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Masai with cell phone |
After the four
days in Masai Mara Park I was looking forward to Mombasa. The flight was
uneventful. The only strange thing is that Kenyans don’t seem to care
about the silly ban on using your cell phone on the plane. Fully half of
them were gabbing on their cell phones and text messaging the whole trip
back. Almost ALL of Kenya is covered by cell phone coverage. In
fact Kenya, has for the most part, skipped the hard wire telephone and gone
directly wireless phones. Now if they could only do the same for the Internet
where the words “broadband” and “wireless” don’t exist - even in the capitol
city of Nairobi.
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Punda Milia |
The roads in Kenya
are either wonderful or horrible - no in between. There is a nice new two
lane highway that goes almost to Mombasa from Nairobi. The part that
is finished is nice, but about 60km north of Mombasa the new road ends and the
rest is unbelievably rough. I thought
roads on the island of Chuuk in the South Pacific were bad but these are worse.
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ruins at Malindi |
At 7:30 in the
morning a small van arrived at the hotel with a driver and guide. I kept
expecting them to take me to the tourist bus. It turns out there was just
me and one other person. The guide fills
up the journey with interesting tidbits. For instance: the local poohbah has 120 wives, including
our guide’s sister. My query to him if Sleepworld makes a bed big enough
for 121 people is met with gales of laughter
Kilaguni Serena Lodge |
When I checked in,
I am shocked to find that I have been upgraded to one of their executive suites
which go for $550 a night! It has a huge living room-dining room, master
bedroom, multiple bathrooms - the whole
nine yards. Looking outside the living room window I can see a pond where
animals graze and drink. Too bad I’m booked in here for only for one
night.
THE NEXT DAY -IN PINEWOOD VILLAGE
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Pinewood Village |
I asked the
manager why it’s called Pinewood since I don’t see any pine trees nearby – at
least the type of pine trees I’m used to.
I’m surprised to find out that it was named “Pinewood” by the owner
because the area reminded him of a place he used to live – Vancouver, Canada.
Imagine travelling half way around the world to Africa and find by some quirk of fate you're staying in a resort that was built by someone who lived a few miles from your home.
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Leopard Eel |
Imagine travelling half way around the world to Africa and find by some quirk of fate you're staying in a resort that was built by someone who lived a few miles from your home.
The diving here is
okay - nothing spectacular. Most of my dives have been with just me
and Caroline, a tall blonde from Switzerland. The funny thing is that
since I’ve arrived in Kenya I’ve seen a total of three North Americans - it’s
really a European destination. Too bad - if people realized how gorgeous
it is here and how much value they get for their dollar; they’d flock here in
droves despite the twenty hour travel time
KISTIE MARINE PARK AND MPUNGUTI MARINE RESORT
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My personal diving Dhow |
While I had not been impressed with the diving in Kenya so far, the diving here is fantastic. The deep colours of the reef and the amazing amount of fish have me checking to make sure that my regulator doesn’t fall out of my open mouth. They are the two best dives since Micronesia. There are lots of Manta Rays, eels, and herds of sea turtles.
When I get back to
the lodge for lunch I am in for another surprise. The agenda called for
an original “Swahili Lunch.” When I hear the word “original” I tend to
get nervous, but like my recent experience in the Queen Charlotte Islands, the
lunch lives up to its billing.
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Mangrove Crab Feed |
Today is my last
full day in Kenya. Tomorrow afternoon I begin the long trip back.
Hope to be home sometime on Saturday.
MONKEY BUSINESS
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DON'T FEED THE MONKEYS!! |
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Monkey Sentry |
So forget about my earlier warnings about charging leopards and stampeding angry elephants. If you come to Africa, whatever you do "DON'T FEED THE MONKEYS"
Hope to get my stuff off the balcony during the changing of the guard and begin the 24 hour marathon to Toronto and then home on Saturday.
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