Days in Mombasa

29/12

We left Mara Leisure camp at 10 and headed for a game drive in the area around Mara airstrip/field (can’t really call it airport) but when we could see the airfield in the distance suddenly the car jumped over a bump in the road and the oil tank burst open and everything inside flooded out. Our guide looked like he was having a minor break down. Thankfully a Polish couple came to our rescue and drove us to the airfield where we dumped our luggage and went to the nearest camp to find dinner.

At 14.50 our plane landed, it was a tiny tinny one-propeller airplane and we were the only passengers. I had a quick thought that I would probably die on that plane either when we crashed or due to the fact that I badly needed to use the bathroom and there where none in sight. Two hours over a beautiful landscape, most of it completely deserted by the look of it. Mountains (Kilimanjaro in the distance), hills, rivers, open plains of grass, forests and much more painted the picture which is Kenya. The flight was very pleasant. When we got to Mombasa we were picked up by our guide and driven to Serova White Sands.

30/12

Today we had got a guided tour in Mombasa starting with a handicraft market followed by a Hindu temple and a walk through old town Mombasa.

30+ degrees, humid air, a light breeze and sun, sun and more sun all day.

31/12

5.20 my alarm rang to wake me up for the snorkeling tour, TIRED! It took all day but it was worth it since I got to see dolphins. When our little home built boat, with us and a family of really annoying Ugandans, where going through the canal to the Marine park they (the dolphins) swam right up to us.

The reefs we swam by were nice with a lot of fish but you could see what all the environmental problems in Kenya are doing to them. Whole parts of the reef were dead or dying.

For lunch we stopped at an island, previously used by the Arabs for slave trade, and were served freshly caught crab, lobster and fish. After that we headed back to the mainland, the hotel and the awaiting New Years dinner.

They had built up a huge enclosed area outside, almost on the beach, with tables, an enormous buffet and a stage. We ate, drank, looked at the performances and tried to stay awake until 24.00 and we succeeded. People danced and looked at the firework but we just went to our rooms and passed out after the long day.