After our wonderful trip up and down Mt. Kenya (which didn’t involve AS much falling as the previous posting might have suggested), we went back to Tumaini for a few days to say goodbye. At our last weekly Fellowship, Kris and I got up to say a few words and let the kids know that we were finally leaving. As Kris spoke, I started looking around at all the faces we’d grown to know in the past couple of months. I tried to think of some sage advice to help inspire them after we left, but as I looked at them I suddenly got all choked up and started to bawl. It didn’t stop for the rest of Kris’ speech or when we sat down, and began with renewed vigor when the little girls surrounded me and started singing a goodbye song with tears in their eyes. Wow. Leaving was definitely more difficult than we expected. We wished, as the kids requested requested, that we could fit some of them into our bags and take them home. By the next morning we (me) had it under control, and we packed into a cab, said some final goodbyes, and left for Nairobi. Though sad to leave our home and new friends of two months, we were very excited to start exploring more of the country.
Since we’re not scared to travel like the locals (and it fits nicely into the budget of the purposefully unemployed), we took matatus, which Kris has described in an earlier blog, shuttles, and big buses down to Mombasa. It was about a 10 hour trip down to the coast. We spent one night in Mombasa in a nice hotel with a/c and a fantastic Chinese restaurant located just around the back. It was so good. After two months in Central Kenya, Kris and I were craving some spicy, tasty food, and this place satisfied both. It was also interesting to watch a large party of Chinese boat workers, who were personally seated and catered to by the owner, party it up after a day of hard work. Assorted bottles of alcohol were placed, family style, on the lazy susan in the middle of the table, and they took shots between Tusker beers and tasty food. We were tempted to join in, but our Mandarin is a little rusty, and we were too worn out after our daylong bus ride.
The next morning we headed out through the streets of Mombasa led by some man who attached himself to us as soon as we stepped off the portico of the hotel. At first it was a bit irritating, we having had our share of “helpful” people on the street. Near the end, however, we were both thankful to have had him along, as he warded off other “guides” and aggressive local salesmen. He led us around Fort Jesus, a thick-walled Portuguese fort built right on the beautiful coastline, through the spice market, and then through the meat market where they sold live chickens along with bits of goat and camel for a good price. We purchased a few spices, said goodbye to our guide, and decided that it was time to head on down to Diani Beach.
That's it for now, we'll pick it up again soon. Here's some more pics.
Fort Jesus - Don't mess with the Jesus.
Spikes to keep off the elephants. Seriously.
Tried to get Heather to act out Blue Lagoon, but she was not down with it.
Spices. Not used anywhere in the Central Highlands.
