Shortly after Easter there was another long vacation due to a former President's funeral, labor day and Eid, so we headed to the Coast. This was not the typical family holiday as it involved a fair amount of moving around, and was not the most successful vacation we have had, but maybe that is because we generally have been quite lucky in past vacations!
Andrea and the kid first had a wonderful 24 hours at the Serena Beach Resort near Mombasa which included lots of fun at the kids club, in the pool and a night at Fort Jesus for the Light Show. But then when they came to meet me in Diani they had a nightmare journey waiting for the ferry to cross over South from Mombasa island, with the total trip taking almost 4 hours instead of less than 2 hours.
Eventually they reached me in time for dinner at Ali Barbour's Cave, a very picturesque restaurant in a cave (surprisingly) which is nice and romantic, though being by the Coast, has a lot of sea-food (not to Andrea's taste) and being fairly upmarket, had small portions at slightly inflated prices (again, not to Andrea's taste) and no kids menu of course. Anyway, the venue was nice, and it was a worthwhile experience on the whole.
That night was spent at Stilts, a backpacker place, where we had a cheap cottage, surrounded by forest and birds which doesn't help get a good night's sleep. It does not have a pool, but there is a very nice (and actually not too expensive) place across the road called Flamboyant that lets people come and use their nice pool and beach as long as you buy food or drink (this is quite a common arrangement along the Coast), which is what i had done whilst waiting for the girls, and what we did the next morning after breakfast.
We then wanted to visit a Boardwalk over the mangroves at Gazi further South, but as it was Sunday morning everyone was at Church, and when we finally found it, it had begun to rain, so we changed our minds and just went straight to our hotel for the next two nights, Shimoni Reef Lodge, which was booked because I thought it was the nicest place around in a village without many options (though it turns out there might have been nicer places, it was hard to tell if they were open or not).
After lunch, and playing some board games whilst it was raining, we went to the Shimoni Slave Caves, where Arab slave traders kept East African Slaves once they had been obtained inland, and until they were ready for onwards shipment. It was quite grim to think the poor slaves had to live in these caves with the bats with just drinking water and dates for weeks, but it is an interesting (if short) tour by a local. After that we rented a boat to go to Wasini Island which did have a boardwalk over the Mangroves that was open.
As we entered some other foreigners were leaving with plasters on their legs and warnings to be careful of the boards, as they had fallen through one that was rotten.... quite ominous, but anyway, we were careful, following the guide, and avoided some of the worse parts, and quite enjoyed it. The tide there is quite strong so the view of the mangroves was different by the time we left compared to when we started.
After a decent night's sleep the next day we got up early for a boat trip out to Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park the other side of Wasini Island. The marine park is a flat island that mostly disappears under the tide but during low tide is a beautiful beach, and at all times has amazing fish and coral all around it. The snorkeling was wonderful, and there was no real need to bother with scuba diving. It was hard to get Hannah away, she enjoyed it so much (and it was the first time she had spent a significant time snorkeling since she became such a strong swimmer).
The main point of the boat trip was to see the dolphins that are supposed to frequently pass by that area, but we didn't get any sight of any, so we are skeptical as to how often they do pass by. After a decent lunch on Wasini island we then got back to the mainland to relax at the pool and then ventured off down a track to try eating at a different place for dinner - Firefly eco retreat, which was quite dead and quite dark, but the small team there did their best to make something for us.
Early the next morning we were up to be driven into Shimba Hills, a couple of hours away. We failed to see more than 1 or 2 deer in a 2-hour safari drive through the park which was actually quite incredible. I can't imagine it is possible to see so little wildlife in a national park that is actually quite open. Anyway the day was rescued by the wonderful 45-minute hike down to a waterfall, half an hour playing at the waterfall and the 45-minute hike back up again. Even the kids made it and enjoyed it.
Next was lunch at our last hotel for the trip, the truly stunning Mandhari, near Kwale Town, and on the edge of a cliff overlooking Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary. Built a decade ago by some Europeans who were barely ever there, to really use it as a second home, they added a couple of additional rooms and began renting out along with the chef and manager. The property has spectacular views which you can enjoy in so many different ways, from the infinity pool to the bed on the edge of the cliff, to the bar and BBQ with bar stools literally on the edge of the cliff, to the dining table in the games room or even from a toilet built on the edge of the cliff with a door that opens up.
The three properties are also stunning in their design and views. We had the two bedroom place. The service and the food from the two staff was amazing and we had a wonderful 16 hours, including a few hours swimming in the pool when it was not raining (too much). The next morning we went down to the elephant sanctuary, drove a kilometer in, got stuck in the mud as it was raining and had been raining for hours, managed to reverse out the mud and carefully and desperately escaped from the park back onto the road for fear of missing the flight at lunchtime. All without seeing a single elephant during the short 20 minutes we ventured in and out of the park! Well we had seen some of the park's elephants from Mandhari looking down from the cliff if that counts!
Anyway, we did make it to the airport, after spending an hour in the lovely Kokkos where the kids and Andrea enjoyed playing various games with the massive World Map on the wall. Unfortunately Andrea and the girls' flight had issues and had to divert via Mombasa and wait there as Wilson airport in Nairobi was closed and their plane was borrowed for another flight. But eventually they got to Nairobi around the same time as me (despite me leaving 2 hours later on a different flight) and we managed to get home.
Quite a trip, of varied success, but it certainly could have been worse and did have some highlights, despite not seeing dolphins or elephants. One great hotel, some good snorkelling, some time by the pool, and some good family time are all positives!
