in the beautiful blue ocean.
Afterwards we went to a seaside seafood restaurant 'Colobus shed' when they catch the food directly from the ocean and walk it up the shore to be cooked. It was so delicious and unbelievably cheap! We had a whole platter each (just to over indulge) which should be shared between two people which included fish, calamari, prawns, crab and lobster! Wow, it's great to be back at the sea!!
We completely lost track of time and when we attempted to walk home the tide had risen right up and there was no longer a route home. But, that added more excitement to the trip and we waded home through the sea! Alongside the way we made two friends who helped us navigate through the sharp rocks and my friends held my hand the whole way to make sure I didn't fall over (I'm certain he enjoyed it more than me ha!)bee made it back safe, with a few cuts and bruises from the rocks, soaking wet and one drowned phone.
That eve we went to Ali Barbours cave, it is a beautiful natural cave which has not been changed from its natural form. Burnt and befrazzled from the sunshine, and still full from the seafood splendour, it was a very quick dins and then back home to bed. African darkness is special!
Next day we went out on a sea safari with Pilli Pippa which was amazing. We sailed on a dhow for about an hour to a secluded patch of blue blue ocean and hopped in to snorkel with our group of 8. The guides, in true Kenyan style, were the best, they were so helpful and enthusiastic! at one point we had a pod of dolphins swimming on kingside the boat and we all jumped in to swim with them... First time swimming with dolphins and I loved it!! They are gorgeous creatures!
After the swim we headed to Wasini island and had a lovely lunch served to us by the locals, who sang and danced and again welcomed us to Kenya. ;) The lunch was crab, fried seaweed, rice with 'cinomoney', fish balls and prawn skewers, deliciousness - so spoilt with all this seafood!
Bosh embraced the beach and tried her luck at paddle boarding and windsurfing and she looked like she had done it for years!
After a long eventful day we piled into the taxi and heading back to the airport - as they cancelled our flight the day before (less reliable than easy jet! Ha) we managed to get on a later flight and landed in Nairobi after dark ready for our safari adventure to start ;)
On the way into Diani it was so exciting to get to the beach, but in the way out we noticed a lot of small things that pulled at our heart strings... like how many children have no shoes, how many people are desperate to sell their goods, there are hundreds of people walking home from work (waiting hours for the ferry), pulling trailers with good on rather than driving them like we would...
Tomorrow we leave for the safari trip through the rest if East Africa. We have loved the last few days in Diani, we have been so spoilt to be able to experience this - delicious food, great company (even the ugly bummed baboons) and such a relaxing time on the beach and in the sea!
I'm a little browner, a fair bit heavier from all the deliciousness, a lot more relaxed and very hopeful for this beautiful country!!
Thanks Kenya xx
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