Kenya and Lamu
We arrived back to Nairobi so pleased to find no violence and a near-term fix for their political crisis. We visited Pamela’s family in Meru near Mt Kenya and enjoyed that very much. Pamela’s son, Beckham, and I get along quite well. He is a very smart five year old and loves to wear me out. Riungu and I toured his farm including the new watering system he has installed. A few of us jumped into Pamela’s uncle’s pickup truck and drove up the hill towards Mt Kenya to see the source of their water. Idah works for the water project which delivers water via pipeline to almost 1000 homes today and has plans to expand much larger when grant money is available. The people on that water system are so lucky compared to much of Africa having water at a tap in their homes rather than collecting it from a municipal well (or worse). The highlight of the visit was Riungu and Idah giving Pamela a piece of property in the local village that they have owned for years. She is planning to build and operate a business such as a general store.
We then went back on vacation with a trip to the coast – Lamu Archipelago located near the Somalia border. No, we did not see any Somalian pirates. A naval base was pointed out to us on the mainland where Kenya and USA navies are located for fighting the infamous pirates from the lawless state to the north. Lamu is one of the top getaway destinations I have found. Not only does it have perfect beaches and water, an interesting culture (Swahili) and plenty of things to do, it’s best attribute is that it is not over-discovered. We had the place basically to ourselves because tourism has disappeared in Kenya, but we could see that the accommodations are too few to make the place too touristy even during high season. We found the locals to be very friendly. They share the same heritage as the peoples from coastal Africa between Kenya and Mozambique including the islands like Zanzibar – a nice mixture of Arab and African with some Indian tossed in. They are fairly strict Muslims who mostly were just quite courteous and helpful. We sailed, snorkeled, kayaked, played in the sand and walked the villages of Lamu, Shella and the ruins of Takwa. We stayed in Shella at the Stopover Hotel and it was one of the best rooms I have ever had perched over the water where we could hear the waves and watch the fishermen. I ate some of the best fresh fish I have ever had including snapper and barracuda. A very enjoyable week indeed!
We are now in Nairobi enjoying what it has to offer and getting some things done before I depart this Sunday for Dubai, UAE. I am there a couple of days before heading to Yemen – where Osama bin Laden is from! It looks like a very interesting country and I expect it to be as safe as possible. If Yemen concerns you, Tunisia would not. But I saw that two Austrian tourists were kidnapped there this past week supposedly by local al Qaeda. If it can happen in Tunisia, it can happen anywhere. My main draws to Yemen are the culture, the ancient Frankinscense trail, the architecture (maybe the greatest mud buildings in the world) and Socotra – a very remote island with lots of strange, endemic flora and good marine life. I’ll try to finish up Cameroon before I leave this continent.
Tags: Africa, kenya
vagabondrick
Hey Rick – so to Yemen. I’ve heard many fascinating reports (mainly Public Television archeological presentations) and I’m jealous that you get to see everything up close and personal! Have a wonderful time there. PS glad you and Pamela had such an adventure.