Friday, December 28, 2007

Quick Trip

We left for the coast approximately 36 hours ago, hoping to enjoy a few days on the Indian Ocean. Somewhere along the way, things took a turn and here we are...back in Nairobi again!


We had an awesome train trek out there...it was a 14 hour trip, most of it during the night hours but train travel is just a great way to travel. It included dinner and breakfast, where we got to enjoy time with other travelers from Nigeria and Denmark and we had our own sleeping compartment. The only noteworthy hitch with the train ride between Nairobi and Mombasa was the German and/or South African woman in the compartment next door. While entertaining, her pompous traveling behavior was ridiculous. When the lights went out in our car, she made sure that EVERYONE heard about it, not to mention her “VIP” status, which little did she know, everyone is considered to have. The meals were way too salty and there was no way that she should have to pay for breakfast because apparently she is God's gift to East African cuisine. Mandy and I would like to salute her for the priceless entertainment, her loving character and prize-performing complaint fest. We would also like to salute the Kenya Railway staff (all 12 people that had to deal with her at least once-both on the train and at the office in Nairobi) for resisting the temptation to sneak her into the bathroom and send her through the toilet (a hole in the floor where the tracks are visible below).


Upon our arrival in Mombasa, we took a ferry to the south shore and a matatu to a place called Tiwi Beach. It is said to be a dangerous 3 km walk to the place that we wanted to stay, so we got a lift from a security company that was headed out in that direction. They dropped us off 200 meters from the entrance of the lodge. No more than 60 seconds later, two thugs took our hip pack and ran off into the woods with it. After a chase, reconvening the security outfit, settling down the Kenyan women that had witnessed it all and a ride to the police station in the back of a Kenyan police car (which are much more comfortable than matatus), we found ourselves 500 km out of Nairobi with no money, phone, camera, Bible, journal, hip bag, headlamps, Nalgenes and sunscreen lip gloss. Thanks to Mandy's great memory, we were able to call Gideon in Nairobi from the police station when he told us of an Anglican Guest House in Mombasa (20km north of where we were) that we could ask to borrow money from. A few phone calls later, a trip to Mombasa in the police car and with extraordinary generosity from the Anglican Guest House, we had $50 to get us back to Nairobi...and a bit of extra for some food for our hungry bellies. We ended up walking around Mombasa for 5 hours just to check it out (although it was extremely dead because it was election day). Although many have ranted and raved about how great Mombasa is, it wasn't quite what we had anticipated-partly due to our frustration with what had just happened and partly due to how much was closed due to the elections. We enjoyed sodas along the coast of the Indian Ocean, stuffed our faces with Indian food and caught an overnight bus to Nairobi.


We arrived in Nairobi at 6 AM this morning, eager to get things sorted out, to get home before the election results are announced and to see if any of our stolen items would be covered by insurance (which they are not:( ). Thanks to Gideon, email and Adam (in Tacoma), we were able to get stuff canceled right away and will be up and functioning again soon. We are safe, well and rebounding from our little escapade.


As for the elections, stay tuned-we will learn more today!


Well, our 5 day trip to the coast turned into 36 hours. The sour taste has dissolved and we will try again sooner than later...perhaps when our friends Robby and Karl come out from Tacoma...next week. On second thought, this is the 2nd time that Mandy and I have been robbed near a beach-maybe we will stay put or go to the mountains:).

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