Or, we’ve been back for almost a month, but we’re still milking it for the blog

After our stint in Malindi, we met up with the group (except Robin who hightailed it to Amsterdam) for a flight to Lamu. At least, I thought it would be a flight to Lamu, but it turned out to be a flight followed by a boat ride. Thank goodness for the scopalamine patch.

Another tiny airport with another small plane. Steven liked this one better since it had two propellers! My favorite memory of Malindi Airport was the goats. Yes, goats were trying to walk out onto the runway, but an airport guard shooed them off. Don’t see that a lot at O’Hare.

Once again, our group got split up since there was a reservation mishap and they ended up in a house next to (really above) our hotel, the Peponi, which we found out about during a briefing. Kenyans really love briefings! “Eco-hotel” sounds great until you realize that just means there’s no air conditioning. Anyway, it was probably for the best since the estrangement between the two groups continued especially after one of the women decided to move out of her shared room with her (now former) friend and in with the Texans. We barely saw them after that.

The room was beautiful and overlooked the channel leading to the Indian Ocean. (I know if I just said the Indian Ocean, Steven would correct me, so I’m getting out ahead of that.) Wooden doors took up most of the front wall. The first night we foolishly closed them since Susan, a fellow traveler, had the room on the other side of the common area and she got up earlier than us. The next morning the owner said, “You closed the doors? Don’t do that.” She was right.

Lamu Island is part of an archipelago. The city was founded in the 12th century in the Swalihi tradition and despite the tourism, parts of it look like it hasn’t progressed much. Lamu Old Town, was settled by a mix of cultures, but today is primarily a conservative Muslim community (and is heavily supported by the Sultan of Oman). It is, of course, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Saturday, we motor-boated over to the old town for a walking tour. Our guide was very nice, but the truth is that there wasn’t much to see. We went to the Lamu Museum and learned about the cultural influences of the island. We were hoping to go into a traditional home, but our guide’s friend was unavailable, so we had to satisfy ourselves by wandering and learning about the outer sitting area of the homes, which all are welcome to use. Neither could we get into the bead factory, but we did have luck at the wood carving “factory.” I put it in quotes because it was a couple of guys sitting at a table with hand tools. I get to try it out for a bit and that was fun.

Old Town reminded me of a Moroccan medina: narrow stone streets full of shops and homes, with donkeys wandering everywhere. Lots of very interesting doors, which I love. Definitely worth seeing once, but there’s no reason to go back.

Sunday, our second full day, we booked a snorkel and picnic trip. The boat ride to the snorkel spot was beautiful and the snorkeling was like being in a tropical fish store only the fish weren’t enclosed in glass. When we were done, the guide dumped a bucket of fresh water on us and we headed to our island picnic spot.

As per usual in Kenya, everything seems like it’s going to be organized but it’s not quite. We were given paper menus on which to order our meals. We had met up with a young medical resident and since he was alone, he joined us on out walking tour and again on the snorkel trip. There was no indication of the quantities of food or drink we were ordering on the menu and he was a hungry guy when he ordered. We had A LOT of food and drink. Snorkeling day helped me leave Kenya on a high note. The best day since Masai Mara by far.

Monday we mostly just hung out. Took a walk over to Shela, the small village next to the hotel. It was just a smaller version of Old Town and since we’re not really shoppers there wasn’t much to it. It’s never fun trying to fill the partial day before you leave a place. Then it was onto the boat, off to the airport for a “Friendly security check” and back to Nairobi (via Malindi ..that’s me walking towards the “large plane” – the one with two propellers). There were snafus along the way, but we made it to our airport hotel for a quick shower before heading off to the airport for the trip back to Valencia.

One interesting note: Ramadan started on two different days while we were on Lamu. The Old Town uses the sighting of the new moon, but Shela uses the dark moon, so Ramadan began a day earlier there.

It wasn’t the trip we expected, but I’m still glad we went.

Oh, and if you haven’t seen enough of our excellent photos, we’ll be happy to bore you with more when we’re back in the States.