I got a very special Christmas
present this year—my mom and sister came to visit me in Kenya! I got back here from Johannesburg on
December 19th and they arrived on December 23rd. I picked them up at the airport
very late and they were still willing to open their suitcases that were full of
treasures for me. I’m
currently drinking a lovely cup of coffee from the French press they brought
me.
On the first day we kept things
pretty chill and had lunch with D at Galleria mall. After some relaxing, we had dinner at nearby Osoita, which
inexplicably took about 3 hours.
The food was pretty good, but Amy’s pizza didn’t come until we were
ready to leave.
On Christmas we went back to the
airport because I decided I do not like my family and wanted to send them back
to USA. Just kidding. We caught a short flight on a little
propeller plane to Lamu, and island on the coast. The plane stopped in Malindi to let most of the passenger
out and pick up a few more, including Sonia! She took a bus all the way from Mombasa to have Christmas
with us. We landed in sticky hot
Manda Island at noon and met W, who I would have worked at if I had been able
to go to my original internship on Lamu island. I wasn’t allowed to go because of the security situation
there, but it has improved a lot, so we were able to go there for our
holiday. We still got a lot of
side-eyes from people who thought we shouldn’t go to Lamu, but the island is
very safe. We steered clear of the
mainland and all pirates.
We spent the next few days laying
on the beach, swimming in the beautiful Indian Ocean, and exploring Lamu town,
a very old Swahili town that is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are no cars because the streets
are far to skinny for much more than a few people and a donkey, and all the
buildings are white, some with coral walls. The area is famous for woodworking, and most of the
houses have beautiful carved doors.
We did some shopping and got some amazing souvenirs. At night on the second day we went on a sunset dhow ride and explored the mangroves. |
| Dhow Ride |
We had to say goodbye to Sonia when
we flew back to Nairobi, but after a day of resting we took a magical trip to
Kitengela glass, a glassblowing workshop not far from my house. I had no idea the place was so huge,
filled with weird and amazing sculptures created by a German woman who moved
here 38 years ago. The property is
separated from the Nairobi National Park by a gorge, and you can walk our of a
wire bridge for an amazing view.
That night we went to Talisman, my
favorite restaurant, and had a delicious dinner. I had mushroom gnocchi, Amy had sweet and sour chicken, and
Mom had their famous burger and Dawa (medicine) drink.
We had to go back and get straight
to bed, because on Monday we went to Nairobi National Park! It was just as good the second time,
and the weather was perfect. We
saw three rhinos, tons of various antelope and bushbacks, wildebeest, giraffes,
and best of all, two female lions.
We got to watch them stalk a herd of zebras and then flop down and nap
like big versions of Nick and Lewis.
We capped off the day with long naps followed by dinner and ice cream.
On our last day we walked into the
depths of Rongai, which I don’t do too often because it is really dusty and
loud. It’s a festive season, and
the town drunks all came out to greet and yell at us, ugh. We did find a cool tailor and get to
visit Tusky’s (Walgreen’s #3 and my favorite store at this time). In the afternoon we enjoyed each
other’s company until they left for the airport and then I cried a lot. Then I remembered that my friends sent
me a disc drive for my computer and a ton of movies so I watched The Town and
got happy because I no longer live in Boston. The End
HAPPY NEW YEAR
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