Sat 28th May. I left Sunway hotel for my 10 minute walk to the Naekana stage ; I had bought my Taveta ticket the day before. All in all a long journey…I think we left nearly an hour and half late and were on the road for about 7 hours. At least I saw a bit of the new Nairobi bypass/expressway; it didn’t seem particularly busy.
On arrival in taveta I had something to eat, collected my room key from Mercy, sorted out my room and contacted Joseph. The next day being Sunday we went for mbege…a new place actually…and good quality.
The next week was just a matter of seeing friends and hanging out. William Ruto the vice president had an election rally at the main matatu stand on the 30th. It was interesting to see how a political rally was conducted. Speeches and whipping up the crowd into a bit of a frenzy. Not much else happened. There was quite a lot rain. In fact, I was to borrow a bike to go and visit Dad’s grave on my last day but the rain scuppered that idea, I felt a bit bad.
Tues 7th. A week to go before my 14th flight to the UK. A good trip to mombasa, leaving at 8 a.m. I went straight from Mwembe Tayari to Diani. Only took a couple of hours….tuk tuk to the ferry…straight onto a waiting ferry…straight into a waiting matatu, arriving in Ukunda for a cup of tea. I had made arrangements with John to stay at Frangipani again ( behind Diani Shopping centre)…for 2,000 per day.
In Diani up until the 9th. Relaxing walks along the beach…very beautiful but not much to do. ChillSpot is my favourite beach bar these days. I visited Amigos; the bar had been moved a few metres back from the beach as apparently they had illegally encroached when first built. Actually it’s a nicer bar now with an upstairs area. More rain and some strong winds which kicked up the beach sand; one couldn’t sit/lay down comfortably. I had a couple of very tasty dinners at Swahili Dishes…a curry and a biryani.
June 10… I got the matatu then ferry then tuk tuk and another matatu to Nyali. There were no rooms available at Bustan and I had to stay at Beachroad. The room was fine but the location wasn’t so great…further to the beach and much further from the Nyali shopping centre. Bustan had electricity issues, but was at least able to have 2 nights there.
One day I went into the city and met up with Elijah who I knew from Holili. Another day Ernest, who I knew from Holili/Marangu, came to Rubis at Nyali and we had a delicious kiti moto; I hadn’t even realised they offered it….. So, more hanging out and relaxing and visiting the Maasai beach bar on their music nights, before leaving early on the 14th to go back to the city.
Tues 14th…my last day. I had plenty of time as reporting time at the airport was about 3 p.m. I had samosas and tea and my customary visit to Fantasy bar before getting a taxi to the airport. But I also had time to find the Swahili Culture centre and ask about Lamu doors and whether there was any link to Jews settling on the island during past centuries. Mike P asked me enquire, and although nothing definitive came from it….I spoke to the door expert and showed him Mike’s little video…it was an interesting project.
So, the end of my 4 and a half months in east Africa, incl an amazing 2 months in Tanzania . Ethiopian left bang on time, and in fact we arrived back a bit early in London. I had to get to catch up on my blog travels, as in just over a week….on Aug 14th….I fly back to Mombasa.
Are you returning to work or sorting out your life?
Hi Robyn…I think I answered your question on FB, but must get more used to looking at Comments on here and then replying. The latter…Sorting out my life. Actually can’t afford to live in UK on my work pension. I have a 2 bed flat with 2 bathrooms, so could do it if I rented out a bedroom, but don’t know if I want to do that yet. In June ’24 my State pension kicks in and I could just afford to live in the UK. So, I keep travelling for the time being. Off to NZ in a weeks time to see my daughter.