Monday 18th June
We had a leisurely start and only left Fig Tree Camp at 9am. We drove S through fields upon fields of sisal to the town of Nakuru and then the Days and the Kargs separated from us as they wanted to go S to the Masai Mara Reserve while the Hardmans and us are heading for the coast. We will all meet up again in about a week’s time. It is not the time for the migration now and the Hardmans are going to go to the Masai Mara in October on their way back down to South Africa, while Dave & I saw no point in going now if there are not too many animals and we will just have something to come back to Kenya for!
We did our normal round of internet, petrol and shopping and then we headed further S towards Lake Naivasha once again, but to a different camp site, called Carnelley’s. It is quite different and is like a huge, green park on the shore of the lake. I have done laundrey and Dave is once again soldering our radiator as it seems to have sprung another small leak – no peace foe the wicked!
We are generally eating very healthily with no snacks, chips and sweeties in between and only 1 or 2 drinks in the evening. There are always plenty of fresh veggies and fruit for sale on the road side and we manage to buy meat and long life milk etc at supermarkets in the towns. Tonight we are having avocado with fresh lake crayfish, tomatoe, onion and grated carrot – I have even got Dave eating pawpaw and normally he is not fond of fruit!
Tuesday 19th June
This morning the man at reception offered to catch us a fresh water crayfish to show us what they look like – he walked to the lake edge and within minutes he had 2 in his hands – miniature little crayfish in every detail but only a bit bigger than standard prawns! We had been puzzled last night because our ‘fresh water crayfish meat’ had looked just like prawns! But now we understand. We packed up and went another 3 kms around the lake to ‘Elsamere’ the lakeside home of George and Joy Adamson. The entrance fee included a 40 minute documentary, morning tea and a visit to the museum. It was a fascinating morning and we learnt that Joy was not only an amazing conservationalist, but also a talented artist, her flower paintings were used as illustrations in botany books, and her 700 or so paintings of the different tribal people of Kenya in the 1950’s & 60’s are now hung in Kenyan state offices, and of course there are numerous wildlife paintings. The story of Elsa the lioness is a heart rendering one, but we didn’t know that Joy had also reared Pippa, the cheetah and Penny, the leopard. The story of George and Joy is a tragic one, as, Joy was murdered by one of her servants in 1980, and George was murdered by Somali poachers at his Kora National Park in 1989!
We left at 11am and drove S, but in a round about way to avoid the disgusting traffic of Nairobi. It was a scenic drive through rolling hills and fields of tea, coffee and pineapples.
We arrived at Hunters Lodge – a half way stop between Nairobi & Mombasa – quite late, so after setting up camp we decided to eat at their restaurant provided they let us girl’s take our own wine. We had a very pleasant evening, especially after our bottle of local Kenyan pawpaw wine!
Wednesday 20th June
We were woken up by 100’s of grey herons squabbling and squawking in the trees above us! After a leisurely start, when Ingrid and I caught up with the blog and Dave and Will cooked us breakfast, we were back on the road. This is the best road we have been on since leaving South Africa – it was perfectly tarred with no pot holes, and although it is the main trucking route from Mombasa into central Africa, we were able to pass fairly easily and we maintained 90km per hour – un heard of in the past 3 months! The train line ran parallel to the road a lot of the time and it was good to see a number of trains going in both directions – as the trucks do damage the roads so much. We had 350kms to do to get to Mombasa and there was a gradual drop down to sea level all the time – not like our Fields Hill in Durban.
We arrived in Mombasa at lunch time and followed Shakila’s directions to reach Musti & Shakila Mamujee’s beach house with no problems. Dave & I met Musti & Shakila in Sweden on a Round Table Tour in 1994 and were looking forward to meeting up with them once again. Salimu and Kahindi welcomed us and made us tea and coffee while we relaxed and waited for Musti & Shakila to get back from work at around 5 o’ clock. It was absolutely wonderful to see them again and we had a festive evening with cocktails and samoosas after a walk along the beach, and then a delicious chicken dish with basmati rice and a mango salad! Shakila really did us proud, and we really hope to be able to host them in South Africa soon.
Thursday 21st June
After breakfast cooked by Salimu and Kahindi, we set off for Mombasa. Dave and I went to Zedco Radiators as recommended by Musti, where we spent the morning while they took out the radiator and repaired it properly for us – it now looks like a new radiator all repainted and hopefully fixed for good. It did take the whole morning but we are heading for very hot territories so it is essential to keep Garfield cool.
Afterwards, we went to Fort Jesus and a local guide took us all around and then into the old town and harbour. Fort Jesus was built by the Portuguese in 1593 but taken over by the Arabs in the 1700’s and then the British in 1895 when it was used as a government prison until 1958. It was an interesting tour especially to see how similar the old town of Mombasa is to Zanzibar.
We got back to the house at 4pm and Dave and I had a quick swim in the sea. At 5.30pm Musti and Shakila arrived and we all went for a brisk walk along the beach before having drinks and another delicious evening meal prepared by Shakila. They have contacted Salim & Sugu and we are going down to the south coast to camp on Salim & Sugu’s plot which will be great.
Friday 22nd June
After breakfast we set off to the supermarket and then a scenic drive around the shore side of Mombasa where the lighthouse and golf course are. Mombasa itself is on an island. There are 2 bridges connecting it to the mainland and the North coast, but to get to the South coast you have to go by ferry. At the ferry we met Patrick, who works for Salim and was going to be our guide to the plot. We arrived at the plot at lunch time, met Edward the caretaker and set up camp. The beach is fine, pure white, talcum like sand full of shells and we took a leisurely stroll down the beach only meeting a few other tourists as it is low season. Afterwards, Dave and I had a hot shower, thanks to Dave Surian, who organized a set up where our shower water circulates through our exhaust system to give us hot water up to a couple of hours after we have stopped traveling – a real treat when we are bush camping.
Saturday 23rd June
We had a leisurely start, then a long walk along the white beach past some local beach stores where I bought some wrap around sarongs. After a swim and some samoosas(that Shakila made us) for lunch, we made our way to the hotel next door, to watch the SA/All Blacks rugby match. What a pity that we lost in the last quarter! We went back to our camp and made a lovely big camp fire and had a braai with veggies being pot roasted in ‘Baby’ our little potjie pot!
Sunday 24th June
We decided to pack up early and adventure further down the south coast towards Shimoni which was about 30 kms further S. This little village is on the end of a finger of land out into the sea. Driving through Diani town we stocked up on beers and fresh bread, and then carried on to Shimoni. On entering Shimoni we were mobbed by people trying to ‘sell’ us campsites and snorkeling trips etc. We finally settled on camping in the grounds of a hotel called Shimoni Reef Lodge. Here we met a SA lady, Van, who is working as a dive instructor on Pemba Island at a sister hotel to this one. She is going back to Pemba tomorrow but today she came with us to look at the Shimoni Caves which were used by the Arabs as a holding pen for the 1000’s of slaves that had survived the march from inland, and were waiting for a ship to take them to the markets in Zanzibar. Without food and water and soaked by the high tides these poor souls must have been terrified. We saw rusted pieces of chain and rings where these tortured souls were bound and just to make these damp, dark caves even more chilling there were 100’s of bats squeaking , swooping around or just hanging from the cave roof. We came back to the hotel and set up a lovely camp in their car park under the trees. Tonight we are going to make a communal curried turkey potjie.
Monday 25th June
At 8.30am we were picked up below our hotel on a small water taxi to be taken to ‘Monsoon’, our dive boat for the day. There were 14 people on board and 7 crew members to look after us. They started off by serving us tea and coffee with biscuits and then we set off around Wasini Island to the Indian Ocean side and the Kisite- Mpunguti Marine reserve. Unfortunately, the weather deteriorated even further with high winds, rain and monstrous swells! Soon Dave was feeling nauseous and I was on the edge of nausea. Eventually we arrived at the dive sight – Dave was feeling too ill to snorkel and Will doesn’t snorkel so Ingrid & I hopped in – I hoped I would feel better in the water. However the waves were big, we had life jackets on and the bobbing was relentless. Ingrid and I soon opted to take up the offer of a guide with an orange life ring who towed us around over the reef! Really lazy but a lot easier! Unfortunately, all the bobbing did nothing for my stomach and I was soon feeding the fishes! The snorkeling was fantastic with beautiful coral formations and tons of marine life – we saw a ray plus a huge puffer fish and 100’s of clown and parrot fish. After an hour or so we got back on board but unfortunately my sea sickness had really taken a hold over me and I was ‘man down’. It was a long journey back to Wasini Island for me and Dave & I have decided that the Kotzes are definitely not sailors! We eventually reached Wasini and dry land and were welcomed by Harm Lutjeboer to his home and a gourmet Swahili lunch where we relaxed until 4pm when it was time to reboard Monsoon for a short trip across the channel to Shimoni once again. While at Pilli Pipa, Harm had offered for us to camp at his home on the mainland in Shimoni, so on our return, we packed up and moved 200metres down the road to Harm and Selina’s house where we set up camp. There are Masai guards and a beautiful swimming pool so we will probably spend 2 nights here as we are still waiting for the Days and the Kargs – Brian has had major car troubles with his front windscreen surround breaking away and his clutch thrust bearing collapsing! So they are in Nairobi doing car maintenance.
Tuesday 26th June
We have had a really relaxing day lounging around the pool at Harm’s house. Harm’s wife, Selina is a local Kenyan, a marine biologist and able to speak 8 different languages! Together, they have built up a dive business, the cruises and the restaurant where we had lunch yesterday. We have encountered such hospitality and kindness on our travels it is quite unbelievable. They have a huge swimming pool and I even did 10 lengths!! But apart from that we have done little to nothing. Tonight will be a leisurely braai and then tomorrow we will be on the move again.
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