Just a short blog because I seem to be doing so much that there’s a chance I’ll forget what’s happened. Friday morning we left Bustani relatively early and made good time into Mombasa. We walked the 10 minutes to Hotel Hermes and checked into our rooms with balconies. As we were ahead of schedule we went to sort out Mark’s replacement yellow fever certificate. After 3 false starts ( 3 tuk tuk rides ) looking for a KPA clinic , we ended up at a clinic just 5 minutes walk from our hotel. We made it with 15 mins to spare before their midday closure. We celebrated with a drink at Fantasy.
I went walkabout. Up Moi Ave and through Uhuru Gardens which I was entering for the first time. The Tusks are right there as well. We all went for a walk in the neighbourhood and found a nice bar just behind Castle hotel which was playing good music. We timed it so that we could have dinner at BonAppetit on MoiAve. The chicken curry was delicious. From there we walked 10 mins up the road to Bella Vista for an evening drink.
Sat 24th. I went for a little walk on Digo Road and around the old spice Market before meeting Ernest for chai and mandazi and a good catchup, in My Discovery restaurant. He then took me to his church off Mombasa Road and showed me his church gift shop. I didn’t stay too long before catching a matatu back into the centre of town. I went to the Ethiopian airlines office and confirmed my flight and got my seat allocations.
Walking aimlessly back, I found Mark and Lewis having lunch at BonAppetit. After a rest we walked down Makadara Road and found the Bustan restaurant had a special of tandoori chicken and chips and soda and we stopped there for dinner. A good deal at 450bob…just over 3pds. We must’ve gone back to Fantasy after that !!
Sun 25th. It rained quite hard first thing in the morning. I went to My Discovery again, but this time to meet Elijah who I knew from my Holili days. After an hour I went walkabout through a part of Old Town and on to Fort Jesus. I checked on the renovations taking place, which looked close to completion. There is now a new football pitch with synthetic grass !! The land has been levelled off and must be at least 10mtrs above the original ground level below the Fort.
I decided to try a possible short cut to Kilindini pub. Success…it was only about 20 minutes walk from our hotel. Had a good chat with Clarence and Maura and drank 3 beers in a short space of time. We decided on dinner at Jundan restaurant next door to our hotel; I think I just had maharage and chapati. That was followed by a short walk to Fantasy and the purchase of a small spirit and soda to share on the hotel balcony. The Hermes stay was ‘ok’….only 1,200bob…but what spoilt was the saline water which causes soap not to lather and the slight feeling of stickiness from the salt. Next stop Diani ……
For those not in Kenya, a lot of the places Hugh mentions have either websites or FB pages.