Kenya3

Nov 8th ; Darryn, a friend of Patrick's from Varsity arrived today so much of the morning was spent chatting to him.

Patrick spent the rest of the day laying infront of the TV resting his neck and popping muscle relaxants he got from the Pharmacist yesterday. His neck is much better but still very very sore.

I have spent my day messing around on Facebook, catching up with gossip about life in Milton Keynes - it has been interesting!!!

Went out for dinner at an Ethiopian Restaurant which Darryn knows about. The food was very very good, and the honey wine was even better!!!

Nov 9th ; Today was much the same as yesterday.
By 2pm we were both going up the wall, so went for a walk to see what was on at the local cinema - James Bond should be out by now......
It was but not at this cinema, just re-runs of very old films!!
To console ourselves we went to Nairobi Java Coffee House for some late lunch, then walked back to Wildebeest via the Maasai Market.

Nov 10th ; Today is the day we hope to get the car fixed once and for all!!!!!
We were both up at the crack of dawn chomping at the bit to get to Jass 4x4 so that Jessy could fix the car!!
After a good breakfast and settling the bill, it was time to sit in Nairobi traffic for (hopefully) the last time.

We arrived at Jass, the radiator was out in no time and the clutch was taken off up the other end of the garage to be welded.
4 large pieces of metal later, the clutch is welded, immobile, and on the way back to the car.
The car is in one pieced and ready to hit the road by 12, so we head off into the smog if Nairobi desperate to get out of town and to some fresh air!!!

The Mombasa road is shocking!! The tar is OK until about 5kms from town, then it turns into a potholled, muddy mess!!
It is not helped by the thousands of taxi's which drive up the inside of you to jump the queue, which then, of cause, make the queue worse!!!
After much cursing about taxi's and the state of the road we have to resolve ourselves to the fact that we are not going to make it to the coast today and will need to look for some where to stop.
So as Patrick is driving, I dig out the guide books and waypoint lists and ask Gerty to find something.
Both Gerty and the waypoints have got a campsite listed in Voi, on the edge of Tsavo National Park - Red Elephant Lodge - the waypoint list gave it a good review - so off we go.
Voi was a typical African Village and both of us were starting to get worried when we saw the other hotel's and B&B's there!
But we carried on following the signs hoping they would improve.

As the nose of the car pulled into the entrance of the Red Elephant Lodge, it was like a diamond in the rough!!!!
The place was picturesque.
On the left was the National Park with Impala watching us, on the right the grounds of the lodge are well manacured.
The reception area was decorated with a strong African theme, but no so much it was over done.
The Staff were so friendly and helpful we realy thought we were in the wrong place!!
Especially when we were offered a room to shower in free of charge!
The room was lovley - the beds were set on stone at hip hight off of the floor!!!!!

We parked under a high car-port, where there was enough room to open the tent. For the first time in over a week we could have a nights sleep without the sound fo rain beating on the tent!!!!

Patrick decided that he was in no mood to cook so we took their dinner offer.
A 3 course meal followed - I decided to have meat balls, only to find that they were corned beef balls!!!!! They were actually not bad, and the resident cat seemed to like the one I slipped to her under the table!!!

After a good feed we got into the tent knowing it would be a quiet nights sleep out of the rain!

Nov 11th ; It was only 300km's to the beach so we did not have to get up at the crack of dawn today - but as alway we were both awake then anyway!!!!
The drive was easy because there was new tar the whole way!! We made the most of it, knowing that it would not last for ever!!!

Arriving in Mombasa we were both dreading having to drive through another big city, but it has to be the most civilised city so far!!
The traffic moved, the taxi's tried to move off of the road when they stopped and Patrick only said f**k a few times!

There is a big shopping centre just before the ferry terminal so we stopped there to get some juice - we have both had more that enough of drinking water!!
As we wandered around the juice section Patrick started to get very excited - he had found Foster Clarkes!!!!!!!!!!
For those in the know, you will understand the excitment - for those not in the know, it is a cheap powdered juice which come in a million different flavours, which all taste good!!!!!!
Patrick, James, Johan and I all lived on it while we were in Mali and Ghana, so to see it again was like seeing an old friend!!
We got three 1kg tins and got out before we brought thier whole stock!!!!!!!

The ferry crossing from Mombasa over to Likoni was much easier than expected. You are charged acording to the length of the car - as we pulled up to the pay desk there were markers on the floor to measure the length of the car!!
It cost us Ksh60 (which is roughly 50pence!!) - only problem was that we were classed as a Landrover!!!!!!!!

The drive to Diani Beach was stress-free and we arrived much in need of some smog free r&r!!

Patrick was keen to get some kitesurfing done so we drove the whole lenght of the beach front looking for a kite school with accomadation.
Just as he was loosing hope we come across one called Kennaway.
Pulling in their drive, Patrick is starting to turn into a kid in a sweet shop!!
Mr Kennaway come to great us, Patrick said that he was very keen to do some kiting and can we camp - suddenly the bubble is burst!!
It is his daughter who is in charge of all of the kiting side of things and she is not here AND there is nowhere to camp! Not a happy Patrick!!!!!!!!!
Mr Kennaway offers us a cold beer in condolence and suddenly life is not so bad after alll!!
After a cold beer and a chat we say our goodbyes and head off to look for the campsite Mr Kennaway has reccomended to us.
The Stilts Trees House is a secluded place, which offers camping, set 2 mins walk from the beach. And even better they are in partnership with a bar / restaurant right on the beach - perfect!!!!

A wander down to the beach reveals Forty Theives bar and Alli Barabour Restaurant all right on the beach front!! WOW WHAT A SPOT!!!!!!!!!!
2 very cold beers later and I am feeling extremely relaxed and rather pickled!!!!!

Before we both end up totally pickled we go back to The Stilts to see where the next port of call will be.
So book and maps in hand we climb the stairs up to The Stilton Bar, and sit pondering the maps.

Just after sundown, George - the kitchen come general hand - comes and puts sliced banana on the ledges around where we are sitting. As we are trying to work out why the heck he has just done that for, an unbelievably cute Bush Baby comes down and starts to eat the banana!!
For the next 10mins we were entertained by the Bush Babies coming down for their dinner. They are so cute!!!!

It is recommended to us that we go to Ali Barbars Cave for dinner - it is just over the road.
So off we go.
OMG this place is amazing.
It is a coral cave inwhich a restaurant has been made!! You have to go down some stairs to get in and as we looked up the top of the cave is open to the stars!!! WOW!!!!!!
Patrick has oysters - YUCK - I tried a mixed fish pate, for starters.
For mains Patrick had Fillet of Fish in a champange sauce and I went for Chicken breast stuffed with Red Snapper and Crab pate with a Lobster sauce.
They were both amazing!!

So with a belly full of the best sea food we have had in a very long time, we crawling into bed and digested!!

Patrick has spoken to someone earlier today and had been told that there would not be any wind for then next week, so it was decided that we would not wait around here for the wind.
Tomorrow we would go back into Tanzania