Road Trip

4.45 am. An early morning start; bacon sanis and sausages cooking, the cold box filled and the car is packed. The three of us get in the car and make our way to pick up the last person. 6.15 am we leave Nairobi and our road trip starts. There was a foreigner among us from Moldova (a place I had never heard of until recently) and seeing her appreciate the things that we would never normally pay much attention to was quite sweet. Camera at hand, she was fascinated by the Vervet and Sykes monkeys and the baboons; the different shades of green that the forests were splashed in, the small towns along the way and the two dung beetles that were crossing the road. Over 200 photos were taken that afternoon. On our way I warned her that if she needed to stop for the toilet, it would have to be on the side of the road as the petrol station ones are not exactly clean...one of the stops was quite an ordeal- firstly it took us quite a while to find a place where there were no people, then we had to scramble over a small hill and fight our way through the bushes to find an appropriate spot- even then I stepped on a stick and cut myself, and she was not too comfortable herself. Despite this, the journey continued and through the Shimba Hills we enjoyed a nice, cold Savannah Dry. The deep, red soil against the various greens, the cloudless blue sky and the cacophony of sounds made the long thirteen hour journey slightly more bearable. It is quite amazing to think that the approximate 500 kms took that long...the 100km speed limit on the highway (not a dual carriage way either), the road works, the cows blocking the road, the trucks and the rocky road through the Shimbas all contributed to this- however, with good company it wasn’t so bad. A bonus was spotting an elephant not so far off of the road, although the girls got a bit distracted when the boys fumbled around in the back of the car looking for the bigger lens for the camera! Eventually, we arrived safely in warm, humid Diani. A ‘Rangita’ serving of spice gold and juice was definitely needed. Although we all had good intentions to make our way out, our tiredness overcame us and we fell asleep early.

The next day we were looking forward to a nice day in the sun; the weather disagreed and gave us rain. This did not stop us. You see, at the coast whether rain or shine it is still warm. There are no exact seasons in Kenya, only the rainy season and the dry season and at the moment it is the former. However, with it still being 28 degrees we spent the day in the pool with drinks, went down to our local beach bar ‘Forty Thieves’ and enjoyed a few rounds of the Kenyan cocktail ‘Dawas’ after which we went to the popular restaurant ‘Aniellos’ for a late lunch.

As it was my best friend’s birthday, his dad had booked us a table at this restaurant known as Ali Barbers Cave- an actual cave which was found on this piece of land and although converted to a restaurant, barely any changes have been made to the original features. There is an opening over the dining area where you can look up and see the stars on a cloudless night, and when it rains they have a roof that is pulled over. After a 2.5 hour dinner of prawns for starters, Kingfish for mains, and a flambé for dessert, all enjoyed with some French wine, we were all quite content. We then made our way next door, back to the local beach bar for a Saturday night of shots, doubles and dancing. Starting off with a jagerbomb to kick start the evening, we progressed to springboks and gin and tonics. Despite the ‘low’ temperature at this time of year, we found ourselves quite often down on the beach needing the winds to cool us down.

Of the four days spent in Diani, only one day was cloudless which meant a day spent lounging around the pool was a must. Needless to say, although I had cream on, the sun here is very strong and I came away with a very sunburnt back!

On return to Nairobi, I took Air Kenya and flew out of Diani. On board the small plane, we took off over the sea and had stunning views of the endless white sand and crystal blue water. What a spectacular site! On route to Nairobi, Mount Kilimanjaro was seen on the left hand side, although the snow capped peaks were not visible because of the cloud cover.

What a fantastic weekend and what a wonderful place to call home.