Malindi and Lamu Island

Mombasa to Malindi was an easy couple of hours on the bus and we found ourselves an aging hotel which would have been nicer before the pool went green and the ceiling went mouldy and fell in. Those things aside it was still ok for a few days. It took nearly 3 months, but I finally succumbed to a decent case of the crook guts so was feeling a bit tender and not up for much so we just bummed around the resort for the afternoon, no pun intended. The following day we visited the Gede ruins – the remains of a Swahili town from the 1200s. Quite interesting site and reasonably well preserved for the age. I tried valiantly to do the tour on our own but eventually gave in (no doubt due to my still weakened condition) and accepted the services of a guide for a few $$. As it turned it he was pretty good and quite entertaining.

From Malindi we took the bus another 4 hours north to Lamu Island. As Lamu is getting a little close to Somalia (only 50km away as it turned out) so we questioned a few people about security before we left and were assured there are no problems, hakuna matata. There were no problems, but that may be due to armed military escort that we picked up shortly after we left Malindi. As always with an armed escort you are never sure if you should be glad to have them along, or concerned by the fact that they are required! By the time we reached Lamu I was more concerned about getting off the bus as the windows were jammed shut, the road dusty and the climate definitely tropical....

Lamu Island was a highlight of our trip. There are (almost) no cars on the island and the only transport is by donkey, walking or boat. The streets of the the old town are narrow, crowded lanes full of local people, donkeys, the odd tourist, donkeys, shops, donkeys, old Swahili houses and a few more donkeys. Not surprisingly you need to be a little careful where you put your feet.... We spent three nights there, the first day just walking up to the nearby village of Shela for a swim at the beach and lunch in a swanky resort. The following day we took a trip on a small sailing dhow including another nice seafood lunch on the beach. We did a little fishing – Nicole starred with two snapper with a combined length of 3 inches. The first was released quickly, but that is never the done thing in these places and the skipper swooped on the second one before it could be set free to grow to more than 2 weeks old. I guess you have to eat. Interestingly the local kids must never see cars as when we did see one parked up and there was a crowd of kids all sitting around gawping at it. It was even more interesting than asking the tourists for a shilling – and that is pretty interesting.

The trip back from Lamu to Momabsa set a new record for Arabic wailing music torture. The bus was a bit delayed leaving while the conductor rustled up a few more punters, but to attract would-be clients they cranked the not insubstantial stereo in the bus to full wailing, piercing volume. That was ok until we had to leave as we just got off the bus and hid – but on our departure the volume wasn't reduced any great amount, despite my requests. I resorted to ear plugs as the ipod was grossly out gunned, but while they reduced the physical pain and hearing damage a little they were unable to block it out top any large degree. Ear plugs work for industrial applications only apparently – and this was clearly outside their design parameters. The closest thing I have heard was an anti-personnel siren – the type used to force intruders to leave a building or to destroy the moral of enemy combatants. My advice for anyone contemplating a similar trip is to buy the very best noise canceling headphones you can find.

We are now in Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria, having overnighted in Mombasa and Nairobi. Tomorrow we head for the Kakamega Forest Reserve and then the next day I may do a bit of fishing for Nile Perch and Tilapia on the lake.

As a bit of housekeeping, it seems that text messages sent to us from non-telstra phones only get through sporadically if at all. If you have texted and not received a reply it is most likely that we haven't received it. We will be in London in a week so I assume the phone system in the UK will be a bit better.