We found rhubarb! Now on a scale of excitement that might seem pretty low, definitely way lower than the arrival of those beautiful new granddaughters. They are 10++. However, anyone who has tasted J-M’s rhubarb-raisin pie knows that finding a supply of rhubarb is pretty exciting. But let’s just back up a bit first.
It’s been a while since I have updated my musings, due to the aforementioned baby boom excitement, and our recent travels. The arrival of Quinn at the end of November, followed by Willa in early December, plus the end of term and holiday travel meant little time to write more than a flurry of quick emails. Now we are back in Lilongwe and have a few days to relax before the beginning of the new term. I have even managed to upload some pictures to my albums.
http://tinyurl.com/kenyapics
http://tinyurl.com/zombapics
Our trip to Kenya, though planned at the last minute, turned out very well indeed, thanks to Tasha’s wonderful extended family. Tasha is one of our fellow travelers from the Zambia safari who has a large extended family in Mombasa. They kindly arranged our accommodation and even put us up, or put up with us, for two nights in their home. They treated us to Christmas dinner, arranged for us to participate in their family excursion to a retreat centre and to visit Funzi Island with them. It was an amazing opportunity to be part of the local community rather than just tourists.
Highlights of the Kenya experience:
First and foremost: Tasha's fantastic family and their wonderful hospitality, not to mention the food!
Kenya Air:
They treated me so well the minute they spotted me hobbling through the check-in line on crutches. Yes, I managed to sprain an ankle two days before our flight. However, the Kenya Air folks had a porter with wheelchair waiting for me in Nairobi and he very efficiently whisked us through all the lines and security checks just in time to make our connecting flight to Mombasa, which is in a different terminal. I am sure we would never have made it in time left to our own devices. They were equally accommodating on the return flight.
The dolphin dhow safari with lunch at Wasini Island:
This was a little excursion we managed to negotiate on our own and it was superb.
A day of snorkeling, great waves and a delicious lunch. Check out the menu in the picture. We certainly did not lack for good seafood and fish on this trip.
Cracking our own crab was also a pretty entertaining part of the Funzi Island trip mentioned above. And the visit to the slave cave at Shimoni was definitely a sobering historical monument.
Shopping: stores with stuff in them, wow! Not to mention bargaining, on the beach for kikoi’s and almost everywhere for whatever. Tasha was a great help in establishing reasonable prices and we took it from there.
The beaches: beautiful, fine white sand, clear water.
Ali Babour’s Cave restaurant: a fine dining, candle lit experience inside a coral cave, looking up through the opening to the stars.
The people: warm and friendly. We felt “karibu” everywhere. No, that is not a large North American antelope type creature; it means welcome in Swahili.
Lowlights of the
Not many, but three come to mind.
The beach guys, the young men who are waiting the minute you step off the hotel’s private property onto the public beach areas. They want to be your friend, give you a tour, sell you stuff, basically relieve you of your shillings. They were friendly and not overly aggressive but definitely pesky. Unfortunately it is a sign of the local economic times that they have no other work and it is hard to get upset about them trying to earn a living however they can.
The two flat tires on the bus on the way to
And finally, needless to say, the thieves who snatched Jen and Tasha’s bag through the bus window while we were sweltering in line for the ferry were completely unappreciated by all. Fortunately there were no documents or irreplaceable items in the bag, mostly dirty laundry.
The positives definitely outshone the lows and it was a great holiday experience.
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