Beach Time, Part II (Watamu)

January is a cold month in most of the world - but not in Kenya!  What better way to celebrate being in a warm climate for the *winter* than a trip to the beach?  For this trip, we decided to try out Watamu - this is a beach town right north of Malindi.  For those of you that have been following this blog since I began it back in November, Watamu/Malindi is slightly north of Mombasa.  A total of six of us went on the trip, and was a great mix of people - folks that I know well (Jessica, Vicky, and Lidia) and folks that I know, but who I hadn’t had a chance to spend a lot of time with (Julia (Jules) and Ellen).

We flew out of Nairobi on Friday evening.  We had a wonderful “pre departure” happy hour Tusker in the airport lounge (I use that term VERY liberally, as it’s a counter with two tables).  Another great Kenya Airways experience (I swear that airline beats American any day).  We landed in Malindi around 7, and took a cab ride out to Watamu is a resort town (well, an African resort town, which is not the same as Mexico or the Caribbean) that is extremely popular with European (especially Italian) travelers.  The climate is very hot and humid - kind of like Texas, where the temperature doesn’t change much, even after the sun goes down.  We got to our hotel, had some dinner on the docks overlooking the ocean and headed to Kalahari, the Watamu hotspot.  

I still can’t get used to these beach bars - there is a lot of prostitution that happens - you see a lot of young African women with old European men, and young African men with older European women.  It’s very interesting to observe, that’s for sure.  The African men are all very forward - you can’t dance for more than 5 minutes without someone sidling up to you.  We were all dancing in a group and trying the “don’t make eye contact” technique.  There was one guy who kept trying to get in on our circle...when none of us would acknowledge him, he got even more bold.  He kept saying “jambo....why are you ignoring me???”  It was hilarious, and needless to say, that became the saying of the weekend.  We danced until the wee hours and then took a tuk tuk back to our hotel.  A tuk tuk is basically a three wheeled motor bike with a bench in back that is enclosed.  We definitely tested its limits by cramming all of us inside - and Vicky kept taking flash photos and blinding the driver!  Good times.

Saturday dawned a bit cloudy, so we made a trip out to the Gedde ruins.  The ruins are from an ancient civilization and are very well preserved.  Not much is known about the people who lived there - they are not documented in any histories.  However, they were quite wealthy, and traded quite extensively - ancient Chinese coins and Venetian glass were found amongst the ruins.  While there, we climbed to the top of a VERY tall structure that overlooked the ruins.  The lookout structure was built by one of the nearby universities.  I’m not overly scared of heights, but this was pretty scary!  There were also lots of monkeys around!  After we left the ruins, we purchased some freshly cut coconuts and drank the water for a snack.  We spent the afternoon shopping, then went back to the hotel for a quick tanning session (the sun had since come out) followed by sundowners, another dinner on the dock, and more Kalahari.  More craziness, more dancing, more fun.

Sunday we went on a snorkling trip. Watamu is actually an aquatic nature preserve, so the snorkling was really great.  Saw all kinds of fish, and I really enjoyed the boat ride as well.  Sunday afternoon we all just relaxed, rotating between the pool at the hotel and the beach.  It was so nice to have a day to just sit and do nothing, when so much of our lives is go-go-go.  Everyone left on Monday evening, but I stayed - I had an extra day off on Monday, so I decided to stay in Watamu rather than going back to Nairobi.  After everyone left, I pretty much went to bed - no more Kalahari for me - I was all worn out.

Monday was very...interesting.  The day before, I had set up a trip to go and see the dolphin families that live outside the reef of the national park.  Our hotel didn’t have any trips, but they did have a representative that basically put you on a boat with others doing the same trip.  So, I met with the “Captain” bright and early Monday morning.  As we were walking to the areas where the boats left, he happened to mention that the boat I was going on was also going snorkeling, and that they would just drop me off after the dolphin bit.  Well, I figured might as well snorkel again - I didn’t have anything else to do.  So, we get to the areas with the boats...and the “Captain” points to a boat that is LEAVING and says...that’s your boat.  So I have to run through the water (up to my hips) to catch up with this boat.  I climb on board - quite a site, as you can imagine, look up and realize that everyone on the boat is Italian.  I look like the “dumb American”, getting on the boat late and making a scene.  Sigh.  So I decide to go sit on the top platform of the boat to get away from the prying Italian eyes.  When I get up there, one of the African guys on the boat says that I’m getting a call...on his phone.  I answer..and it’s the “Captain” from earlier.  He tells me that he’s actually put me on a boat that is on a full day trip - and that I can just stay for the whole day for the price I paid.  Fun - but no one on the boat spoke English!  It was a great day - dolphin watching, snorkeling, swimming, a great lunch of fresh prawns, shrimp, and fruit, monkey and bird safari, and a trip past a flock of flamingos.  It was really an incredible day - but a really quiet one for me!  The boat dropped me off at my hotel at 5pm - hilarious that I left at 8am with the intention of being gone an hour, and ended up on a boat full of Italians all day.  So much fun though.  I boarded the plane back to Nairobi that night happy and rested.  What a great weekend!

The photos above and below are of our hotel rooms - I wanted to give a picture of Kenyan beach accommodations.

The photos below are of the Gedde Ruins

The people who lived in Gedde were Muslim - this is where the imam would stand to lead prayers.  Here's me doing my best "don't cry for me Argentina" pose

Here is the terrifying lookout - it's so high!!  Can't believe I climbed up it - and even more impressed that I was able to climb down!

Here we all are at the top of the lookout

So high!!

Climbing down...do I look terrified?  Because I am!!

Treating ourselves to fresh coconuts after seeing the ruins.  The folks outside cut them up right in front of us - once we had finished drinking the water, they cut out the flesh so we could eat it - what a refreshing snack!

Shopping in Watamu

Below are some of the amazing views from our hotel - so beautiful.  The Indian Ocean is great - the water is warm and clear, and there aren't any huge waves or jellyfish!

Here we are leaving for our snorkeling trip on Sunday morning.  Jessica got to drive the boat!

 Clowning around on the top of the boat - good thing Vicky had a life preserver!

Jules and me snorkeling

Back from the snorkeling trip - ready for some hard core beach time!

Sundowners at the hotel bar.  They had pina coladas with fresh pineapple and coconut - soooo good.

Drinks at Savannah (a local restaurant) before heading out to Kalihari.  Yes, we are definitely "glowing" in these pictures - it's so freaking hot on the coast!

Crammed in the back of a hot and sweaty tuk tuk - pretty sure we exceeded the capacity limit!

Random, but I wanted to show everyone the amazing fruits that I get to eat here.  This was my breakfast on Monday morning, right before my Italian adventure!

First stop on the Italian adventure was dolphin watching - I saw at least 20 dolphins - they came up alongside the boat and were chasing us.  

Next stop was an animal and bird safari.  We got up close and personal with the monkeys.  I even got to feed them bread!  I'm a little jittery around monkeys - they are not my favorite b/c they can be aggressive - but even I had to admit that these guys were cute!

Lunch was fresh shrimp, prawns, and fruit.  Here I am with the chefs - I hung out with them, rather than the rest of the tour folks, because the chefs actually spoke English!

Last stop of the day was to see flamingos.  We brought the boat close, and everyone started clapping to get the birds to fly.  It was really amazing - so colorful!  After this, it was back to the hotel for one more fresh pina colada - then a flight home!