Mombasa, Kenya

Although there were bright spots in our visit to Mombasa, what struck me most was the reality of living in a city of  1,495,000 people, whose per capita annual income (in equivalent US dollars) is $3,922.  As we approached the city at about 7:00am, we saw this ferry boat from our balcony.

Such a crush of people on (or waiting to get on) that ferry, and hardly a soul in the first-class cabin upstairs.  Think of the collective effort for so many people to get to that place so early in the morning.  They needed to get where they were going and were willing, day after day, to make that effort.

Later in the day, we set out in 6-passenger four-by-four vehicles en route to Tsavo National Park, about a three-hour drive.  We soon understood why our original plan of traveling by motor coach had to be scrapped: we never would have arrived!  Traffic was absolutely gridlocked.  In the smaller vehicle, our aggressive driver was able to create his own lane, squeezing between the big vans and container trucks,  driving on sidewalks and even using a lane with oncoming traffic.  Those drivers were obviously accustomed to such maneuvers and made room for us.  It was a white-knuckle experience!

Along that three-hour route, we saw how people live…most in corrugated steel lean-tos without electricity, water, or basic sanitation.  Many people walk long distances with yellow plastic tanks to get water from a water cooperative or other trusted source.  Clean water in Mombasa is scarce.  But it was the sheer number of people that left an impression.  We’ll also remember all the children who waved up at us in our Jeep, smiling and blowing us kisses.  We smiled and blew kisses back.

At Tsavo, we set out on safari.  While the sightings were few and often quite far away, Vann was able to get some good photos.

                    Oryx

       This elephant appears red because he’s been bathing in the red-sand mud to cool off

       A pow-wow on the Savanna

Another day, we took a ride on an Arabian Dhou for a sightseeing cruise along Tudor Creek.  A fine lunch of grilled seafood was included, capped off with a Kenyan coffee.  Excellent musicians entertained us.

I’ll leave you with a photo of a flowering shrub I saw growing near Tudor Creek.  I think there is an app that will identify flowers.  Please let me know if you find it.