Day Five - Day on the Island & Southwards

We are running late today. Gregory needs to link up with his schoolmates at Ukunda’s Word of Life camp. George and I also need to see and feel the place because we have promised Gregory the holiday camp for 2009. We also need to visit Wild Waters, Bamburi’s forest trails and their butterfly farm. Its now seems like our plans to visit Shimoni, Wasini, Shimba hills and Lunga Lunga will have to wait for another time.

After breakfast we head straight to the beach for a swim. The water is calm and our friend Tony is waiting for us. Seems like his pal- Uncle Nutty may have drunk his pay packet from yesterday and seems to have taken the day off. We proceed to enjoy two hours of fun in the ocean. I learn a few strokes from Tony. Seawater has higher buoyancy and may cheat the novice swimmer that it’s easier to float. George is in such a state; yelling in delight at her new prowess.

After the swim and a photo shoot, we are off to Bamburi Forest Trails to see their butterfly farm and jogging/cycling trail. Gregory and I hire two mountain bikes to attempt the 10 kilometres trail while the girls take the 3.6 kilometre leisure-walking trail. We don’t go very far in the humid weather and after the 3 kilometre mark we take the “Back to Reception” shortcut route. We let the children play in the cool playground for a while before we visit a friend at the Milele Beach hotel (formerly Giriama Beach), now owned by the PCEA Church.

After lunch we head to South Coast via the Likoni Ferry. The road beyond the crossing point is under construction in parts after the devastating floods early in the year. At Diani we visit Word of Life camp where 70 kids from Gregory’s school are on a one-week camp. We needed to get a feel of the place before we can allow Gregory to be on his own next year. We are taken for a tour of the facility and fall in love with the place. We agree that he can now be allowed to come here.

We drive back to Mombasa through the horrendous evening jam at the ferry channel. We dash back to the hotel, freshen up before going for dinner at the Whitesands hotel. Walking through the massive two part dinning area one gets a feeling of being in a boomtown. It’s packed to capacity with local tourists of the ostentatious consumption school. You can smell money in the air and I can bet Sarova do not mind that stench. I meet a handful of hotshot city lawyers who are here for a conference with their families. Earlier in the day we had booked for our bus tickets to Lamu. Our regular bus company is fully booked due to the now tired refrain of “high season”!