Blogs from Coast Province, Kenya, Africa - page 3

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed, nothing like staying at a beach hotel for a little respite. I had hoped to walk along the beach this morning; however the tide was in and there was practically no beach. We all met for breakfast and then headed to a part of town that had a type of ”assembly line”. There was a finished products area with jewelry, sculptures and African handmade items, if one ventured outside of the shopping area, there was a village of shanties and within each structure was a laborer carving or staining or chopping an item - a manufacturing hub - African style. Once we did a little shopping, we stopped at a local restaurant for Teresa Gingles’ comfort food which equals cheeseburger! Seriously. The restaurant had great shakes, burgers and an ... read more

I was about to board the matatu to Malindi I had got up early to avoid any trouble but because of the early hour the matatu was taking time to fill up. I decided to sit down and have a cup of kahawa chungu at the roadside stall next to the matatu stage. Around the table a few Swahili wazee were drinking their coffee and talking about the election and post-election violence they looked up with surprise to see a tourist as I moved to sit by them. Life was beginning to get back near normal some shops were opening and a lot more matatus were moving on the roads. A phrase the old men kept repeating that reflected the return to normality was “kazi iendelea” (work continues), it was also an election slogan used by ... read more

5 school terms since we left Kenya. My dear colleague and friend, Batty, was getting married at the beach and we were not going to miss it! We managed a quick catch up with a few friends in Nairobi over the Easter long weekend. Celebrating with LVC on the 4th anniversary of the church plant we helped out with. Tears of joy flowed during the service, mainly from me :) In Nairobi we stayed with 2 friends who have both recently relocated back to Kenya. The Phayres and Aubreys. We enjoyed spending time with both families and managed to see a few others who were around. Strangely enough I didn't take many photos. We spent a lovely morning with the Florah, Osean, Mildred, Hayley, Lillian and Charlotte. These ladies are family and it was lovely to ... read more

Our final safari day began with another six hour drive from the Masai Mara Reserve to Nairobi. The most telling event that can best describe the quality of the ride occurred about an hour outside of Nairobi when our truck finally pulled onto an actual paved highway - at this point, the entire group broke into one long applause. Later, we told our driver David, that the clapping and shouting was for him and the wonderful job he had done navigating the rough, dusty road. In reality, it was a sign of relief from all of us, that we had actually survived the ordeal. We arrived at the Karen Camp and without a second thought, Monica and I paid an extra $36 for an upgrade. We needed hot showers and a chance to clean out our ... read more

Heute mache ich mich mit meiner Guide und einem Kollegen auf den Weg in ein Dorf namens Porini Village. Dieses liegt unweit von der Hauptstrasse entfernt, etwa 30 Minuten nördlich von der Stadt Mombasa. Zuerst gehts natürlich in den Supermarket, um Süssigkeiten für die Kinder zu kaufen. Ich selber bin mit einem Rucksack und zwei Plastiksäcke voller Plüschtiere unterwegs. Die Häuser im Dorf haben kein fliessendes Wasser, keinen Strom und die meisten Dächer sind aus Stroh gefertigt. Anders als die vorgehenden Dörfer, finden wir hier eine Wasserpumpe vor, welche von einer Hilfsorganisatioin gebaut wurde. Diese wird rege genutzt. Mal was anderes ;-) Wie alles andere war, kann man den Bildern entnehmen.... read more