It’s been 50 days since the 5 Adventurers left Phuket, Thailand so it seems about time that we got back to a beach. We’re still on the Indian Ocean but this time on the western side in Diani Beach. Often tagged as the best beach in Africa and one of the top beaches in the world, we couldn’t pass up the chance to spend some days relaxing in the white sands and blue waters.
But not today. This was a travel day getting here from our overnight in Nairobi. After many extra hours in the car yesterday no one was looking forward to it, but at least it wasn’t a car. This time we took to the skies – Kenya Air – on a short flight to Mombasa.
From there Brian and Tiffany started perhaps the most nerve wracking adventure – driving in Kenya. We mentioned yesterday how creative the Kenyans can be in using the road and today Brian got to experience it firsthand.
He started off terrific – well not exactly. As long as you don’t count pulling out of the rental car spot and immediately driving the wrong way in a one way airport parking lot. No big deal, he only got 20 yards before he pulled back in to park because there were multiple warning lights on the dash (trunk ajar and emergency brake on). While we were diagnosing the beeps and flashes, three female officers of the law wandered over and asked to see his license and information on the rental car. They proceeded to give him advice/lectures/warnings/grief/sign reading lessons for several minutes. We really weren’t sure where things were going to go – or if we were going to get to go – but eventually they let us leave, somewhat grudgingly and without a fine. And then we turned the wrong way and almost drove to the airport control tower. Sigh.
We figured out how to leave the airport and drove through the crazy traffic of Mombasa. The Kenyan government is hard a work building new highways so construction is everywhere and sometimes the ‘official’ route is over a couple of curbs into oncoming traffic. As we headed south the google maps instructions were to ‘take the ferry’ so we did – along with tons of pedestrians and tuk tuks.
We stopped for a quick lunch and arrived at our rental around 3pm. We chose the pool today and decided to save the famous beach for tomorrow. It’s expected to be sunny and 90 degrees while we’re here so we should have plenty of opportunity. We ended the day on a sweet note and relief we have no plans tomorrow (other than school of course).
5 Adventures Together 