Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve written. There wasn’t a whole lot to write about. At the beginning of December my organization and I were working with our community groups to plan for next year so we didn’t do many field visits. I did teach the bead group how to do wire working to make their earrings better quality. They caught on really fast so I was really happy. I’ll be going back soon to teach them some other techniques. Thanks to all of you who bought beads and bags from my mom, the groups are going to be so happy.
So I just got back from the coast of Kenya, where I spent Christmas. I took the overnight train from Nairobi to Mombasa with a few other volunteers from Nyanza. It broke down a few times so we ended up arriving around 6 hours late. But, I pretty much expect that things will go wrong when I travel, so I wasn’t too worried. At one point we were stopped in the middle of nowhere because a pipe burst or something. So there we were, stuck on a train in a desert-type area on Christmas Eve, dripping with sweat, listening to music about chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Kind of funny.
We met up with some of the coast volunteers and took the 15 minute ferry to the south coast. There’s a volunteer in Msambweni who works with an organization that has a campsite right on the beach so we stayed there. It was incredible; we camped and had a beach that was pretty much private right below the site. AND, there were showers and electricity! Kind of funny that I “rough it” more at site. We jumped in the ocean as soon as we got there and watched the sun set.
The next day was Christmas so a bunch of us went to Diani beach, a really touristy area nearby, figuring we’d be able to find a nice restaurant to splurge on for Christmas dinner. The place that had been recommended to us was closed however. We asked around and everyone told us everything would be closed but maybe the Chinese restaurant would be open (I pictured A Christmas Story, “fa ra ra ra ra ra raaaa”). Then we met this middle-aged German man named George who told us we would probably be able to at least get lunch at the resort next door.
We got to his resort, which was right on the beach, and they offered us an all-inclusive price of 4500 ksh (about $50). At first we said no way, but then our friend Edward at the front desk explained it included EVERYTHING: all you can eat lunch and dinner, all you can drink, swimming in their pool, and all their activities they had planned. We decided we could make it worth it so we splurged. It was great; we played beach volleyball and hung out by the pool and on the beach. George the German saved Christmas for us!
The lunch and dinner buffets were amazing; it included kingfish, fishcakes, pasta, salad bar, yummy desserts, steak, roast beef… I’ve never felt so fancy. At one point there was a man selling camel rides along the beach. Riding a camel is on my list of things I want to do before I die, so obviously I did it. My friend Denae and I rode a camel named Ali Baba together. It was so fun, although very scary. The camel sits down so you can get on it but then it gets up with its back legs first meaning you think you’re going to be thrown off the front. Camels are a lot taller than I thought they were. And, I’ve heard they are mean, but Ali Baba was super nice and let us hug him.
A guy who worked at the resort was climbing the palm trees to get coconuts and palm leaves to decorate for dinner and he offered us a coconut to drink out of it. As much as I like coconut flavored things I don’t really like the fresh coconut. A few minutes after we each had a sip though, a monkey snatched the coconut and ran away with it. It didn’t feel like Christmas at all but I have no complaints about how we spent it. While you all had your white Christmas in the snow we had our white sandy beaches.
The coast is very very hot in comparison to Nyanza. There were a few mornings where we woke up early sweating and moved out of the tents onto the beach to finish sleeping. We went snorkeling; I saw Dori from Finding Nemo and some other neat fish and coral. One of the days we went to Mombasa to explore the older part of the city, which has cool architecture. We ate shawarma and got iced coffee.
I went up to Malindi, which is on the north coast, to visit one of my friends and explore around there. Malindi is a huge Italian touristy area, so instead of calling us mzungu everyone said “ciao” to us. I got some yummy pizza, lasagna, and gelato while there. We also explored a few beaches there and made tuna fish sandwiches on the beach one of the days. It was nice to see a different part of the coast.
I went back to Msambweni for a few days and then headed back on New Years Eve on the night train to Nairobi. I was so tired from being in the sun so much that I fell asleep before midnight. I’m now back in Oyugis. It’s crazy to think I spent half of 2009 in Kenya! It’s going by so quickly.
As fun as the coast was, I really like living on this side of the country. I’m excited to get back to work on Monday and start working with the schools and planning for this coming year.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Festivus/New Year.
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