Sat 15th Bfast at Duncort. Said goodbye to Lewis. Tuk tuk outside the hotel to the Likoni ferry. ‘Immigration ‘ guy at the entry turnstiles tried to slow us down with questions but I didn’t give him the opportunity to try to make things slightly awkward for us..!! Walked onto ferry. A Matatu was waiting immediately on other side. Short wait before setting off for the 55 mins to Ukunda. We had tea at Rongai. Walked to the Dara accommodation. Not too far but we got a bit lost because Google maps wasn’t accurate . And actually Dara was the area and not the name of the apartment block. Mark rested while I caught a tuk tuk to Diani Shopping centre. Saw Jane at Piri Pires for a nice chat then I went across the road and to Chillspot beach bar. Nice beer with lovely view over the beach and sea. It has been refurbished and is much nicer now. As I walked back via Diani Campsite there was a guy all the way down from Western, selling Mukombero. I couldn’t resist; I bought a big root for 50bob. It was getting on for 18:00 so I went straight to Swahili Pot where Mark was waiting. Had a superb chicken biriyani, although I felt the portion was less than in previous years. Walked back to the apartment; passed a local bar where we stopped for an amusing chat with locals and bought a small bottle of Triple Ace to share in the apartment.
Sun 16th. Bfast at Rongai. Terrible andazi; hard and tasteless… but we didn’t complain…being British !!! Went across to Naivas for ingredients for dinner. Main meat being sausages. Plus to a local vegetable stall. Tuk tuk to Diani Shopping centre and walked down to Chillspot. Back up to the main road and walked to Chandarana shopping centre. Always makes for an interesting walk with a mix of restaurants, cutio shops… Tuk tuk back to Ukunda. To Rongai to watch football and drink good value beer at 250bob. Back to the apartment via a local bar to pick up a night cap bottle. Cooked dinner between us; a very taste joint effort.
Mon 17th. Bfast at Rongai; made sure andazi was fresh this time. We went to Java house at Carrefour junction. I withdrew money from the ATM and put some money on mpesa. Tuk tuk down beach road. I got off at Eleventh Pearl while Mark went on to Salty Squid to see friends. I had decided to check out Eleventh Pearl because the Perros (originally from Tanga) family from RSA stayed there a couple of xmases ago. I walked back up the beach, stopping for an hour whilst a heavy rain shower passed over. Continued up to Chillspot for a coffee while pondering the matter of the multiple entry visa which was rejected by Nbi immigration. Phoned Mercy and Charles to discuss options. In the end I decided best to leave Taveta by 12 May when my current multiple expires and spend my last 2 weeks in Tz; am going to Lushoto anyway about 19 or 20 to meet up with Mark and Jane and then to Dar from where I’m flying back to UK. I’ll just have to get an evisa in UK for when I fly back to Kenya. From Chillspot I went to Piri Pires to meet Mark. On the way back he was dropped off to go back to the apartment while I went on to watch football at Rongai. I bought a bottle of Chrome for the evening and we cooked another sausage dinner. A nice evening before leaving the next day for Dar es Salaam. A relaxing Diani visit despite quite a lot of walking. It looked as though parts of Forty Thieves Beach bar might be being renovated; spent a lot of time there with the kids and Dad in 2010. There was a lot of seaweed on the beach but very beautiful nevertheless. The weather was good; quite a lot of rain but generally at night.