Surprise from Brian: Lamu / Shela, Kenya

We arrived back in Nairobi from Rwanda the night of Tuesday, August 25th. That evening we had to unpack and repack for our next trip that left early the next morning. I did not know where this next trip would lead as it was a surprise from Brian in early celebration of our 1 year wedding anniversary. From the packing tips he provided, it was clear this would be a beach destination....so I started thinking of possible locations but quickly stopped myself because I didn't want to ruin my surprise!

We headed to the airport around 7:30am, the trip there included running a few last minute errands, but we made it with plenty of time to spare. You never know about Nairobi traffic, it's much like LA, which I do not miss!

As we approached the ticket counter for Flight 540, Brian glanced back at me; the sign overheard stated Lamu/Malindi. Well, we had already been to Malindi so my deductive reasoning skills told me we were flying to Lamu. Woohoo! Early on in our Kenya stay we read about Lamu and what a relaxing beach retreat it was but didn't think we had time for it. Well Brian worked his magic and we were headed to Lamu for the next 5 days.

We arrived at the Lamu airport mid afternoon on Wednesday and were immediately greeted by a guide from the hotel. He lead us to our taxi which turned out to be a small boat. I looked around and flashed back to when I was in Venice, Italy on a highschool trip. The roads were water canals carved throughout the city. This view reminded me much of that first trip abroad. Just about a 10 minute boat ride to Kijani House in Shela not far from the town of Lamu.

Shela is an old Muslim Swahili town with about 800 people in total. There are no cars here, only donkeys. Kijani House is an Arabic style home converted into an 11 room hotel. It's absolutely beautiful. At one time this town used to be a trading hub where it received its Arabic style influence which can easily be seen in the architecture and the people. It's a lovely place.

How easy it was to get sucked into the sound of the waves crashing outside our hotel room. Shela's heat and slowness soothes you into a time warp where you easily lose track of the time. The next few days consisted of a walking tour in Lamu town, visiting the local markets, walking past camels in the street and trying not to step in donkey poo - you can tell this has a story behind it but all I will say is...."Brian what's that smell?"

Peering out from our hotel balcony was as if you were looking through a window to the past, with dhow boats casting their sails into the sunset. We took a dhow ride one evening and found ourselves so at peace, covered under the blanket of warmth from the sun and the trickling sound of water splashing against the boat. The next morning we took a dhow ride to a small village of ruins dating back to the 16th century. It was truly as if we had taken a trip back in time. This was definitely a different side of Kenya.

Food was spectacular, fish caught locally and fresh the very same day. Brian dined on oysters a couple of nights brought to the front steps of our hotel from a man who owned a small shop in Shela town. I indulged on coconut rice and veg curry with yummy veggie samosas accompanied by chilled chardonnay.

The sound of prayer calls in the distance filled the air several times a day. This was a new experience for us. Our last day in Shela we spent some time at the beach in front of another hotel called Peponi and on our walk back, a man stopped Brian and I to tell me to cover up. I was wearing my bikini and had my legs covered but apparently I was being inappropriate. It was in no way intentional as I didn't think anything of it as we left the beach and I saw other tourists wearing similar get up. I quickly put my shirt over my wet suit and hurried back to the hotel. Comment: Keeping women covered from head to toe is a reflection of a man's issue not a woman's issue in this world......

On our day of departure we were scheduled to fly out of Kiwayu back to Nairobi. Kiwayu is a small island about 1.5 hours away by speedboat or 7 hours by dhow. Now I'm not sure how familiar you are with the fact that I tend to get seasick from time to time. When Brian told me that we'd have to take a boat ride to our departing airport and the options were either super highflying crazy speedboat or long enduring ebbing and flowing dhow ride under the hot sun, what do you think I said? "How much is a plane ticket?" "A lot, but if you can't handle it then we'll fly" he responded. So to save some money, he drugged me and put me on a speedboat. I barely remember the ride but do recall dry heaving once.

We finally arrived at Kiwayu around 11am and took a Range Rover to the Kiwayu Safari Resort. We had a few hours until our flight so hung out there and had a nice lunch. The beach was beautiful. I don't recall too much of it because I again was drugged with some dramamine equivalent. That stuff was so powerful, it definitely had a lot of antihistamine in it. I sat inside and stared out at the ocean while Brian went swimming. He took many pictures of me in my groggy state but I will not post those here!

While at Kiwayu, Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft) was flying overhead in his helicopter looking for new real estate. We were also told by the owner's friend that Richard Branson (owner of Virgin Airlines) vacations there often.

It came time for us to catch our flight so the resort took us to the 'airport' *insert: field*. There was a small, maybe 12 seater, plane waiting for us and another couple from Spain to take us back to Nairobi. We climbed aboard and headed down to the end of the field, turned around, and then gunned it. We were up in the air in no time. We made a quick stop back in Lamu (which showed as full when Brian tried to book tickets, hence the reason we had to pick the plane up in Kiwayu) to drop off and pick up other passengers. That's when we snapped the picture of the plane.

It was just about an hour back to Nairobi and smooth sailing the whole way. It was our last night in Nairobi. The next day we were moving to Ghana. I never thought I'd say this but I miss Nairobi. Ghana just hasn't stacked up so far but I know we've got to give it time......

Being our last night, we went to the famous/touristy restaurant, Carnivore. Apparently back in the day they used to serve up all sorts of game meat but that night the only thing exotic on the menu was ostrich meatballs. Brian wasn't impressed so he just got chicken. I had pizza.

Asante sana Kenya for all the wonderful memories!