Diani Beach: Round 2

What I can I possibly say about the last 5 days? After returning from safari, we unpacked and repacked before heading out to the coast the following morning. We were originally supposed to take the $13 overnight bus to Mombasa, but opted for the $55, 45-minute morning flight instead. It was a great decision and money well spent. Especially since Tom had a small bout of sickness the night we were supposed to be leaving. But he was able to sleep it off and we headed out in the morning without any issues.

We walked out of the plane in Mombasa and were greeted by a thick wall of hot hot heat and humidity. I had forgotten how warm it was there but was immediately reminded by the sweat that started to bead on my forehead as I made my way across the tarmac.

We were the same group of six that were on the safari. We headed toward our resort in a very pleasantly air-conditioned van only to be greeted by a tall Kenyan man in a traditional African costume with a tray of welcome drinks for us. As we slurped them up in record time, half of us (Tom and I, and Deb) were told we had been upgraded from our original standard rooms to cottages with views of the Indian Ocean, and a bathroom fit for a king. Milanne and her parents had not been upgraded but had paid more than the rest of us for an ocean-view room that didn’t show much of the ocean at all. So after some chats with the manager and some pacing from Doug, they also ended up in a cottage with an awesome deck and view of the water.

Once we had all settled into our rooms, we headed for the beach and the pool and ordered a round of drinks. The scenery was a far cry from Mlolongo and we were in paradise. After an afternoon of relaxation, Katie, Josh, and Josh’s parents came over from Beachalets (the place we stayed at during our first trip to Diani Beach) for some pre-dinner drinks. After hanging out on Deb’s patio, we all went out for dinner to Ali Babour’s Forty Thieves restaurant for dinner right on the beach.

The following day was pretty much the same, except us ladies started off the day with a visit to the hotel spa. A really, really far cry from life in Mlolongo. That night, we met up again with the foursome again and the 10 of us headed to the sister restaurant of Forty Thieves, called Cave. It is a restaurant set inside a coral cave that is over 120,000 years old and used to be completely underwater when the coastline used to be about 5km further inland. Needless to say, the setting and atmosphere was spectacular, and the food was phenomenal. Looking up from our table, we could see the moon peeking through the gaps in the cave’s ceiling. The only way in or out of the restaurant is by a magnificent dark wood staircase that winds down into a dimly lit lounge.

The third day, all 10 of us met up again in the morning to board a glass-bottom boat for a round of snorkeling. Having tried it last time and not quite enjoying it, I opted out of the actual snorkeling and enjoyed the view of the marine life through the glass window in the floor of the boat. Once we reached the sandbar, we all sat amongst the shallow waves with beers purchased from the man with the cooler strapped on a surfboard.

We were brought back to shore around noon and after a short camel ride for the 5 other ladies (I didn’t join in since I’ll be getting my fill of camel rides in India), we walked along the beach back to Forty Thieves for a long afternoon lunch. It was Katie, Josh, and Josh’s parents’ last day at the beach, so after lunch, they headed back with us to our resort until it was time to head to the airport.

All of us in our group of six were enjoying ourselves so much that everyone except for Deb decided to extend our stay by an extra day. Deb is Winnipeg-bound today so she needed the extra day in Mlolongo to pack up. But the rest of us were able to get the same rooms at the same rate so with a quick change of flight, we were set.

Friday was our last night in paradise. There was a special beach barbecue at the resort. Tables set up in a big, beautiful alcove on the beach with live entertainment and a giant feast. Big metal grills featured at least 5 different kinds of meat and tons more sides and salads and desserts. After dinner, we watched an impressive acrobatic show. There were even free camel rides for guests.

After 5 days of feasting and sloth-like behaviour, we packed everything up, got a few more hours in the sun and pool, and hopped back on a flight to Nairobi. This time we exited the plane under cloud cover and some spitting rain. This soon turned into a complete downpour as we headed into downtown Nairobi for another dinner with the whole gang. The rain was quite refreshing after the heat and humidity of Diani Beach.

Deb is leaving Kenya today, followed by Tom on Tuesday, then Milanne’s parents on Wednesday. Then I’m India bound on the 27^th. One week left in Africa.