Trains, Planes And....: Mombasa

With a new camera in hand and putting the unfortunate events in Nairobi behind us we boarded a bus to the coastal town of Mombasa where we spotted a few giraffes, elephants, and zebras who got us excited about the upcoming safari. 8 hours later we arrived at the busy bus station in rush hour. Nairobi is very modern and developed but Mombasa is closer to what you would expect an African town to be. We knew we would be staying on a farm but no more than that. We arrived just as the sun was going down to my cousin's farm in a under developed suburb just outside of central Mombasa, needless to say this area has seen little or no tourists so neighborhood people were staring at us with a mix of apprehension and curiosity. We settled into our room and got friendly with the many geckos, lizards, and millipedes that we would be sleeping with for the next few nights.

The next morning we awoke to blistering heat and a fury of activity around the farm. They have 2500 chickens 50 goats, fruit and a well where the entire neighborhood comes to buy their water. We pitched in around the farm wherever we would, collecting eggs, grazing goats, picking fruit and helping deliver water. They also have an extra house on the property where they let an African family stay. There is a mother, father and 6 boys who stay in a tiny shed with no power but it was amazing to share their food and the kids played soccer with us every day after school.

Mombasa also has some of the nicest beaches on Mainland Africa and with the blistering heat the water was a welcome refuge from the sun. If we had any bad feelings about Kenya because of Nairobi they were gone after spending time in Mombasa, great food, pristine beaches, mellow attitudes, and most of all the amazing kids who even piled into the back of a pick-up to take us to our bus to Arusha, which is our next stop and the beginning of our Safari.