Midterm Week--Mombasa Visit

October 18^th

I can’t emphasize enough how much I love teaching at Gathirimu Girl’s School. Every day I am excited to go and be with my girls. The girls and I have grown very close to each other and the days when I am away we miss each other a lot. The majority of my time in the village is spent there—teaching lessons, preparing for lessons, coaching, or just hanging out chatting and spending time together. They never cease to have questions for me about America, my family, my friends, and myself.

This last week the girls had midterm exams starting on Tuesday and lasting until Thursday. On Friday they got to go home for midterm break and spend a few days, until Tuesday, with their families. Because I do not teach any examinable classes, I decided to take this free time and spend it exploring a bit of Kenya. I was fortunate enough to travel over to Mombasa, the Kenyan coast, for a little less than a week. Words cannot fully express how beautiful the Indian Ocean and coastline is.

Most people travel to the coast by bus at night as to get there in the morning. It takes about eight hours to get from Nairobi to Mombasa. We originally planned to leave on Monday night but plans changed and we left on Tuesday evening instead. Morris Mwaniki left early Tuesday to get bus tickets for the evening, while Mary and I traveled to Banana to spend the day with her family until it was time to catch the bus. We left Nairobi at around 9 o’clock. The majority of the bus ride we all chatted, listened to music, slept, and stopped at 2:00am for dinner. We were all laughing at the idea of eating dinner so late (or early). Although late, it was nice to be able to stop, eat, and use the bathroom. At 5:30am we arrived in Mombasa town—feeling sticky and ready for a shower especially from the long ride and humidity.

The week was filled with fun adventures but there were a few highlights. Some of my favorite memories from this trip will always be walking along the coastline on “Pirates Beach”, spending the day in Haller Park, visiting Fort Jesus, and late night evenings chatting with close friends while drinking tea. I traveled down to Mombasa with Morris and Mary but we met some friends from Nairobi while we were down there—Mwangi, Ben and some of their other friends. While we were there we also met some more people and always had a good time.

On the first day that we got there we spent our time walking on the coastline at a place called Pirates Beach. This is a very popular and beautiful place in Mombasa. This was my first experience on any kind of beach like this. It was beautiful—the white sand, the clear blue water, palm trees, and perfect weather. We were stopped often by Kenyans trying to sell us boat rides, snorkeling trips, etc. It was never too bothersome and because Morris was the main male they always talked with him first. During this afternoon I took a ton of pictures, enjoyed the atmosphere, and chatted with close friends. It was this first day that I got really sunburned. I forgot to use my sunscreen and suffered slightly for the rest of the trip. It was interesting because I had to explain the whole process of sunburns to Morris and Mary. They were surprised with how red I got.

 

The next day we went to Fort Jesus. This is a historical fort that was built by the Portuguese and declared a national monument in 1958; opened to the public in 1960. Fort Jesus is visited by almost all tourists that come to the Kenyan coast. We had a tour guide showing us all the different parts of the fort and taking pictures for us. It was very interesting and full of all sorts of history. The fort lays on the edge of the coast and when looking out you see how beautiful the environment is. I really enjoyed this day and spending time with Mary and Morris is always the best.

Morris and I ventured off to a Kenyan National Park called Haller Park on Thursday. Mary was not feeling well this day and decided to stay in and see if she could rest and get healthy. Haller Park is a beautiful place. We walked around the forest, took pictures, and saw all sorts of animals. The main animals were crocodiles, hippos, giraffes, fish, snakes, and turtles. I got to hang with a turtle that is 130 years old! When I was at this park I also got myself my first souvenir from Kenya—a children’s book about the real life relationship between this 130 year old turtle and an orphaned hippo. It is a super cute book and I was excited that I actually got to see the main character as well! We also got to watch the hippos and crocodiles getting fed. I had so much fun on this day—it was probably one of my favorite adventures since I have been to Kenya. If you know me you know I love hiking and nature. The forest in this park was absolutely beautiful and I enjoy learning about the different and new trees, flowers, etc.

When we were not traveling around the coast and playing the tourist role, we were typically relaxing, drinking tea, and chatting with our friends from Nairobi. It was an amazing little vacation and I think I will definitely visit again before I leave Kenya.