The time I had in Kenya was amazing.
I spent two more days in Mombasa. On
the first day I went to Old Town together with my fellow resort
crashers. We spent the entire day exploring the narrow streets. It
wasn't quite Stonetown/Zanzibar but the Swahili vibe was still
omnipresent. We had a look at Fort Jesus, Mombasas famous landmark
and enjoyed the beautiful sights of the Old harbour.
At one point
we went into a local café with the sole motive of having a
gingercoffee and ended up getting everything else but the coffee
(the pilau there was delicious though!) So we ended up drinking chai
tangawizi (ginger tea) from a street vendor which was a delightfully
unique experience.
The following day we teamed up with some more
americans from the hostel and went resort crashing again.. worked
wonderfully. This time we were offered free water and had an intense
waterpolo match Animation staff vs. Guests. Good thing I was leaving
Mombasa soon. Crashing resorts is so much fun and worst of all really
addictive ;-)
Lamu island was an interesting place.
It is so small and so remote that they have been isolated from
development for a very long time (electricity was first installed end
70ties). It is a very tranquil and calm place. Time is very abundant!
There are no cars on Lamu island, which is very relaxing for the
ears. The main means of transportation are the plentiful donkeys.
They carry people and goods (mostly building material) from one side
of town to the next. If they don't do what their master says they get
a good whipping.. you can't help but to feel sorry for them, but then
again, that's what they are bred for.. There is a donkey sanctuary in
town where people can bring their sick donkeys and have them treated
for free.. a very good idea in my oppinion.
Everywhere you saw people chewing on
small twigs of myraa. It is considered to be a mild stimulant and by
chewing the twigs people gain a similar high as from drinking coffee:
they become happy, relaxed, awake and loose their appetite. Speaking
from personal experience the main problem is that you have to chew A
LOT of these bitter tasting twigs before any effect sets in at all..
I'd rather stick to coffee ;-)
A thing I love about Swahili towns is
that no matter how small the town is (and Lamu town, e.g. is a lot
smaller than Zanzibar town), you will almost certainly get lost in
the maze of narrow streets ending up in places and situations you
would have never imagined..
While in Lamu I also spent some time on
the beach. The walk to the good beach took 30 minutes and on the way
you tended to get a little hungry. Good thing some friends and I
found the best chapattis in my entire time in East Africa. Chapattis:
Salty, oily, soft and crunchy pancake goodness. The lady was
delighted that we loved her food which was sweet to watch! If you
were still hungry when having arrived on the beach: not to worry,
there would be a man coming with freshly made kingfish or vegetarian
samosas. Swahili people know how to cook!! (as you can tell, the
actual swimming was second ;-) )
One day I went on a dhow
sunset-cruise with some people I had met in Mombasa. It was great fun
and very fascinating to watch the crew working hard to keep the
vessel afloat. There was no sunset that day (covered in clouds) but
still we had a great time.
After a small pitstop at the Italian
enclave that is Malindi, exploring Hell's Kitchen, a limestone gorge,
and the Gede Ruins of an ancient Swahili town, I went back to Mombasa
with a friend of mine to catch the famous Mombasa-Nairobi train. This
was the gateway to a vast continent by which many settlers arrived in
East Africa. Amongst these: Karen Blixen. Standing on the train
station, entering the train, observing the landscape rolling past, I
tried to imagine what it must have been like back then, when she
arrived here to build a farm. The train ride was incredible, we were
treated like Kings. People came to arrange the beds while they sent
us of to 3 course dinner in the eating wagon. This was quite a sight:
through the movement of the train the waiters were thrown in every
direction while trying to balance the soup, the rice, the chicken.
Still nobody spilled a drop! In the morning during breakfast the
train snailed trough big herds of Wildebeests, Zebras and Topis. We
also saw the occasional giraf and ostrich. I felt completely warped
back in time when the animals must have roamed freely around the
train througout the trip. This must have been what it was like for
Karen Blixen. I was delighted :-)
Arriving in Nairobi (beautiful train
station!) I was expecting the worst. Everyone tells horror stories
about the place, so I was on the lookout for anything strange and
expected 100s of people to swarm me, trying to sell me safaris or
neclaces or even worse: rob me. Exiting the train station I was
almost dissapointed. A single inpersistant taxidriver asked me quite
timidly: "yes taxi?". "Sihitaji!" (I don't need
it!) And he left me alone. Nobody bothered me in Nairobi and I walked
the 30 minutes walk to the backpackers being bothered slightly only
once. Maybe because I was expecting the worst it didn't seem too bad
after all. I don't think that Nairobi (centre!) is any worse than any
other capital in the world. You need to be cautious and sensible and
you'll be fine.
The following week I explored the city
mostly on foot or by matatu (the public busses). One day I visited
the railway museum, learning about how the Kenyan-Ugandan "lunatic"
railway line was built in the 1890s. I loved the fact that you were
allowed (without supervision) to go into the old wagons and
locomotives pushing buttons and having a seat in the old coupés :-)
Another day I visited the Nairobi slums. The Americans I had met
in Mombasa were doing volunteer work and had asked if I wanted to
join them for a day to see what they were working with and to see how
people were living. It was a sobering experience seing how these
people were living in shacks. The slums are truly a city within the
city. People pay rent, go to school, have small businesses, try to
survive. Despite the circumstances people seemed resonably happy. The
children would crowd us shouting in a sing song: "HOWAREYOU?
HOWAREYOU?" as soon as we they released us from hugging and
holding our hands (it was heart-melting!) they would shout "BYEEEIIU!
BYEEEIIIU!". They knew nothing better then to have taken their
picture and I simply had to comply :-).
The Americans had started a small
eyeclinic in a school where I helped out in the morning. We checked
how well the children could see (if they needed glasses) and had an
eyedoctor check for any diseases or abnormalities. It was a great
feeling to be able to help even though it was only for the day.
I spent quite some time hanging out
with the Americans in Nairobi. They invited me for a Thanksgiving
party but had mixed up the dates (the party we were going to was the
day after Thanksgiving) so we ended up showing up all dressed up for
the big feast a day early :-) The real party the next day was great
fun and I can't remember ever eating so much in my life: Delicious.
We also watched the movie Out of Africa (in preparation for visiting
the farm!) and Harry Potter 7. Can't miss out on that even though I'm
in Africa ;-) I had a great time with these guys!
In Nairobi I also went to the Elephant
Orphanage. It is a great project where elephant orphans from all over
Kenya are nourished and given love in order to eventually get a
second chance in the wild as soon as they are strong enough. The
project has had an incredibly high successrate reintroducing the
elephants and the dedication of the caretakers is admirable: they
take turns sleeping together with the baby elephants. If they didn't
the elephants would die of stress as they have no one to protect them
from predators.
The elephants are only shown to the public for
one hour everyday and it took quite some effort to get there by
public transport (3 matatu-rides and a 20 minutes walk), but it was
totally worth it. Seeing the elephants playing with eachother,
rolling aroung and making eachother wet was priceless. I had an
extraordinary experience with one of the baby-elephants. With its
trunk it took my hand, squeezed it and let it go. I felt a teardrop
running down my chin.
After this beautiful experience I went
to the Karen Blixen museum. Walking up the driveway I felt instantly
happy. The garden, the house, the setting (with the Ngonghills in the
background) was otherwordly and extremely beautiful. "This was
what it must have felt like, back then, visiting the baroness",
I thought. I got an very informative tour, remembered to say: "Nixen
Bixen, Karen Blixen", as instructed by a good friend back home
and left the place with an immense feeling of satisfaction.
Now I felt I had seen what Nairobi had
to offer and had followed Karen Blixens trail into Africa.
