Mombasa, Dinah beach resort

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We arrived at the airport and the transfer to Mombasa was straightforward. The difference in the humidity was astounding as we exited the plane. So moist and the air was damp. We found our guide and I jumped in with a liverpudlian couple. The driver was a real tall athletic looking Kenyan. He was a good man it seemed. A wealth of information about Mombasa and really well informed on the English premiership. He was also bemoaning the tribal rivalries that undermine the Kenyan national team.

The journey involved crossing a ferry out of the city and we were driving through very busy rundown areas with a Muslim feel on our way out of Mombasa towards the tourist resorts of Dinah beach on the Southeast coast of Kenya. We arrived at the Papillon hotel at about 20.00. The heat and feel of the place was immediately tropical. The deal here is all-inclusive, including all drinks, so I am hoping that it will be good. I had a quiet evening and an early night.


15th November 2005
Woke up at about 09.00 and had a freshly cooked customized omelette for breakfast mixed with chillies, onions, peppers etc. I then walked out of the Papillon Lagoon reef hotel complex out onto the beach and the coral reef. I met a few local lads in their late teens, Adam, Josh and Bob. I got talking with Bob, a small slim lad of about 19 wearing a T-Shirt and cut off jeans and a Rasta style hat. He was telling me a little about his life. He lost his father about 5 years ago and now has to try and help support his mother and sister. Due to the lack of funds he has little chance of going onto high school.

A high school qualification seems to be the Holy Grail for the local young people. That and a language qualification means the possibility to be able to work in one of the resort hotels and the safety of a relatively well-paid and secure job. In Kenya at the moment is a large-scale build up to a Referendum to decide on wither to keep the current constitution of the country or wither to create a new one.

President Kibaki is the leader for the yes vote, representing the banana party that wants a new constitution to be made and Raila Odinga, a cabinet MP is the leader of the Orange party campaigning for the no vote, for the constitution not to be amended.
Bob told me that him and his mates were supporting the orange party and were going to vote no. They seemed quite well informed of the issues and parties involved and felt that the no vote would deliver more equality throughout the country and would improve the education system.


The grounds of the Papillon hotel near Mombasa

I spent the afternoon sunbathing and enjoying the sounds of The Beatles, Chaka Khan and Ian Pooley all afternoon. The evenings have been a bit dull as I can’t really leave the hotel complex and the entertainment here takes the form of a disco that really takes the michael in its selection of music. Also there are not many single women around. It is mainly couples and families and it really is noticeable that in Europe we are starting to have an obesity problem. I can’t really leave the complex. Its not advisable and there is not really anywhere to go or at least that I know about. But I am quite happy! These last 4 days are meant to be a rest in the sun and I think I can manage that! So the next few days have gone by in this docile routine of writing in the morning, sunbathing and listening to music during the day and reading in the evening.

17th November 2005
My Nan has her operation to day and I pray that it goes ok for her. She is a brave lady with a lot of character. This is the penultimate day of my holiday. I am going to go down the beach and meet up with Bob and Kondo and do a bit of bartering in the shop. This morning I had a lovely breakfast sitting beside the pool under the shade of the trees. Tea, juice, cereal, toast and an Omelette. It is lovely to have breakfast outside like that, though you have to keep your eyes peeled or the monkeys will have away what they can, like they did with my toast this morning! This is the best time for me to do my writing, after breakfast with a pot of coffee. I think I will get into this habit over the next 6 months during my travelling.

I had a fun and varied day today. Later in the morning I went up to the hotel gift shop and gave away some presents to the girl who works there and I settled my tab. It is been a bit of a shame that in Kenya there has been no chance to buy any books except from the hotels I have stayed in which overcharge to a pisstaking degree. I had a stroll around the hotel grounds. It is very beautiful here. The gardens are very green contrasting with the crystal clear blue water of the swimming pool. There is a


The 2nd oldest Baobab tree in Kenya

particularly old Baobab tree in the grounds here. It is the 2nd oldest in Kenya and is over 500 years. Later in the morning I went down to the stalls that are on the beach just out of the hotels grounds. You run the gauntlet walking down past there politely refusing the calls for ‘little business’. I had bought a lot of items to give away. I had pens, toiletries, t-shirts and headscarves to give away to various people I met on my travels and I had been doing this in Kenya as I went along. I gave out the rest of my stuff to the stallholders. They were not very grateful. I could see why. They would much rather I spent some Kenyan Schillings in their shops. Any way I don’t have any cash so they were unable to change my mind.

I came back to the beach in time to join some of the other guest, hotel staff and beach lads to make up teams in a game of beach football. Due to a knee injury sustained playing football in April 2005 I had to stay in goal. We lost 1-0 and the few times I made a move out of goal I was reminded as I attempted to twist and turn that my knee is knackered and cant do it at the moment! It was amazingly hot.

After lunch I came back out on the beach to meet Bob and Kondo and had a walk along the beach with them chatting about the forthcoming referendum, England, Kenya, Ganga and music. I will meet them again tomorrow afternoon. I came back to the hotel and had some more of the mediocre food served up buffet style. Seems similar to what you would get in any 3 star resort hotel around the world. Back in my room I rolled a stiff joint and then went out onto a sun lounger and had a pleasant afternoon sunbathing and listening to some quality Mini-discs. Philosophy of sound and machine, Chaka Khan and The Beatles ‘White album’. At times it got too hot so I strolled the 10 metres to the pool and had a swim to the bar and a nice cool drink.

After a few hours I went back to my room and had a shower and drank a beer and got ready to go and meet the girl from the shop. As I was getting ready the phone rang and it was she. She asks me to come and see her later on, at 19.00 as she is working late stocktaking. She then says to me ‘I have a question, do you love me?’
‘Well it seems a little early for that’ I replied in typical elongated fashion.
I don’t think she understood my reply but we are going to meet up later so we will see what happens.

She is about 23 years old. She has short black, braided hair. She is medium height with a nice figure and she has dark, smoky looking eyes. Her family comes from a town in another part of Kenya and she is far away from home here near Mombasa living close to Dinah beach. She is single and lives on her own in a nearby town. She works 6 days a week and has a qualification in travel and tourism that has allowed her to get a job in The Papillon Lagoon Reef hotel. The job is very important to her and running a gift shop in a western tourist hotel is prestigious for her. She did not want to meet me in my room, as she would run the risk of being seen by other staff and reported to her manager where she would be very likely to lose her job.

We had arranged to meet in the hotel grounds on the road to the automatic entrance gate. At the appointed time I went down and waited at the side of the road for her to finish her shift and walk out of the hotel on her way home. I smoked as I waited and begun to feel slightly conspicuous as one or two guests and staff walked past me. I decided to get off the road and go and wait behind a tree a bit further away from the road and all the hotel buildings but still in a position to see the people leaving the hotel and walking down the road. There were not many people around and it was difficult to make out peoples features but I knew I would recognise her. After about an hour though it was getting ridiculous and I felt sure I must have missed her or maybe she was just messing about with me and never came at all. Chagrined, I made my way back to the hotel slightly perplexed but pleased I had not been seen by anyone standing like a burk or a burglar behind a huge tree.

18th November 2005

Last night was a bit of a letdown and I was cursing a bit as I walked back to my hotel room. Looking back though it was a very comic moment! Out on the East African coast, hiding behind a tree, waiting for a date. I went back to meet Bob and Kondo this morning. I took my Minidisk player with me and we walked along to a coconut grove at the top of the beach and sat down against a disused fishing boat and listened to ‘Definitely cultural riddims’ reggae compilation and ‘The harder they come’ soundtrack. They both enjoyed the music and it was obviously familiar to them because they could name some of the artists doing each of the tracks. We had a nice smoke and then walked back to the hotel amongst the rock pools and lukewarm sandy pools. It was very quiet and peaceful. I could feel the breeze and hear the leaves rustling in the wind. The only other sound was the sea.

Back at the hotel I chatted to her in the gift shop and we agreed that we would try and meet up again. It turns out that she saw me and was trying to subtly call me last night but could not attract my attention. So we’ll have another go tonight! After this agreement I sunbathed listening to LTJ Bukem, Ian Pooley and 808 state. Very nice. I went back to the room and had a couple of beers and a few strong smokes and got ready to meet her.

This time, soon after the hour we had agreed to meet I saw her waltzing down the drive. She saw me and came up to me. We took each other’s arms and walked out past the security fence onto the main road that leads from the hotel. We found a place to sit down out of the way and had a chat. To be honest, she was a little scared of the situation and I was a little bit worried about just going off with her and ending up god knows where the only white guy around.

So we stayed put and had a nice chat and before we knew it we had been there for over an hour and Tina had missed her bus. She was worried about getting home now as all the other workers had got on the earlier bus and she would have to travel home on her own. I saw a Taxi driver in the hotel car park and she knew him as well so I gave her the money for the cab and she brightened up, as she knew she would get home safely. We said goodbye and swapped addresses and I was off back to my hotel room feeling pretty good ready for a 05.00 start for the airport in the morning.

The journey home was very straightforward. No dramas and I even had a few hours sleep. I got back in by about 17.00 and it was very pleasant to get back to Glyndefield and enjoy some home comforts, a decent smoke and Match of the day. I felt pretty tired but also elated after seeing the sights I had in the last two weeks.

Kenya was awesome. I had tried to imagine what seeing wild mammals would be like before I came but I couldn’t prepare myself. When I was able to see a Lion or a herd of elephants close up my mouth was wide open. My jaw dropped! Witnessing something that is extraordinary. Actually looking at these animals in the flesh is disorientating because it was out of my sphere of experiences. It was a new experience for me so I had nothing to compare it to. It was almost like seeing a dream. Of course we were in the safety of the van but we were also less than 5 metres from an adult lion!

The trip was extremely well organised and to still, in this day and age of extinction, poaching and environmental disaster, be able to have such an experience is fortunate. I think it was good value for money also. The lodges were comfortable and at times plush. The food was average and the opportunity to meet local people was limited but this has been a different type of trip to what is coming up next in Sri Lanka and India.
This was a luxurious safari and beach holiday, all-inclusive and organised for me. All I had to do was make sure I got up in time!

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Photos

A Baobab tree
One of the oldest in Kenya

Me
After football on the beach