Daycation

This weekend I treated myself to a daycation in Shela, the next village over on Lamu island.  While it is very close and easy to get to, I rarely go to Shela because it can kind of be a hassle to go to the beach when you don’t have a place to cool down/ shower, etc.  That’s why I was so happy when the (my opinion) best hotel and restaurant in Shela was super accommodating and allowed me to be a “day visitor”  at the hotel for the day.  That meant I could have a safe place to leave all my things and a shower to rinse off after the beach!  It was fantastic.

You can take a quick boat to Shela, but I opted to walk because sometimes my shy side appears and I do not feel like haggling with boat captains.  It is a really nice 45-minute walk, so I actually prefer to walk.  The path along the seafront is bordered on one side by tons of trees dripping with vines and there are all kinds of birds sounding hella tropical, so it is very relaxing and pretty.

When I got to the hotel I chilled in the pool, which is under a couple of baobab trees and boasts some beach beds.  The pool itself is really neat because it is very deep, but has varying levels around the perimeter where you can sit in shallow water and cool off.  The surroundings are very private and relaxing, so I decided to hang out there for an hour.  I was even served a mango juice.   Later on I walked all the way down the beach to where the channel opens up to the Indian ocean and played in the waves for a while.  It is unbelievable how warm the water is here.  It doesn’t even function that well to cool you off after sunbathing, but luckily it was a relatively cloudy day. 

After I played, I treated myself to a meal, spending more money in a sitting than I usually do in two weeks here.  I felt shame and reckless abandon.  I have been planning and saving for this for a month, so the shame eventually dwindled as the foods appeared before me.   The waiter was very impressed, noting that I “know how to eat.”  I’ll admit that I was concerned about my ability to walk home after the spread, but I successfully ate everything I ordered.  I started with two cheese-stuffed samosas.  Even though I eat a lot of samosas here, I was concerned about eating as much cheese as possible during this food event, so I went for it.  They included some fine stinky cheeses with camembert for creamy meltiness and even a dipping sauce.  After that I had crab, lemon and rocket linguine that included heaping, heaping quantities of crab.  I thought it was all piled on the top for effect, but as I reached the inner pasta layers I realized that the crab was still going strong.  It was fantastic.  After that I had fried calamari rings that boasted TWO sauces, and finished it all off with a refreshing crab and avocado hand roll.  Around this time the owner wandered by, nodded, and said ”Good for you.”  Good for me, indeed.  Having completed my four savory courses, I completed my meal with an espresso for power and a rich chocolate marquise with a salted caramel crust and homemade vanilla ice cream.  Satisfied and in pain, I staggered home and endured the food sweats without electricity for the remainder of the afternoon.  A solid daycation was enjoyed.  The end.