To the coast.....

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We left Nairobi first class (!) on the night train to Mombasa where after having a personal introduction from the train manager, we enjoyed dinner, our very own cabin and after a very bumpy night's sleep, a scrummy breakfast. The train went through one of kenya's national parks, though only saw zebra, and past many villages where the kids came out and ran alongside the train asking for money. It got duller and duller as we approached Mombasa and we arrived in pouring rain, at the place where the sun always shines!

Mombasa was great, yet a completely different feel from Nairobi or anywhere else we've visited in Kenya. We could have been in a different country, tuk tuks beeping left right and centre, the call from the mosques every few hours, small streets with beautifully carved doors, shops stacked with metres and metres of colourful kokoy material, coconuts being sold on wooden wheelbarrows, far more hassling than before and of course the muggy heat. It reminded me a lot of Tunisia had people not been speaking Swahili.

The Swahili language formed when Arabs came over to Kenya and Tanzania to start up the slave trade. Men got african wices who were abused and raped. Their children grew up speaking African during the day with their mothers (who didn't speak arabic) and then forced to speak Arabic in the evenings with their fathers and hence forming a new language which is spoken all over East Africa today.

Off up the coast the next morning driving past palm tree lined coast, and bizarrely (but seemingly all over kenya) many plant nurseries on the sides of the roads. We arrived in Watamu our relaxation destination for the holiday. Well the first few hours were anything but relaxing, having decided where we were going to stay before getting off the bus (always wise) we headed for our hotel but a few and then many and then half the village, decided they'd take us. Only they decided they'd show us all of their prospective guesthouses first, and even lying to us saying that ours was shut, all desperate for some cash in the low season. After visiting almost half the village we were shown a villa with a pool and all ours for next to nothing......sold. (Still not entirely sure if the housesitters were just trying to make some money by renting out some italians' villa but we had a lovely relaxing time by the pool or on our sofas on the balcony, even had our own house help who did our washing and cooked for us at a good rate which pleased him no end to get some cash for his family.)

Watamu is a village situated on a beautiful bay, sand streets, thatched houses, the smell of wakey backy round every corner and hence a very chilled atmosphere, and an italian beach resort in summer - we were no longer greeted with jambo but ciao! In the winter however the beaches are covered in seaweed but this together with the gasts of wind at least meant we were the only people on them!

Feeling fully refreshed we headed to Malindi, yet another Italian beach town to spoil ourselves for the last few days. We're staying at a beautiful resort amazingly landscaped with pools, palm trees, sofas for chilling, bars, air con, HUGE beds, hot water, private beach and a buffet breakfast!

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