Sat 8th. Arrived at the Taveta stage and were bundled into the Naekana. 06:00 which left 2 hrs late at 08:00..Lucky for us as we left bang on time. Saw 1 elephant on the roadside, which was exciting and which I managed to get a brief video of. Only 10 mins turnaround at Voi.  Good journey 4 hrs 45 mins…much traffic in Mombasa as it was Ramadan as well as the weekend. Mark wanted to get to Nyali quickly so we got a tuk tuk the whole way to Calabash Gardens. I was given a nice room with balcony on the 1st floor.  Rooms have a/c as well.
A relaxing time. We went every day to mama Siti at Nyali centre for breakfast…150bob for a samosa, 5 mahamri and a cup of tea. I popped into Naivas for a large bottle of Best gin @750bob to share at the hotel. A visit to the Bank was required. I made a couple of visits to Carrefour and bought Coco butter lotion and sun tan lotion. Made 4 visits to Java house for my coffee treat.


Sun 9th…Maasai Beach bar music evening. The Generation band with a new female lead singer were even better than usual.
I only went once to Rubis for a beer. Having discovered the Nest which was only slightly more expensive than Rubis and half the walking distance, it was easier to go there.
Nest Lounge and Grill had a Balozi promotion …5 bottles of beer for a Balozi t-shirt. I couldn’t resist!! I drank 4 bottles and went back for the fifth the next day.
I bought mangoes and bananas and some chevda. Very strange that I only paid out 1,200ksh (just over 7gbp) for food over the 5 days. Of that, the breakfasts totalled 750ksh. It really was a classic case of the heat taking away one’s appetite.

Tues evening, John, who I acted with in Hills of Teita joined us at the Nest; he lives in the Tudor district of Msa.

Wed 12th..I walked to the beach over the ‘gate’…my alternative route. Then, back along the beach and up to the Nest. Then back to Calabash where Mark and Lewis were waiting.  There had been a power cut from mid afternoon so I was glad that I missed that. Calabash was a great place to stay, and having the little swimming pool was a bonus. 2,500 (excl breakfast)…15gbp was a good rate to pay; when I first discussed the price with Lucy in Feb, she started at 5,000. Anyway, she asked that I not divulge the rate she gave us.

So, the next morning would involve an easy trip into Mombasa city.