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thatcrazycajunHappy belated birthday wishes (Sunday) to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
khaosworks and runnerwolf, another one (yesterday) to filkcook and a third (today) to billroper's better half, daisy_knotwise! Hope you all have a fabulous one.
Final full day at the seashore: nothing much happening. The next day? Ohhhh, boy...
Sunday 19 October
Well, the snorkeling trip I'd been expecting got kiboshed by the Songbird, who made an Executive Decision that I was still not breathing well enough to do it (and she was starting to catch what I have...), plus the co-workers weren't all that hot for the idea. So we spent another lazy day exploring the tidal pools created by the waaay-low tide on the shallow coral reef that forms Turtle Bay's beach, and spotting crabs, moray eels and other little critters in the water-filled nooks and crannies, then laying out by the pool and taking the occasional dip. The evening ended with all of us trying out the resort's Italian restuarant, where certain items can be ordered and covered under the "all-inclusive" payment scheme. All in all, we had a very relaxing and pleasant 3.5 days here despite never having left the premises even once since arrival.
Monday 20 October • 6:00 AM
Got up in time to see one last gorgeous sunrise over the Indian Ocean. Then we took advantage of the buffet breakfast to tank up for our long drive back to Nairobi by way of Mombasa. (And I DO mean long; see below.) SB asked her driver, Francis (who had gotten to enjoy most of a day swimming and relaxing in a posh Turtle Bay room on his boss' dime) to drive back north first, to Malindi (from whence we had come three days ago, after landing at the airport there) so we could visit the Vasco da Gama Pillar before leaving the vicinity. This is a navigational fixture erected by the famous Portuguese explorer back in the 1600s and stands on a rocky coral promontory overlooking the beautiful blue bay. (Close on to the shore, the water isn't so pretty; it was as choked with seaweed as the beach we had been on, due to those storms at sea of late.) Pictures will be uploaded shortly.
After wandering on the promontory a bit, we piled back in the Pajero (SB's Mitsubishi SUV I mentioned; in the US it's sold as the Montero) and turned southward again, heading past kilometers and kilometers of rural countryside dotted with grass/branch or corrugated-tin shacks and the occasional brick shop, school or church. Finally making it to the Mombasa suburb of Nyali about lunchtime, we stopped at the local Nakumatt shopping complex to get some more drugs for me and food for the remainder of the trip. We then crossed the New Nyali Bridge into Mombasa proper and gawked at all the brightly-colored, Arab-influenced architecture. (The coast of Kenya was largely settled by Arabs and Portuguese, and hence is more predominantly Muslim than the interior cities and towns, which tend more toward Christianity.) We headed for the city's main tourist attraction, Fort Jesus, and parked the heap to explore this centuries-old fortress built on the orders of King Philip II, then ruler of Spain and Portugal, to guard Mombasa harbor. Old Phil couldn't hang on to it, as it fell out; the local Arab chieftains took a dim view of white European infidels making such incursions on their turf, as you can well imagine, and the fort changed hands nine times between its construction in 1593 and its final takeover by the Brits in the 1880s. Today, since Kenya gained its independence in December 1963 (just months after I was born in May), it serves as a museum of the city's history and of archeological relics found in the area, and like the Pillar is operated by National Museums of Kenya.
Our NMK employee guide was very friendly and full of information about the various parts of the fort, down to the Scots-made cannons imported by the British and still emplaced about the fort. He took us all over the joint very patiently, then offered to take us into Old Town nearby to see the dhows, Arab-style sailboats still used today for commerce and pleasure. We got around a few blocks and back before he was demanding an extra 1,000 shillings for my being a foreigner and we realized we hadn't even seen a single dhow. We were too tired and hot to argue with him, though, and so we paid up and got on our way. (Watch out for the fort guides; it's safe enough to let them conduct you on the museum premises, but beware of letting them take you anywhere else without a firm hand on your wallet.)
Once we headed out of Mombasa on the long road back to Nairobi, however, the adventure really began. Remember that radiator trouble I mentioned Francis having had on his way to meet us in Watumu? It flared up again, and we pulled into a service station to have a mechanic look at it. Turns out the thermostat was to blame; no one had bothered to tell SB that the ones Mitsubishi equips its Japan-sold vehicles with don't work properly in the African climes and need to be swapped out for ones tuned to Kenyan weather. We elected to have it removed, at a cost of half an hour's time and 200 shillings, to make it back to Nairobi and get it replaced next day. While we waited, we crossed the road to a local eating emporium and competed with hordes of flies for the rice-and-meat dish Francis ordered for us. SB had to remind me not to drink from the pitcher of water they brought us, as I haven't had Hepatitis A or B shots. (Remember that old traveler's cliché, "Don't drink the water?" In this country, they're dead serious—don't! No one who isn't local or fully immunized drinks tap water, ever, anywhere in Kenya, even in Nairobi; the water system is nowhere near up to First World sanitary standards, due largely to corruption in its management and shoddiness in its construction in the cities and simple lack of funding to do the job properly in the rural areas. Tap water is for bathing and washing hands only, and drinking water is always distilled or bottled. Ironic how much of a necessity bottled water is here, when it's condemned in the West as a needless, polluting luxury.)
Our mechanic finished the job not long after we finished our late lunch, gave us the part back and didn't even demand any baksheesh or tip, so we thanked him profusely and went on. By now it was about 4:30 PM local time, and from here, there were: a gorgeous sunset over the hills in the distance, a couple of stops for bathroom use (in gas-station toilets that I will not describe so as to save you from losing your latest meal, except to say that even the least well-kept bathrooms in US gas stations are cleanliness itself next to what you will find on the A108), as well as one stop in a suitably dark area for star-gazing (the night sky in the Kenyan interior is not to be missed, as away from the cities the light pollution is so minimal as to allow a spectacular view of the Milky Way streaming across the obsidian sky), and several detours due to road construction or resurfacing that took us over surfaces every bit as rut-ridden and teeth-jarring as anything we encountered in the game parks), and a lot of frustrated map-checking by flashlight every time we could catch a glimpse of some sign indicating locality name (unlike the US highway system, Kenya's contains no signage whatever to indicate distances or even mile markers, so gauging your progress is difficult, especially at night). There was also the ever-present fear of carjacking as we came closer to the city (SB told me of a CDC co-worker this had happened to on the very same road), the occasional police roadblock for one reason or another (at one of which the officer appeared to be seeking bribe money) and tiredness, coughing and boredom once night fell and we could see next to nothing of the passing countryside.
Around 1:00 AM (!!), we finally, finally made it safely back to SB's Makueni Road housing compound in Nairobi. We gave Francis his pay and cab money home, and a bit extra besides for performing way-above-and-beyond duty, and hit the sack with a gratitude that defies description. Thanks be to whatever God or gods there be for keeping the worst from happening to us; to Francis for his patience, endurance and kindness; and to the staff of Turtle Bay Beach Club for impeccable service, luxurious facilities (by Kenyan standards, anyway) and delicious food that no doubt added still more to both our waistlines.
Tuesday 21 October • 12:50 PM
Which brings me up to today, as I sit in a coffee shop at The Junction (a local shopping area with cinemas, a bookstore, a Nakumatt superstore and other amusements) to while away the hours while SB returns to her daily grind at CDC's local offices, on the Kenya Medical Research Institute campus in Mbagathi Road. I hope to get the pictures taken so far uploaded today, as well as take care of some bills and other lingering necessities.
Tomorrow, possibly a visit to the Nairobi National Museum and/or a tour of SB's offices. And it's hard to believe so much of the trip is past already, and I leave Kenya for home this Saturday evening.
khaosworks and runnerwolf, another one (yesterday) to filkcook and a third (today) to billroper's better half, daisy_knotwise! Hope you all have a fabulous one.Final full day at the seashore: nothing much happening. The next day? Ohhhh, boy...
Sunday 19 October
Well, the snorkeling trip I'd been expecting got kiboshed by the Songbird, who made an Executive Decision that I was still not breathing well enough to do it (and she was starting to catch what I have...), plus the co-workers weren't all that hot for the idea. So we spent another lazy day exploring the tidal pools created by the waaay-low tide on the shallow coral reef that forms Turtle Bay's beach, and spotting crabs, moray eels and other little critters in the water-filled nooks and crannies, then laying out by the pool and taking the occasional dip. The evening ended with all of us trying out the resort's Italian restuarant, where certain items can be ordered and covered under the "all-inclusive" payment scheme. All in all, we had a very relaxing and pleasant 3.5 days here despite never having left the premises even once since arrival.
Monday 20 October • 6:00 AM
Got up in time to see one last gorgeous sunrise over the Indian Ocean. Then we took advantage of the buffet breakfast to tank up for our long drive back to Nairobi by way of Mombasa. (And I DO mean long; see below.) SB asked her driver, Francis (who had gotten to enjoy most of a day swimming and relaxing in a posh Turtle Bay room on his boss' dime) to drive back north first, to Malindi (from whence we had come three days ago, after landing at the airport there) so we could visit the Vasco da Gama Pillar before leaving the vicinity. This is a navigational fixture erected by the famous Portuguese explorer back in the 1600s and stands on a rocky coral promontory overlooking the beautiful blue bay. (Close on to the shore, the water isn't so pretty; it was as choked with seaweed as the beach we had been on, due to those storms at sea of late.) Pictures will be uploaded shortly.
After wandering on the promontory a bit, we piled back in the Pajero (SB's Mitsubishi SUV I mentioned; in the US it's sold as the Montero) and turned southward again, heading past kilometers and kilometers of rural countryside dotted with grass/branch or corrugated-tin shacks and the occasional brick shop, school or church. Finally making it to the Mombasa suburb of Nyali about lunchtime, we stopped at the local Nakumatt shopping complex to get some more drugs for me and food for the remainder of the trip. We then crossed the New Nyali Bridge into Mombasa proper and gawked at all the brightly-colored, Arab-influenced architecture. (The coast of Kenya was largely settled by Arabs and Portuguese, and hence is more predominantly Muslim than the interior cities and towns, which tend more toward Christianity.) We headed for the city's main tourist attraction, Fort Jesus, and parked the heap to explore this centuries-old fortress built on the orders of King Philip II, then ruler of Spain and Portugal, to guard Mombasa harbor. Old Phil couldn't hang on to it, as it fell out; the local Arab chieftains took a dim view of white European infidels making such incursions on their turf, as you can well imagine, and the fort changed hands nine times between its construction in 1593 and its final takeover by the Brits in the 1880s. Today, since Kenya gained its independence in December 1963 (just months after I was born in May), it serves as a museum of the city's history and of archeological relics found in the area, and like the Pillar is operated by National Museums of Kenya.
Our NMK employee guide was very friendly and full of information about the various parts of the fort, down to the Scots-made cannons imported by the British and still emplaced about the fort. He took us all over the joint very patiently, then offered to take us into Old Town nearby to see the dhows, Arab-style sailboats still used today for commerce and pleasure. We got around a few blocks and back before he was demanding an extra 1,000 shillings for my being a foreigner and we realized we hadn't even seen a single dhow. We were too tired and hot to argue with him, though, and so we paid up and got on our way. (Watch out for the fort guides; it's safe enough to let them conduct you on the museum premises, but beware of letting them take you anywhere else without a firm hand on your wallet.)
Once we headed out of Mombasa on the long road back to Nairobi, however, the adventure really began. Remember that radiator trouble I mentioned Francis having had on his way to meet us in Watumu? It flared up again, and we pulled into a service station to have a mechanic look at it. Turns out the thermostat was to blame; no one had bothered to tell SB that the ones Mitsubishi equips its Japan-sold vehicles with don't work properly in the African climes and need to be swapped out for ones tuned to Kenyan weather. We elected to have it removed, at a cost of half an hour's time and 200 shillings, to make it back to Nairobi and get it replaced next day. While we waited, we crossed the road to a local eating emporium and competed with hordes of flies for the rice-and-meat dish Francis ordered for us. SB had to remind me not to drink from the pitcher of water they brought us, as I haven't had Hepatitis A or B shots. (Remember that old traveler's cliché, "Don't drink the water?" In this country, they're dead serious—don't! No one who isn't local or fully immunized drinks tap water, ever, anywhere in Kenya, even in Nairobi; the water system is nowhere near up to First World sanitary standards, due largely to corruption in its management and shoddiness in its construction in the cities and simple lack of funding to do the job properly in the rural areas. Tap water is for bathing and washing hands only, and drinking water is always distilled or bottled. Ironic how much of a necessity bottled water is here, when it's condemned in the West as a needless, polluting luxury.)
Our mechanic finished the job not long after we finished our late lunch, gave us the part back and didn't even demand any baksheesh or tip, so we thanked him profusely and went on. By now it was about 4:30 PM local time, and from here, there were: a gorgeous sunset over the hills in the distance, a couple of stops for bathroom use (in gas-station toilets that I will not describe so as to save you from losing your latest meal, except to say that even the least well-kept bathrooms in US gas stations are cleanliness itself next to what you will find on the A108), as well as one stop in a suitably dark area for star-gazing (the night sky in the Kenyan interior is not to be missed, as away from the cities the light pollution is so minimal as to allow a spectacular view of the Milky Way streaming across the obsidian sky), and several detours due to road construction or resurfacing that took us over surfaces every bit as rut-ridden and teeth-jarring as anything we encountered in the game parks), and a lot of frustrated map-checking by flashlight every time we could catch a glimpse of some sign indicating locality name (unlike the US highway system, Kenya's contains no signage whatever to indicate distances or even mile markers, so gauging your progress is difficult, especially at night). There was also the ever-present fear of carjacking as we came closer to the city (SB told me of a CDC co-worker this had happened to on the very same road), the occasional police roadblock for one reason or another (at one of which the officer appeared to be seeking bribe money) and tiredness, coughing and boredom once night fell and we could see next to nothing of the passing countryside.
Around 1:00 AM (!!), we finally, finally made it safely back to SB's Makueni Road housing compound in Nairobi. We gave Francis his pay and cab money home, and a bit extra besides for performing way-above-and-beyond duty, and hit the sack with a gratitude that defies description. Thanks be to whatever God or gods there be for keeping the worst from happening to us; to Francis for his patience, endurance and kindness; and to the staff of Turtle Bay Beach Club for impeccable service, luxurious facilities (by Kenyan standards, anyway) and delicious food that no doubt added still more to both our waistlines.
Tuesday 21 October • 12:50 PM
Which brings me up to today, as I sit in a coffee shop at The Junction (a local shopping area with cinemas, a bookstore, a Nakumatt superstore and other amusements) to while away the hours while SB returns to her daily grind at CDC's local offices, on the Kenya Medical Research Institute campus in Mbagathi Road. I hope to get the pictures taken so far uploaded today, as well as take care of some bills and other lingering necessities.
Tomorrow, possibly a visit to the Nairobi National Museum and/or a tour of SB's offices. And it's hard to believe so much of the trip is past already, and I leave Kenya for home this Saturday evening.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-10-21 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-22 12:02 pm (UTC)Mary has no Net access at home that I can use, so I'm forced to drive out into the city and catch it where/when I can. This means access only once every 1-2 days.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-29 01:49 am (UTC)