Peter got me back to the Petrol Station where everyone had been waiting... for a while, but no one seemed to mind. It was good to be back with my friends and I realized I really enjoyed their company. Traveling alone for the safari and shopping was nice because I was able to take all the time I wanted with each animal or looking at the art for sale, but being with people who I now considered friends is better. Sharing common experiences is one of the things in life that connects us. I was definitely ready to connect again and I knew I was heading into one of the more relaxing parts of my trip.... almost. The United States had issued a travel advisory for the coast of Kenya due to some bombing that had happened earlier in the month. My Kenyan friends assured me they would take care of me and that it had more to do with a certain tribe being targeted. I had assured my very worried father back home that I would most likely change my plans and had even thought I would skip the coast and head to Lake Victoria instead, but after looking at the map and experiencing the danger of traveling the roads in Kenya I decided going to the coast would be closer and far less dangerous. I told myself I would just stay put at the beach cottage and not go on the beach alone or go out. I felt good about my plan, but the traveling there did make me a bit nervous.
Looking at the map you can see that Tsavo East National Park is closer to Diani than
Kisumu where I would have been going near Lake Victoria. I know I made the right choice, but it was difficult for me knowing that people back home were worried about me. We did make the decision not to spend time in Mombasa because of the advisory and just to enjoy the beach. We were then going to bypass the town of Mombasa and take a ferry over to get to Diani, but before we could do that we had to meet up with Steve's sister to give her back her flat screen TV we had been carrying around with our luggage in the back of the BMW. We had the TV to take it to the village to watch the World Cup, but we were missing some cords. The event of meeting her ended up taking a couple of hours. We had to wait for her and her boyfriend, Bob to show up on their motorbike(yes- they were going to carry the TV with them on the motorbike)... which led to lunch at an Indian restaurant, which led to meeting up with a guy who owned an old Honda of Steve's that he was thinking about buying back.... We were on Kenyan time! No worries!
We finally were back in the car and made it to the ferry. We got to stay in our car and drove it up the ramp onto the ferry then a crowd of people walked onto the ferry. Some had handcarts full of fruit, sticks, or furniture. My white skin was flashing brightly among all the darker skin tones and I felt nervous standing out. People would stare at Zach and I through the car windows catching glimpses of the white people. Steve reminded me that Africans were just curious and I knew what he really meant... people are just curious. It was a short ride over and then we only had three more errands to run before arriving at the beach cottage.
It was interesting to see the architecture change as we drove closer and closer to the coast. The influence of the Muslim culture was evident and I started to see women with their entire bodies and heads covered only showing their eyes. I was very careful to not take too many pictures driving around the outskirts of Mombasa as I didn't want to draw anymore attention to myself than I already was.
Kisumu where I would have been going near Lake Victoria. I know I made the right choice, but it was difficult for me knowing that people back home were worried about me. We did make the decision not to spend time in Mombasa because of the advisory and just to enjoy the beach. We were then going to bypass the town of Mombasa and take a ferry over to get to Diani, but before we could do that we had to meet up with Steve's sister to give her back her flat screen TV we had been carrying around with our luggage in the back of the BMW. We had the TV to take it to the village to watch the World Cup, but we were missing some cords. The event of meeting her ended up taking a couple of hours. We had to wait for her and her boyfriend, Bob to show up on their motorbike(yes- they were going to carry the TV with them on the motorbike)... which led to lunch at an Indian restaurant, which led to meeting up with a guy who owned an old Honda of Steve's that he was thinking about buying back.... We were on Kenyan time! No worries!
We finally were back in the car and made it to the ferry. We got to stay in our car and drove it up the ramp onto the ferry then a crowd of people walked onto the ferry. Some had handcarts full of fruit, sticks, or furniture. My white skin was flashing brightly among all the darker skin tones and I felt nervous standing out. People would stare at Zach and I through the car windows catching glimpses of the white people. Steve reminded me that Africans were just curious and I knew what he really meant... people are just curious. It was a short ride over and then we only had three more errands to run before arriving at the beach cottage.
It was interesting to see the architecture change as we drove closer and closer to the coast. The influence of the Muslim culture was evident and I started to see women with their entire bodies and heads covered only showing their eyes. I was very careful to not take too many pictures driving around the outskirts of Mombasa as I didn't want to draw anymore attention to myself than I already was.
Our last three errands were more focused on our immediate needs for our relaxing at the beach! We first stopped by Ronnie's friend's butcher shop to buy some chicken and eggs. These little butcher shops can be found in all the markets and towns in Kenya with a large carcasses of meat hanging from large hooks in the front window while flies whirl about it like planets in a solar system. As we waited on the chicken I witnessed a couple buying a large leg of lamb... except they didn't want THAT large of leg of lamb so the butcher had to chop off part of it. He did this on a large stump with a "horror movie sized" butcher knife. As he hacked at it the bone splintered and and flecks of it hit my arm. It was definitely a different way of purchasing meat for me... a bit closer to the source. Zach had taken some fly tape to the butcher and we left it for him to catch a few (at least for a while).
We then walked down some narrow dirt paths and open air shops until we came to a open vegetable market. It was so beautiful with all of the colors. We got potatoes, lemons, onions, and tomatoes to take back to the cottage. There was a trio of children wanting me to take their photo then show them the photo. All the while a man is asking me to donate to a school. He had a official government stamp, but I wanted to give to the schools I already had relationships with. It is difficult in Kenya because I wanted to give to everyone and buy from everyone, but, of course, this was not possible.
We then walked down some narrow dirt paths and open air shops until we came to a open vegetable market. It was so beautiful with all of the colors. We got potatoes, lemons, onions, and tomatoes to take back to the cottage. There was a trio of children wanting me to take their photo then show them the photo. All the while a man is asking me to donate to a school. He had a official government stamp, but I wanted to give to the schools I already had relationships with. It is difficult in Kenya because I wanted to give to everyone and buy from everyone, but, of course, this was not possible.
And... the last stop before settling into the beach life for a few days was the modern grocery store where we bought a ton more food to last us while we were there. I think my travel companions were planning on eating a lot! I only wanted some fresh seafood and I knew we would be getting that straight from the fishermen! It was nice to be in a modern store and Zach asked me if I wanted to pick out some snacks. So... since I love potato chips and I was on vacation I decided to look for some. As I get to the right aisle all of the sudden all the lights go out!!!! I panicked thinking the store was under attack, but the strange thing was no one seemed to notice even in the complete darkness! This was the norm and we were safe. The generator kicked in and off we were with some ketchup/garlic flavored potato chips and a car full of other goodies to keep us fed.