Blogs from Mombasa, Coast Province, Kenya, Africa - page 12

I was looking back over some of my past entries and realized that if they didn’t know any better, a casual reader of this blog may think that I’m on some sort of extended holiday here in Kenya. Baby elephants, beaches, snorkeling, exotic get-aways to idyllic islands in the Indian Ocean - I could understand their confusion. I think I need to set the record straight and use this blog to explain a little more about what I’m dong here (read: justify myself to those of you in very cold, economic-crisis stricken countries). As you probably know, I’m a VSO volunteer, placed in a Mombasa based NGO called Solidarity with Women in Distress (Solwodi) to help them become a more sustainable organization. At the moment, they have sporadic, unreliable funding and my job is to help ... read more

an almost idle day. we spent an hour, more or less, in front of the store mentioned in the note's title. "we" were bulali, the driver, and i, while the other two were in the store trying to find ropes for the anchors. we use a safari car with a movable roof for our transportations, so it is strange for the passerby to see this type of a car in front of a hardware store and not in a national park. in order to kill time, we were listening to reggae music, of which i'm not a great fan but i came across some interesting songs, some of them be sung in swahili. the minutes were dragging on and my national geographic mood grew stronger so i "attacked" poor bulali, who, whenever he finds the opportunity ... read more

This would be a really cool town if not for the touts and prostitutes. Ralf and I went to a budget beach resort mainly because everything else was booked out, but also with the hopes of enjoying the sun and sea. Only a few sparse clouds blocked us from the sun but between us and the sea... lets just say one of the 'city tour / safari' guys followed us into the water. That wasn't the worst of it! Like vampires, touts and hookers are not allowed on the hotel property unless invited, meaning you could still enjoy the sun as the hotel has deck chairs and a pool elevated from the beach. The most horrendous part of this was the old, fat Europeans we had to witness in ill-fitting bikinis and speedos. I vomit a ... read more

Tag #46-58 Nach all diesen wunderschönen Besichtigungen von Nationalpärken, Städten, Dörfern, usw. erhole ich mich an der Nordküste von Mombasa. Die Tage vergehen und ich bin in einen angenehmen Rythmus gekommen: frühstücken, am Strand entlanglaufen, mehrmals täglich frischen Kokosnusssaft trinken, auf einem Boot sonnenbaden, ab und zu direkt am Strand gegrillten Oktopus mit Kokosnussreis essen... Ich geniesse es in vollen Zügen. Auf diese Weise kann man wirklich entspannen :-) Am Abend des 1. Dezember werde ich Zeuge einer seltenen Himmelskonstellation: Mond, Jupiter und Venus sind ganz nah beieinander. Dadurch ergibt sich ein lachendes Gesicht (siehe http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1090861/The-smile-sky-Rare-cosmic-alignment-sees-Venus-Jupiter-grin-heavens.html). Am nächsten Tag erfahre ich aus den Medien, dass der Event in 50 Jahren wieder vorkommen wird. --... read more

Ok, brief update since the last blog: work, day trip to Malindi about 2 hours North from Mombasa, 1 week in Nairobi on a training course for new (ish) volunteers and to contract nasty bugs and stuff, back to Mombasa with 5 new volunteers for the Coast province, some more work, Kenya went/ is going insane over the US elections, another nasty bug and a trade fair. Also, and most worryingly, the crows opposite my balcony have produced a seriously ugly crow-let and are incredibly protective over it. I can’t go on to my balcony during daylight unless I have a broom as protection from them swooping and flapping their wings at me - hanging the washing is now a seriously dangerous occupation. It’s quite big now so I’m hoping it will learn to fly or ... read more