Jambo all....
Yes, the land that promises you all those lovely golden sandy beaches, loadsa sunshine and plenty of fun at the seaside…. everything they say about the place in the brochures is true OR so we thought!
We had a great flight there and arrived early morning, after having a shower and a change (you need one after an 8 hour flight!) we ventured out and thought this was going to be one hell of a honeymoon. We had a swim in the hotel pool – by the way we stayed at the Travellers Beach Hotel on the north side of Mombasa, had an afternoon tea and after a couple of hours kip decided to go for a walk on the beach before dinner. As we tried to leave the hotel we were stopped by the hotel security guard and were told not to go out as the chances of us getting mugged were pretty high. We didn’t really take much notice and thought we’ll go after dinner but the stories we heard at dinner from other tourists staying there were even more horrific. We heard how a couple had been stripped of all the jewelry, another guy had all his money stolen and his face slashed’. I won’t tell you about the others otherwise you might decide not to go to Kenya!
During the day, though, you are quite safe to wonder around and walk on the beach. Be prepared when on the beach as the locals do try and get extra friendly with you just to sting you when the time is right, by that I mean they do try and get you to part with your money and at exorbitant rates for things that would probably only cost you about a tenth of the price at any stores.
Try visiting the market in Mombasa for a real African experience and don’t forget to take a trip around the ’Old’ Mombasa probably better to take one of those tourist guided trip not too expensive and they do try and cram in a lot of places in half a day. Also if you can make it to Malindi, try their fresh ’Halwa’ you’ll probably end up bringing a couple of kilos back for your friends and family.
Enjoy Kenya! don’t be put off by the stories.
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Updated 11th December 2000 on Hitenrmehtas’ request...
We didn’t visit Masai Mara but did visit the Voi National Park for a two day one night safari. The jeep picks you up from the hotel early morning (around 5.30-6.00 am) and the drive to the park takes around 4 hours. They drive you around the park for a couple of hours on each of the drives (five trips in all over two days).. and the drivers are very good they can spot animals in the thickest of bushes... We saw plenty of animals during the drives except for the Lion (although we saw a lioness with cubs... ain’t the same though!).
Our highlight was seeing a cheetah (cos we were the first to spot it!) and then calling on all the other vehicles telling them where we were and seeing everyone rush to the spot... great fun!
I won’t give you the full itenary of the two days, else I’ll keep on going forever... if you need more send me a mail and I’ll reply..
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Kwaheri rafiki...