Sun 8th. I tried something different. I heading to Lamu, I caught the Al Waheem matatu from Taveta straight to Malindi via Mariakani, Kaloleni and Kilifi. Cost was 1,500ksh. I have been as far as kilifi before, but breaking the journey a couple of times. Either way, the trick is to avoid going into Mombasa. 6 hours and I arrived in Malindi.
I found my way around huge puddles on the road, and stopped for a coffee. I went to the Tawakal bus company office and booked my ticket for the following day to Lamu – cost 1,300. There was a cheap hotel just around the corner, but I found the Comfy hotel 10 mins walk away which was much nicer and only 200bob more…and it had WiFi.
I had been to an ATM. By the time I checked in and showered it was late afternoon. Went to a bar which was showing English football. Before the next game I went across the road and had chips and samosas. It was a fast food and the chips were soggy, but tasty enough. In the meantime there was a torrential downpour; thank goodness its stopped by the time I headed back to the hotel.
Mon 9th. 10 mins to the bus. Got there much too early, but good to make sure. Had mandazi and chai nearby. We were only stopped once en route by army security. Had to disembark with my rucksack which I had to open and explain the contents. Despite that, we made it to Mokowe ( the mainland before Lamu Island) in record. An unbelievable 3.5 hours. Almost immediately I was in the speedboat taxi and arrived at Lamu town exactly 4 hours after leaving Malindi. Incredibly quick.
I had a cup of tea at Mangrove…although the new bright red coca cola sign spelled it Mangroove !! I pointed it out to the boss, but he was aware. I went to Sea Shells and phoned Ali in mombasa and negotiated a price of 900bob per night instead of 1,200. 6 pds…was very happy with that. A slightly nicer room than the one I had last Aug.
I reacquainted myself with the police canteen. Cheap beer. Cheap food. Although by the 4th evening I was bored with maharage and chapati and had chicken instead. I know the chicken was fresh because I saw them arrive alive and then taken fully plucked towards the kitchen….I tried to not think about that. I also continued my evening ritual of having coffee at SunSail. The price had gone up from 80 to 120bob. And the coffee pot was slightly smaller…it became a running joke with the waitress. On my last evening I got my coffee at the original lesser price of 80bob because the menu hadn’t been amended to reflect the increase.
Tues 10th. Got a boda to Shela and walked to the beach. I didn’t go all the way around the point. And there was a strong breeze blowing which kicked up a lot of sand, so I didn’t stay long. Because I got back relatively early, after negotiating a not particularly good price ( 400bob each way), I caught a speedboat to the Floating Pub. Fun to visit again, although the beer price had gone up from 300 to 350bob. So, the visit, incl 2 beers, cost just over 10pds. A slightly expensive excursion but necessary to do at least once during a visit to Lamu.
I went one more time to Shela …I walked there and back. Apart from that, the 4 days were spent walking around the narrow streets and soaking up the atmosphere. For 2 days there was a film crew set up in the Fort Square. I visited Petleys Inn once and said Hi to Ali the barman. Basically a nice relaxing time in my favourite place out of all my travels. Hmmm..Mbamba Bay on L Nyasa is a close second.
Nothing much else to report. Great to visit Lamu again..I think it was my 12th time to visit it over the years…starting over 40 years ago!! I booked my bus for the next day which I didn’t realise was Fri 13th. The bus company wasn’t reputable according to Ali and he said he’d pray for me. Anyway, had booked my ticket so all I could do was hope for the best..!!