We left late Friday night from Nairobi. We headed into town for dinner at Tacos, yet again, then took the 10 o'clock bus into Mombasa. We arrived before sunrise and arranged a shuttle that took us from Mombasa, on a short ferry ride to Ukunda, then finally driving us another 20 or 30 kilometers to our place, Diani Beachalets.
The chalets were fairly rustic, but did the trick for $10/person per night. We had 2 cabins next to each other and right on the end of L-shape of cabins, so we had ocean-view and a wraparound porch to enjoy. There were 10 of us all together - the usual volunteer crew from Winnipeg including myself, Milanne, Josh, Debra, Katie & the east-coasters Andrew and Meghan. We also had Josh and Katie's friend Justine who has been volunteering in Tanzania since September - who coincidentally enough, sat next to Milanne's dad on the first leg of her flight leaving Winnipeg on her way to Tanzania... I love Winnipeg connections. The last two of our crew are Melissa and Mathilde, two Danish girls from the same volunteer house as Justine. It was quite the group.
We spent Saturday morning sitting or sleeping on the benches of an outdoor restaurant that wasn't exactly open yet. By 10am, we were allowed to check in so made ourselves at home and hit the beach. We bought a bunch of groceries to keep ourselves nourished for the weekend and several bottles of booze to help us stay somewhat oblivious to the sweltering heat. We had to make sure our doors were closed at all times otherwise the monkeys would come into our kitchen and steal our food. They did manage to steal a package of dry spaghetti in the first hour, though I can't imagine it was very enjoyable.
We relaxed all Saturday. Katie and I walked a good length of the beach, and being the future marine biologist of the group, I learnt more about marine life in that hour than I've known my whole life. We saw sea urchins on the rocks and crabs scurrying across the sand. Beach boys walked the shore and would not stop talking to anyone. They're there to do anything for money essentially. Some of them work for the snorkeling boats and try to recruits passengers, others do other things... I'll let your own minds wander.
Saturday night, we made a big group dinner - spaghetti and tomato sauce. It was quite delicious. I was so worn out from the overnight bus and the sun and heat, that I was in bed by 8pm. I was quickly followed by 3 or 4 of the others.
Sunday was much like Saturday, except we went out for dinner down the beach. Some of us were going to go to The Cave, a restaurant hidden down into a coral cave with incredible 5-star food at Africa prices. Unfortunately, they had no tables, so we headed to the sister restaurant next door, Forty Thieves. Our table was right on the beach and we got our fill of some favourites from home: pasta, pizza, burgers, and salads with actual lettuce instead of the typical Kenyan cabbage salads. It was great. I lasted a little bit longer that night. I didn't go to bed until 10:30... only because that's when our cab dropped us off at our cabin.
Monday morning, we checked out of the Beachalets and got a glass-bottom boat that took us around the area and to a sand bar several yards out into the ocean, just before the tide breaks. We got to snorkel with some fish and eel and coral. It was just as horrible as I expected it to be. Breathing under water... not quite my thing. Fish, seaweed, and creepy slimy things popping out of rocks... really not my thing. I lasted about 90 seconds and 3 dunks of the head under the surface before I looked at Deb and asked her if she wanted to head to the sand bar. And we were off.
We lounged on the sand bar for a bit and passed a bag of wine around the circle. Somehow we ended up playing duck-duck-goose and attracted some attention from the other boats. Even a couple elderly German folk took a swig from our bag.
When our time was up, we loaded back into the boat and headed for shore. I got to lay up on the top of the boat and enjoy the breeze and view. Now boats... that's more my thing. The day wrapped up with lunch then burned up the last hour or so on the beach before catching a matatu back to Mombasa, where we went for dinner then caught the 10pm bus back to Nairobi. Luckily, we pass Mlolongo on the way back, so we were able to get dropped off right outside our compound instead of doubling back. We got back just after 5am. I'm still a little weary from the ride and lack of solid sleep. So it's lights out for me now. 'night.
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