Desert, Beach, City, Rift Valley and back to the Desert

This has been a week, full of fabulous adventures, friends, conversations and revelations. I was able to head out of Sudan for a week of R&R to relax and somehow get ready to come back and dive back into work again with a clear head and a full heart and stomach. My coworker Erin and I headed out to the coast of Kenya to find a quiet beach to sit on and a beautiful ocean to swim in. We seemed to keep repeating the fact of how wonderful it was to travel with someone and a great friend and travel partner at that. Let me share some of the highlights of the week with you.

We flew into a city called Mombasa and headed up north to a small town called Milindi. Working on a limited budget we tried to do the transport cheep so we could stay in a nicer hotel. It was a great decision in that we had a fun adventure to talk about once we finally arrived in our destination. So we caught a taxi from the airport to the place where the local buses were leaving for Milindi. Just getting on a bus is a adventure of it’s own. There is competition for passengers amongst the buses.
Basically whoever grabs your bags and puts them on their bus first wins. So there is a bit of chaos and a scramble for us as we exited the taxi and find what bus our bags made it to. We squished onto the front seat of the bus with our bags under our feet and headed off for the two hour ride up the coast. Other than the cramped conditions the ride was going well – but then it started to rain. We seemed to find the bus that when it rained outside it also rained inside the vehicle. So after 45 minutes our bags and everything else was wet. So we arrived at a stop along the way and our bus driver felt so bad for us that he moved us into a matatu (small van) to ride in the rest of our way. Even though the matatu was dry it was a bit smaller and our bags seemed to get much bigger. But as soon as all feeling went out of our legs the trip was once again enjoyable. The final vehicle that we used to get to the hotel was a little Tuk Tuk or Rigshaw that splashed through the streets of Milindi to get to our hotel. But we finally arrived to our fancy hotel wet, tired and a little wind blown. Probably not how most of their guests arrive.

We stayed at the Driftwood which is a beautiful quiet hotel run by a British family. The rooms were actually little cottages in the middle of some beautiful gardens. The beach was just past a fabulous dining area and around the pool. Nothing to complain about there. I think we were the happiest guests that they have ever had. The rain continued followed by a huge storm the day that we arrived but we soaked up the coolness and the freshness that goes along with a great storm. We even took a walk down the beach in the rain and laughed as we literally soaked it all up. Every bite of food, every silent moment and every great discussion was relished and breathed in. Those moments are ones that we knew would not last so we enjoyed them to their fullest. The day we tried to find a good swimming place but discovered that the water in the area tends to have a lot of seaweed and rocks in it – not the greatest to swim in. So we decided to head back down to south of Mombasa to another area that was highly recommended. But not before heading out to Milindi town for some great seafood and more adventures.

So after only two nights in Milindi we got back on the bus and headed for Diani. The way back down south was not as simple as the way up. Between Milindi and our new hotel destination we took six different vehicles. After a tuk tuk, bus and another tuk tuk to Mombasa we had to get onto a ferry. You can imagine the confusion as the tuk tuk driver tried to tell us that we
had to haul our bags down to the port and onto the ferry to get to the matatus that could take us to Diani. But we did it. The only white girls in a huge crowd trying to maneuver all our stuff onto a ferry and back into another matatu. All of that adventure helped us decide to stay in a really nice hotel called The Sands at Nomad. After that matatu and another tuk tuk we decided that a little extra pampering may be required. So once again two tired, dirty, smelly, wind blown girls rolled into a fancy hotel trying to act like we belonged there. It was so worth it. The hotel was absolutely amazing. Not only was the service, food and rooms great but the beach was exactly what we had been looking for. It had the whitest of white sand and the ocean was the so refreshing and beautiful. Once again I’m sure the staff loved us because when asked the food or our stay was never just good, it was amazing, or perfect, or so good that words can not express it.

After just a few nights I was off again. From there I left Erin at paradise for a few days as I headed into Nairobi for a few days with a good friend. It was good to go to movies, do some shopping and enjoy a bit of city life. Erin joined me shortly after to help out with the shopping to prepare for heading back to Darfur. However our adventure didn’t stop there. We met up with some SP friends that work in South Sudan and went out to a farm in the Rift Valley. The farm was amazing and the company was great. We got to meet a bunch of great people and get some much needed encouragement all in a beautiful setting. My highlight was lying on some amazing grass (a great novelty to this desert girl) and watching the stars. A bunch of us wrapped up in blankets and forgot about the importance of sleep and counted the shooting stars, listen to the leopards and the bush babies call and talk and laugh all night. It really was an amazing night that will not soon be forgotten. The next morning after a lot of coffee to stay awake we went for a walk through this amazing farm. We walked past a beautiful spring, watched the monkeys and baboons run across our path and climbed the largest fig tree I have ever seen. But sadly we had to leave our new friends and grudgingly get back on the plane and head for Khartoum.

It has been hard wanting to come back. I love my work and I can’t imagine doing anything else but when you compare it to a white sand beach or a starry night in the Rift Valley it’s hard to come back. However once I got back to Khartoum I want to get back home to Nyala. But in true Sudan style our return home has been delayed. Things in Darfur were getting worse when we left a week ago and we put a halt to all road movement for our programs but now there is talk of things escalating further and so the UN has suggested that all NGO move all their non essential staff out of Nyala. So that means that my return home could be delayed for a week or longer until the situation dispels or is played out. So until I return to Nyala and dive back into work I will be dreaming of Kenya.