Blogs from Coast Province, Kenya, Africa - page 13

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Africa » Kenya » Coast Province » Mombasa March 24th 2010

Leaving Nairobi. Again In the end I was another week in Nairobi, where I settled happily back into recovering from my illness with the tried and tested regime of cold beer and rare meat. In between torrential downpours, I managed to fit in an oil change for the bike, cleaned my air filter and caught up on a few other minor bits of maintenance. For the most part though it was all about the beer and meat, including a slightly disappointing trip to the much vaunted ‘Carnivores’ restaurant, and otherwise sitting about musing on how much water my tent could realistically be expected to repel before becoming waterlogged and uninhabitable - quite a lot it as it turned out: I was kept surprisingly warm and dry throughout. A brief aside on ‘Carnivores’: Carnivores is a well ... read more
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Africa » Kenya » Coast Province February 17th 2010

Why? The first thing everyone asked us time and time again when we said we were going to Amboseli was why, why, why.....? I found it a little bit worrying given it was my first safari experience but I can understand the question given the reputation of some of the other national parks. The reason why we picked Amboseli and not the very popular Masai Mara is that we are planning to come back to see the Wilderbeest migration in July in the Mara so we wanted to save that for later in the year. Amboseli has a bit of a rough, untouched, road less travelled kind of feel which appealed to me and it’s also got one hell of a big draw card which no other park has, the magnificent Mount Kilimanjaro (big mountain in ... read more
Our first animal!
Buy buy buy
Morning greeting, lone bull elephant

Africa » Kenya » Coast Province » Watamu February 7th 2010

Mida Creek We had read about a great sounding Eco Camp a couple of kilometers away called Mida Creek Eco Camp. After many frustrating hours trying to figure out the area codes for the phones (the whole region had changed leaving all the information in our book absolutely useless) we managed to get in touch with Billie the manager who booked us in to come and visit for a couple of days. Mida Creek is similar to a salt water estuary set on the mouth of the sea. It is a large, very wide and not so deep creek running inland, lined with pristine examples of mangrove forests. The area is well renowned for bird watching with many species living off the creek including migrations of pink flamingos. The ecological camp is a community project set ... read more
Crab hunting!
Mangrove forests
Fishing

Africa » Kenya » Coast Province » Watamu February 3rd 2010

Gede Ruins Close to Watamu there is a large archaeological site known as the Gede ruins. Buried on approximately 45 acres of land they have uncovered 2kms2 of remains of an ancient Swahili town where the rich and elite lived, dating back to at least the 13th century. It was thought to be a trading point, receiving goods coming in from the coast and distributing to the local region. Shaded by an imposing 400 year old forest of giant baobab and fig strangler trees the area is stunningly beautiful and serene. With primary school children and other Kenyans visiting mostly in the month of December we were pretty much the only people there so were able to wander and enjoy the place at our own pace. The setting was such that as we wandered around I ... read more
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Ancient tombstone
Huge trees

Africa » Kenya » Coast Province » Mombasa January 30th 2010

January 30, 2010: Today has been a second quiet day at the beach. I'm finally finding a little peace after the going to and fro between game parks (with hectic times in between Massai Mara (Kenya) -- Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania: one long trip) and back to Nairobi, and then on to Ambroseli (6-7 hours each way) and back to Nairobi, and then, finally, here at Mombasa. I've found the traveling rather hectic and am comfortable having landed for a bit here at Mombasa. (I'm staying at the Serena hotel/lodge). It is peaceful and quiet here. The breeze off the Indian Ocean is warm and soothing (although the sun, once the clouds burn off in the morning is hot!). I've decided to stay an extra day -- instead of going home tomorrow, we'll go back to Nairobi ... read more
Zebra, Maasai Mara
Zebra, Maasai Mara
Elephants, Amboseli

Africa » Kenya » Coast Province » Mombasa January 29th 2010

January 29, 2010: My first full day in Mombasa has been wonderful. Paul and Esther wanted to meet a friend and also go downtown. I chose to stay on the beach. I have had few minutes by myself, let alone a full day. It was good to just walk the white sands, although the "beach boys" constantly want to talk you into buying something! They remembered me from last night, saying: "You were with a Kenya family. Why are you alone? You shouldn't be alone! Let's talk." Believe it or not, I actually went in the pool and got wet; it became very hot after this morning's cloud cover and misty rain. But I liked the beach best. This afternoon, Paul and Esther joined me (they swam in the pool) and we walked the beach again. ... read more
Chief, Maasai village
Warriors & me, Maasai village
Robert/Ole, Maasai

Africa » Kenya » Coast Province » Mombasa January 28th 2010

January 27: Mom Today I walked the white sands of the Indian Ocean, which is as warm as a bath. I filled my pockets with what I think is coral and black and white shells to make earrings. It is 6:30 p.m. here. When I checked in the porter was showing me the switches and bar fridge in my room. When he opened the fridge he shut the door and said he needed a broom. As you can imagine, I was puzzled. He returned with another man and a stick and the proceeded to poke inside the fridge. The removed the fridge from the cabinet and poked some more. The porter left again to get a broom. When he returned I asked what was in the cabinet. The second man said it was like an alligator. ... read more
Nairobi city
Maasai women at border
Flat top acacia

Africa » Kenya » Coast Province » Lamu January 7th 2010

Nach der rasanten Busfahrt von Malindi und einer ziemlich nassen Bootsfahrt zur Insel Lamu, sind wir tatsaechlich auch angekommen: Wir steigen aus dem Boot und werden erst einmal von Beach Boys belagert. Jeder moechte unsere Rucksaecke tragen, um ein paar Groschen zu verdienen. Das ist eigentlich ganz gut, aber leider halten unsere kenianischen Rucksaecke das nicht aus und beide reissen noch auf dem Weg zum Hotel. Na ja, was solls, wir sind ja erst einmal angekommen. Ab hier laueft die Zeit noch ein bisschen langsamer. Auf Laum gibt es keine Autos. Entweder man laeuft, faehrt ein Boot oder reitet einen Esel. Kein Wunder, dass man hier nicht so sehr in Eile ist... wie auch. Die Strassen in Lamu haben Eselbreite. Es vielmehr enge und verwinkelte Gassen, in denen sich Esel und Menschen aneinander vorbei schieben. Die ... read more

Africa » Kenya » Coast Province » Malindi January 5th 2010

Nein, ich bin nicht aus Versehen in Italien gelandet. Ich bin immer noch in Afrika und habe zwei Tage in Malindi verbracht. Dennoch hat Malindi etwas von Italien. Man kommt an und die Kenianer sprechen einen erst einmal auf italienisch an, die Kinder rufen einen "Ciao Bello" zu und an jeder Ecke gibt es eine Pizzeria. Vor Jahren haben die Italiener Malindi fuer sich entdeckt und so trifft man sie auch noch heute an. Wir haben uns total darauf eingelassen und noch am ersten Abend eine Pizza gegessen. Und ich muss sagen, die war mindestens genauso gut wie in Italien. An unserem zweiten Tag in Malindi haben wir einen Auslfug nach Watamu und Gede gemacht. Watamu hat eine schoene Badebucht und Gede hat uns mit alten Ruinen einer fast vergessenen Kultur beeindruckt. Nach diese Programm hat ... read more

Africa » Kenya » Coast Province » Lamu January 5th 2010

Nach unserem kleinen Ausflug nach Italien ging es schneller als gedacht wieder nach Afrika: Morgens um 9 Uhr steige ich den Bus nach Lamu. Mir schlaegt die muffige Luft alter Bussitze entgegen. Mit dem Gestaenge der Sitze im Ruecken, einer Ladung lebender Ziegen im Kofferraum und Huehner als Sitznachbarn ging es in einer alten Klepperkiste als Bus Richtung Norden. Die Strasse ist zwar asphaltiert, aber das eine oder andere Schlagloch hebt mich aus meinen Sitz und schleudert mich wieder in den alten Sitz. Ich muss die meiste Zeit lachen, denn das ist besser wie jede Achterbahnfahrt. Wir kommen schneller voran als gedacht und die Haelfte der Kilometer haben wir nach 2 Stunden hinter uns. Doch dann biegt der Bus ab. Zunaechst denke ich, der Busfahrer hat sich verfahren oder die Karte falsch gelesen oder wir halten ... read more




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