Mombasa!

Today is June 3rd, and Katie and I arrived early this morning in Nairobi, coming back from 3 days in Mombasa. It was a wonderful experience, and a learning one at that!

We got to Mombasa early in the morning at 6:30 or so after taking the night bus. When we arrived, we took a taxi to our hotel (one that had been recommended by some fellow traveler friends). We pulled in to Kahama Hotel and knew immediately that we were where we wanted to be. The hotel was big, clean, had a pool and a sign for coffee! Because it was so early, we could not check in and were directed to breakfast. Breakfast is one of the many things we were excited to have included in our room price. Other luxuries were the hot shower, tv, air conditioning, towels, and internet. We were excited to try the morning special for African breakfast. Pool side we tried beans with sweet sauce (yummy), dumpling bread (also yummy, espcially with the beans), arrow root (tasteless and a bad texture, not a favorite), sweet potato (yum) and eggs (yum)! There was also coffee, juice and tea! We had plenty of time after we finished eating and wanted to update our blog... and then the battle with technology began! No password or configuration could connect us to the internet (boooo). Luckily, right before we really tipped the scale of frustration, we were shone to our rooms and were so overwhelmed with the luxury, our anxiety faded! Uncharacteristically, I wanted a shower and with Katie taking a nap the long, warm shower was amazing! By about noon we had ourselves sunscreened and ready to go lay out on the beach. When we got there, we found that it was not the culture to lay down and sun bathe on this beach, probably why all hotels have a pool. Instead, we went for a nice walk, quickly annoyed by every vendor saying, "Muzungu, you like? Looking is free. Come have a look". We knew to expect this and quickly adjusted ourselves to be as closed off as possible. We got quite good and after about an hour walk along the beach, we headed back alone the sand near the vendors and did stop a few places for free looks. It was a wonderful way to spend our afternoon. We came back to the pool and some shade by the palm trees. Again we attempted the internet; it is amazing how badly you want something when you cannot have it! After getting frustrated again, we decided the best thing to do at the poolside is relax. We found a bit of sun and let worries fade again. Our stomachs were the ones that decided it was time to leave the pool. We rotated shower time and hotel computer time, also realizing that we couldn't check in with our parents via phone, because mysteriously our phone had turned against us too. We knew these beach days were meant to relax so we decided to get a little dressed up for dinner (meaning not hiking pants). Because of Mombasa's port history, many civilizations have inhabited the area and left their cultural mark. Therefore, the town is said to have good Chinese and Italian food. The first of these that we stubbled up was an Italian pizzaria that was recommended by the same travelers who suggested the hotel. We popped in, and since we were there early, had our choice of seating. It was a wonderful, slow dinner. First a drink, then delicious garlic bread and then salami pizza. Being the budget travelers that we are, we took half of this food home with us for another meal! We walked back before the sun set and, regardless of Mombasa's beach party scene, we opted for the safe route and stayed in. Again, we got frustrated that we could not call home, thankful the silly comfort of a tv eased us to sleep at about 8:30!

Nevermind our early bedtime, we couldn't drag ourselves out of bed until about 8:00 the next day (July 1st). Breakfast was more traditional (eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, fruit salad), and as our plans were fluid we spent an hour writing in our journals when we were finished. Then, we caught a cab into the city for a walking tour. The major monument of Mombasa is Fort Jesus. This castle-like fort is made of coral and it's huge walls protected were used for armies to protect the fort. However, many different countries and civilizations controlled it at different points, so there was no single, dominant ruler. The other highlight of our tour was seeing Vasco de Gama's Well. This well is important for two reasons: is marks the terminus piont of slavery, as Africans were smuggled from there to Tanzania, and it said to never dry. People were using, and apparently commonly do, to bathe. We also so many impressive and old mosques and vaious historical governent buildings! The end of our tour was market, in particular the famous Mombasa spice market. Mom and Dad... you can get excited for some gifts! We were expecting only spices at the spice market, but it was in fact quite similar to a farmers market. Of course, people asked us to look and buy, but we solidly refused and moved on. It was a wonderful tour, and the culture of the town was much different than the busy city center of Nairobi.

Yesterday, we packed up to check out of our hotel and stored our bags in safe keeping for the day. We were off to sea. We made a deal to spend the afternoon swimming, "making snorkle" and boating in the water of the Indian Ocean. The sun was shining, Nora would be proud of the 70spf sunscreen we wore! The water was particularly salty, but very warm and nice! We saw fish and part of a ship wreck that had drifted over from the high sea! It was very cool! We spent a little more time by the pool, and hung out with a 9 year old girl who we met who wanted to practice our English. Of course the two of us were eager to hang out with someone much younger than ourselves. We went for a short nature walk before dinner at a park on the other side for the road. When we got to one clearing Katie said, "Well, this doesn't look much different than the U.S.". I said, "Well, you are right, unless a giraffe comes out in the middle of nowhere, and then we will know we are in Africa again". About a minute later we spot a family of Waterbuck, chuckled to ourselves and then went quickly and swiftly in the other directions! We went to the famous White Sands Hotel for dinner and enjoyed kabobs with cooked vegetables (something I was missing) and pasta! We topped our visit off with chocolate cake, we had been craving it for a few days! Then, we met the night bus and headed back here, to Nairobi!

It was a lovely trip!

We hope that all things are well in Denver and that everyone is gearing up for some fun 4th of July picnic action! We are meeting some fellow American travelers tomorrow for our own toast to America! Enjoy the fireworks!!!!