Lamu

May 7th, 2009 by Fleur Verhoeven

Hi everyone!

Sorry I haven’t written for a while. As you might know, I went to the coast for a week and got back last Monday. My week off was great and it really felt like I was on holiday . Mombasa and Lamu were very hot, which was so nice compared to the ‘cold’ here.

So let’s start from the beginning. I left on Monday after having worked in the morning. I baked myself some pancakes for the 15 hour train ride and packed my bags. Around 5 I took a matatu into Nairobi. It was pouring rain, so we didn’t go very fast. It had already been 6, so I seriously though I was going to miss my train. Luckily I got there in time, to see Robin, Kate and Dannie (3 other volunteers I was going with) waiting for me. We had booked a 2d class cabin, so we all had a bed to sleep in. At 7 sharp the train started moving. We looked at each other in disbelief, because we were going sooo slow. I now understood why it takes over 15 hours to get there, because we didn’t go any faster than 50 kmph! The train ride wasn’t too bad though, even though I kept waking up at night. Around 7.30 the next morning we were told there had been an accident on the railway track. We made up some funny stories on what could have happened, but never found out. Luckily there were a couple of buses waiting to take us to Mombasa. In the end we were on the bus for another 2 hours. All of a sudden it had gotten super hot. You could feel we were coming closer to the coast. When we finally got to Mombasa we took a cab to the hotel we were staying at and took a shower, before heading into town. We spent the rest of the day looking around in the old town, in and around Fort Jesus and sat on this little beach outside Fort Jesus for a bit. At night we went out for dinner, played some cards at the hotel and went to bed, because we had booked the 9 o’clock bus to Lamu for the next morning.

The next morning we had breakfast in our room and took a tuk tuk to the bus station, which was fun, cause I had never been in one . The bus ride was sooo hot. While we were on the bus there was this guy who was promoting this natural medicine. Everyone seemed very interested in what he had to say. He had this bottle of water and dropped one tiny pill in which made the water pink. Then he shook it a couple of times and the water became clear again. It seemed a bit freaky, but people actually ended up buying his stuff. It was quite interesting haha. We were glad to finally reach the harbor in Mokowe after being on that bus for over 6 hours. We took a dhow (type of boat they use) to Lamu and finally had the feeling of being on holiday. We had found a hotel in one of our travel guides, so decided to go and look for it. In front of the hotel was a man standing who immediately started calling the owner, but without any luck, so he showed us to a house he knew about that we could rent. It was GORGEOUS! There was an outside kitchen (with palm roof), 2 shower, toilet, 2 double beds and 2 singles, fans and even a rooftop! And the best thing was that he gave us a pretty good deal. I only ended up paying 2500 ksh for 4 nights, which is really cheap. Apparently the guy (Dr. Ziwa, which means milk, even though we never found out why he was called this), was also a tour guide and chairman of something important haha, so he offered to take us on a tour of Lamu the next morning. We hadn’t had anything planned yet, so agreed to do it. After he left we decided to go and have a drink at one off the seafront restaurants (Seaside Hotel). If you’re planning on going to Lamu you have to go there. The food is amazing and very cheap. Sitting on the rooftop, you look out over the ocean, while people walk by. It was such a nice place! I really miss it.
At night we went out for dinner and played cards again, but this time on our private rooftop . The next morning Dr. Ziwa picked us up at the house and took us on a tour through Lamu. We got to see a lot and learned a lot about the way people live on Lamu. I don’t know if any of you have seen the movie “Pippi in Taka Tuka Land”, but for me it was exactly like Lamu. One of those places I had dreamed to go to as a child . The rest of the day we spend in Shela, which is a 45 min. walk from Lamu and the nearest beach. We lay on the beach the rest of the afternoon and went out for dinner again at night. Friday Robin and I went into Lamu and looked around in all the little shops. We also met with a woman, who did Henna paintings, who we had met the other day on the beach. We had promised her we would come back, so she could do our paintings, so did that on Friday. They look really nice and apparently last for about 2 weeks. The rest of the day we spend at the beach again. While we were on our way, some guy asked us if we wanted to go by donkey. Of course we wanted to try this, so we both got on. I felt so bad for the donkey. It was actually really difficult to stay balanced. I almost fell of a couple of times and was soo sore afterwards, but it was also so much fun! I will upload the photo’s as soon as I got home. The beach was really nice and we just lay there for hours. I got really sunburned, but I guess that’s what happens if you’re too stubborn to put sunblock on . We also met this crazy French guy, who was in Shela for a month. He was there to make a movie on ‘Nothingness’, but surprisingly the movie never made it , so now he’s just enjoying his days off. The next day was Saturday already and we had planned a dhow trip. The dhow captain picked us up at nine and took us to his dhow. After being on the boat for a while he got his fishing gear out: a wooden plank, with fishing line attached to it, with a hook and rusty nail as weight. We actually caught a couple of fish, one of which we had to throw back, because it was poisonous (nice!). it was a lot of fun, but it got even better when we got to the beach where the man were preparing the fish for us on open fire, while we went for a swim. It really felt like paradise! White beaches, clear water, palm trees….ow how I miss it! The fish was delicious! The had even prepared a salad and had some bread for us. After lunch we went for another swim, before heading back to Lamu. It had been a pretty amazing experience. Around 3 we were back again and I had been thinking about getting braids (I know, so touristy, but just one of those things I wanted to do haha), so while I was going into a salon to check the prices I met this guy, who told me he had a sister who could do it for a lot less, so I thought “Why not?!”. We got to his house, where apparently he lived with his whole family and introduced me to his sister. When we had agreed on a price (ow yes I’m a pro at bargaining right now haha), I told them I would go and have a shower to wash my hair, but immediately got taken upstairs to choose a shampoo and conditioner, so they would do it for me. Inside I was laughing so hard. I was standing there, in Lamu, with this family I had just met 5 minutes ago, with my head over a bucket, while the girl was washing my hair. If you could have seen me…:). She took me inside and told me to sit on this dirty old pillow while she sat beside me and started braiding. After a while her cousin came in and started helping out as wel, followed by big momma, who lay down on another dirty pillow on the concrete floor with a cigarette in her mouth, smoking like crazy. I wish I taken a photo. After 3 or 4 hours she was finally finished and yes, I looked ridiculous haha. I was so embarrassed! I went back to the house, hoping I would get used to it, because I had paid quite a lot of money for it. Even though I still feel pretty stupid, it doesn’t look as bad as the first day haha. That night was my last night so we went out for dinner (again) and sat on our rooftop for a while.

The next morning I had to catch a show back to the harbor, so got there at 8.30. We finally left after nine and got on the bus in Mokowe. The bus ride was horrible. The busdriver wasn’t quite in a hurry, so stopped every once in a while, having lunch, while leaving us inside the the bus (that he didn’t turn of :s), which was burning hot. It had been 5.30 already when I got to Mombasa, so I quickly got something to eat and took a tuk tuk to the railway station where Elly and Trish were already waiting for me. Luckily I slept a lot better on my way back. Even though it was still very hot and I was still sticky from that horrible long bus ride. When we woke up the next morning it had gotten a lot colder. We arrived in Nairobi just after 10 and took a matatu back ‘home’. It was so nice to be back at the house. Unfortunately there was still no power. It had gone off the Thursday before I left, so that was a bummer, but I was just really happy to be able to sleep in my own bed again, not sweating haha. The next day I went back to orphanage. It was so nice to see all the children again. I realized how much I had actually missed them. Around 12 Robin called me, because she had arrived in Gathanji. She will be staying here for her last month, working at El-Shaddai.

The next morning we went to the orphanage and I finally got to teach a little bit. It was really fun to do. Although it didn’t really feel like teaching. We just wrote some sums on the board, while the children had to write down the answers. Every time they finished one they would call out “teacher!” and we would come and check them.Today we basically did the same thing, but this time the teacher asked us to write down 5 English words in capital letters, which they had to copy in lower case. They didn’t quite get it at first, but after a while they finally got the hang of it haha. After work we had lunch at the house and decided to go into town, so I could finally write my blog. I guess we’ve been here for over 2 hours now, so have to get back.

I hope I didn’t forget anything, otherwise I’ll write about it next time. Meanwhile I only have a week left. I’m sooo excited to go back home. I’m really counting the days. i hope to write again, before I leave and otherwise I will when I get home.

Love you all!
Fleur

e took off. Going fishing for about an hour