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| View from the hotel gardens |
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| Arrivals and Baggage reclaim at Kisumu |
After another horrendous long drive back again from Nanyuki, and a night in Nairobi we set off for Mombasa. We took a flight from Wilson Airport to Kisumu Airport Mombasa in a Fokker 50 turboprop plane. The internal flight took just about an hour and was most memorable for passing the snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa at 5,895 metres above sea level.
Stepping off the plane the heat really hit you! Nairobi was hot but Mombasa was a different level altogether. Throughout the month of March daytime temperatures will generally reach
highs of around 34°C that's about 92°F. At night the average minimum
temperature drops down to around 21°C, that's 70°F. With the heat also comes a humidity that took some getting used to. I love the sun but on the first afternoon I found it impossible to sit by the pool even with a shade cover.
While the ladies decided to chill out in the shade of the bar and some alcoholic refreshment. I chose to go for a wander on the beach.
I had no idea how popular I was going to be. The sight of 'new prey' attracted all the local sellers, 'wideboys' and 'chancers'. Despite me showing them on numerous occasions that my pockets were empty it didn't make the slightest difference.
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| Mt Kilimanjaro |
As well as the local offerings of wood carvings , beads and brightly coloured scarves there were others of a more dubious nature ......
The main purveyor of 'local services' was someone by the name of 'The Bush Doctor'. He did have some sort of named lanyard that head seen better days . He took great pride in showing me his credentials that were virtually illegible unfortunately..I'm pretty sure he wasn't a real Doctor despite his claims.
Undaunted by my insistence that there really was nothing I required right now he offered me; weed a woman and a snorkeling trip. I was tempted by one of them , the snorkeling trip as the coral on Diani beach was dead and there was a lot of weed of a different variety in the water. I made the fatal mistake of showing some interest. From then on it was impossible to shake off my new friends. By this time we had been joined by 'The Tall man' . He was determined to take an order for an ebony carving with my name on it. He wasn't even that tall thinking about it ? We probably walked about 500 meters up and down the beach with those two characters in close attendance. By the time I managed to shake them off I had promised to give serious thought to an all over body massage, a wooden carving with 'Hakuna Matata'. engraved on it, and a half day snorkeling trip.
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| Hotel Swahili Beach |
The hotel is probably one of the nicest on the coast in terms of architecture and design.The rooms are really very nice, spacious and tastefully furnished. The open plan layout and whitewashed walls give a feeling of coolness despite the heat. I have to say for a 5 Star Hotel the service was pretty crap. The staff were friendly but never seemed to do anything that you requested.
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| A pool to ourselves |
The swimming pool is superb, possibly the best I have seen anywhere. Apparently it is the largest in the world with a
capacity of 3 million litres of water. It has one massive infinity pool that feeds into seven other smaller ones leading down towards the beach. I suppose this is good as this
somewhat mitigates for the very poor beachfront of the hotel. I understand that a taxi ride away some 2 miles down the coast the sands are white and fluffy. Unlike the prolific man made concrete construction
in the sea in front of our hotel to create a path over the splintering rock and dead coral.
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| The swim up bar |
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| Pools galore |
The hotel was nowhere near capacity which was quite nice really as there was no fighting for sunbeds and falling out with the Germans. The food was very good except for the deserts which were very poor. Some fruit and tiny pieces of sponge cake , very disappointing I have to say.
The afternoon teas were superb though and made up for the lack of quality desert fayre. The highlight for me was watching the local monkeys stealing the Swiss Roll from the table before being chased off amid loud screams from the waitresses. You can't neat a maple syrup pancake around 4 pm with a Green tea.
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| Making more new friends |
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| Masai Warriors |
One of the hotel entertainment highlights was the visit by the Masai warriors. The gave an exhibition of their singing and dancing. Not to mention their jumping abilities , they really are 'spring heeled' . I would be surprised if the Kenyan football team hasn't scouted them for a possible new 'Centre half'.
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| Camels on the beach |
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| A large friendly lizard by my sunbed |
As with everywhere we went security was red hot at the hotel. At the gate there was a team of Guards with a barrier ensuring that only guests and genuine visitors came through.On the road opposite the hotel were numerous shacks selling local souvenirs. It was here that we bartered for our hand carved 'Giraffe' know called 'Gordon'. A bit further down were some good bars too with beer a lot cheaper than at the hotel !
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| local Wood Carver |
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| ' Gordon' |
Some interesting sculptures in the hotel gardens.
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