Friday, 26 October 2012

Eat, Sleep & Read


27.08.12
I have been to Kenya 3 times now, all work and no play, decided this time after a conference to take a bit of time out, for my own sanity, and see more of the country.

Took a trip up north to see an island called Lamu, rarely spoken of, used to be the hub for the Arab-Africa goods trade and also used as a transit during the slave trade.
Mombasa is undoubtedly a tropically rich place, but my 2hr trip to Malidi, another holiday destination on the way to Lamu, I was taken by awe at the green lush that consumed the country. I like nature and therefore seeing such greenery was breath-taking especially when the beach/ocean were just a walk away – they kinda reminded me of the garden route on the way to cape town from Port Elizabeth.

Sitting in a matatu i.e. a 14 sitter Toyota mini bus - public taxi, the news reader on the radio station I was listening to commented that the British monarch was apparently not impressed by Prince Harry’s naked photos scandal, she could not understand why they were upset, she and a whole lot of women were certainly impressed with Harry’s pants being down. I burst out with a laughter, and could immediately feel being stared at, clearly I had broken some kind of etiquette, so calmed myself down and stared into my phone as if it would provide some clarity around my little confusion.
Arrived in Malindi, was dropped off in the middle of town, I asked the nearest bus station when the next bus to Lamu is and the earliest was at 07.00 the following day. Had to ask Alex to recommend a place to stay. Sitting at a restaurant, I was told that normally they serve a buffet for dinner but since there was a low turn-out of guests they’ll opt to serve me ‘a la carte’ dinner only , didn’t mind as I don’t eat that much, so without letting him finish his elaborate apology, I asked for rice and beef stew served passion fruit juice, little did I imagine it would cost me 1300KHS for 3 spoons of protein and starch each. Got into my room and realized there is no standard bottle of water and I needed to drink my malaria pills and brush my teeth. The essential factor was the Malaria pill and an easy method of carrying it down my esophagus. I then remembered the bottle of red in my bag which was waiting for Lamu’s beach, atleast the room had a bottle opener, and so I washed the pill with gulp of wine straight from the bottle – bet all the doctors reading this have their eyes popped out…reminded me of all those kids I used to see in Paris walking the streets drunk with a bottle of wine/champagne in their hands as opposed to a can of beer, thought that’s an elegant way of getting drunk or maybe just French norm?

I was told it would take 3hrs from Malindi to Lamu, and since the bus stopped at every little town and I wasn’t aware of its final destination, I started asking my neighbour questions after the third hour…these fell on deaf ears – he was either ignoring me or didn’t understand what I was saying. Panicking, I pattered the front seater’s shoulder and reiterated my question; ‘are we near Lamu yet?’ Delicately he said he’ll let me know when we get there. It took him an additional 2hrs before he said we had arrived.
Lamu bus stop looks like a random ‘round-about’ with shop on the east & west of it, as you near the edge of the ‘round-about’ then you get to see the island and sea water.

Now open water and me don’t mix, hence I haven’t learned how to swim yet – only non-negotiable circumstances would lead me to be in a river, lake, or an ocean. Getting to Lamu was one of those non-negotiable circumstances. To get to the island from mainland is by boat, I had to get into a fishing boat that looked like it carries six yet there were eleven of us…sitting at the back next to the engine and the ‘captain’, I was alert with every turn just in-case I needed grab onto him.
Extremely-laid-back is an expression I’d give to Lamu, perfect vacation spot to just relax and that’s exactly what I had in mind. I stayed at Subira house, a villa guest house with superb hosts.

One odd day I decided to take a walk from where I was staying –old town and headed to Shela where the beach is, a good 45min relaxed walk…if the tide is low you walk some parts on the beach itself, I wasn’t so lucky so took some shortcuts. Discovered some castle built on the far end of the beach and made a collection if shells.
Before I headed back, I decided to treat myself to a great lunch at one of the islands’ most expensive hotel – Peponi! Paid for the lunch with my credit card…LOL. After the good lunch, I walked back and got lost in one of my shortcuts, found myself in the middle of the ‘forest’ and lost, fear had grabbed me by the balls as there were no people anywhere. Scared, I kept on bumping into fences indicating people’s farms. If ever there was a perfect time to be mugged in day-light, it would have been then, with both my phones & wallets and not knowing where I was and too full to run for it. After a while I spotted a boy and asked him how to get to town, panting and sweating I found the buzzing streets and walked into ‘Whispers Restaurant’ and asked for tea – to calm my nerves. That was an experience and a half.
                                                                                                                                                               17.10.12

2nd time in Lamu, arrived on Sunday the 14th, this time I took a flight – Fly540 straight from Nairobi, a 2hrs flight via Malindi…I gotta say that turbulences in a smaller flight are terrible. I could actually feel the pilot stepping on the brake pedals mid-air attempting to land. I always try to sit next to the window so I can see death approaching - in-case the engine decides to drop from the wing.

Felt like I was here just yesterday, except now I’m in the quieter part of the island – Shela. The view from my room is great, all I intended to do this time around was sleep through-out my stay, and did exactly on the Monday – slept the whole day, woke up for only 4hrs which were breaks for eating and reading.
It was the first time I’d seen low-tide in such mass scale. Between 10am and 1pm, the sea surrounding the island just disappeared in some places, rocks appeared in the middle of nowhere, sand emerged making the beach seems bigger & longer, and boats had docked on empty ground.

As i headed out, I take away two things from my visit to this island – it’s still very much ok to give without expectation to receive and its sometimes stress free to just let your hair down i.e. travel without a compact plan. It’s my 5th time in Kenya and I think I should try and experience West Africa now. Nigeria is calling me and I should answer its call eventually.

No comments: