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Published: April 22nd 2007
The view
Not bad for a back yard, eh? Hey troops! Sunday arvo here, end of our fourth full day in Kilifi - and time for an update of events so far. Have lots of photos, but am going to put them on in sections so that you don't get overloaded this time....
Anyway, from the start... our plane from Johannesburg to Nairobi was a few hours late leaving due to feral weather (check out the fog). So, we arrived in Nairobi ten minutes after our Nairobi-Mombasa flight was due to leave. We raced through customs, collected our bags and ran over to the domestic terminal on the off chance that that flight was also delayed. After collapsing under the weight of our bags as we reached the check-in queue, we were told that we'd have to get the next Mombasa flight and that we should sit down and wait for its check-in. Barely two minutes later though, someone came running out asking if we were the two who had come from Johannesburg. The plane had been delayed after all, so they raced us and all our bags out to the tarmac and we were off... A couple of hours later we were in Kilifi, having been driven by
Off fishing
Local boats go out in the morning... one of the lab's drivers from the airport in Mombasa. Rough rough ride, with large and very frequent potholes. I imagine it's quite the hazard just after it's rained. Didn't get to see a lot of Mombasa as it was dark, but for some kilometres out of town there was stall after stall lining both sides of the road and hundreds of people out. It was after 10.30 at night, but these people were still operating their stalls to make ends meet.
Arrived at our accommodation, Chambai Sea Lodge (a small guest house 15 minutes walk from the main street), just in time for a quick unpack, a cold shower and to fall into bed. Pretty cactus after two full days travelling. Cold shower was surprisingly tops - we were feeling the heat already - mostly because we'd travelled in our heaviest clothes to save space in our bags. Our place is basic, but clean and nice. We have a room with two beds (4-posters with mosquito nets, quite regal!), a small storage space, a little table and chair and a tele (one channel, but to be honest haven't really checked it out. Brigid assures me Judge Judy is on
there though). We also have a bathroom (with flushing toilet, basin and shower) and a verandah with a banana lounge (you beauty!!). There are no facilities for us to cook, but there is an adjoining restaurant which does quite decent food (even if the pepper sauce for a steak is the same sauce as for chicken curry).
Got our first real glimpse of the place the next morning. Kilifi is a coastal town about 90 minutes north of Mombasa. There is an inlet from the bay - Kilifi creek - running east-west, and you cross a bridge over the creek to get into town. Our place is on the water looking over the creek/bay at its mouth on the northern side. The view from our verandah is quite spectacular. Early in the morning you can see the fishing boats - some canoes full of people, some dhows- leave the creek to go out for the day. Each morning, we've sat outside at the restaurant for breakfast. A full breaky is included in our accommodation price and includes eggs, a sausage, bread, fruit, juice and tea or coffee. A rather large meal and one I struggle to get through. I have
Our back verandah
Our chairs have been replaced by a banana lounge. Not that I'm complaining... also struggled so far to successfully request just fruit and (cold) water. Got close yesterday, but the thermos of hot water let me down. Bummer. Just another incentive to get the swahili going!! Certainly not struggling with the idyllic location, or the nice cool morning breeze before the humidity gets going. Is a lovely start to the day, and one that generally occurs to a soundtrack of bob marley and various african artists (one of whom, I was informed today by a bunch of kids, is called 'the fisherman' and sings a song called 'you are my african queen'. I thought he was saying 'african peach'. Oh well...).
It is about a 20 minute walk in to the lab. Work starts at 8am here, just late enough for it to be humid and me to be a sweaty mess by the time I arrive there. A lot about the place reminds me of Vanuatu - the heat, the large number of brightly clad people out on the street, the huge number of animals wandering around (usually with a litter tailing behind them), the fact that everyone greets you as you walk by, the smells - slightly sickly sweet smell of
The bedroom
Check out the four-poster bed... rotting tropical fruit, and the smell of hot, sweaty bodies that - strangely enough - is not off-putting like it sounds!
More about the lab, the town and the people we've met in the next installment. Will finish off with some news of our day. Decided that today we'd better find the beach (well, find a place suitable for swimming). Yesterday, we walked around the path that follows the rocks around from our place. Unfortunately stymied by the high tide - we got to a point where we'd have to cut through someone's yard, so turned back. Apparently, you can get through at low tide but, to be on the safe side, we caught a tuk tuk (little 3-wheeled vehicle) down the road to the Kilifi Bay Resort (the place where the rich tourists hang out, but where there is a nice beach). The resort is set back off the water and most of the people there were lying around one of the pools. We went out to the beach for a swim and ended up hanging out with some of the local boys (ages 9-15) from one of the nearby villages for most of the day. All brothers from
2 mothers. One of them had caught some small fish and made a fish necklace by stringing them by their mouths onto a reed. Thankfully he didn't try to give it to us!! Anyway, with their help, we have significantly expanded our kiswahili repertoire - I can now count to ten and ask for someone's name. They taught us how to say 'bad boy' too, but I've forgotten what that was. There was a lot of horsing around, and some singing - one had a great voice and kept singing us songs (all of which ended in 'I love you'....).
Enough for now. I'm sick of writing and I'm sure you're all sick of reading. K x
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