Sean & Lucie’s Big African Adventure

Mon 15^th – Mon 21^st December

Well, after that surreal but fabulous slice of Henley on Mara was dropped into our Big African Adventure, it took me a few hours to re-adjust to our current normality. 

Drinkies anyone??

I was a bit tired and emotional as we resumed our travels, and as I sobbed in the car Sean asked me what was wrong and I sniffled in reply, ” I’m crying at the thought of spending another 3 months in a car with you” and then blew it by bursting out laughing!! 

On Monday night we spent a bizarre night camping at the Maasai Ostrich Resort – yup that’s right, an Hotel and Ostrich farm in one.  Sean discovered that it was possible to ride an Ostrich for £4, but in spite of his repeated requests, not one big bird was brave enough to step up to the plate.  Our experience here was soured by the female cashier attempting to charge us an additional 1000 kenyan shillings for car parking.  We laughed off this absurd request, and sneaked off without paying it.

On our way to the coast we stopped off at Tsavo West for 24 hours, in the hope of spotting some of its legendary lions, but none were forthcoming.  The park is beautiful though, with dramatic landscapes and distant views of Kilimanjaro’s snow capped peak, which I didn’t manage to photograph well! The park centres on Mzima Springs, where millions and millions of gallons of fresh water come bubbling up through the lava rocks.  This guy thought it was as good a place as any to wait for lunch. 

Waiting for lunch....

Tsavo was our last wildlife adventure for a while as we’re off to Tanzania next and the parks there are too expensive for us to visit.  I shall miss the Hyenas whooping but hey ho! 

We pressed on to the coast, and we’re now at Tiwi Beach, just South of Mombasa.  The temperature difference was quite a shock at first, having spent so long at high altitude, the humidity and heat here is intense.  We arrived on Wednesday and have decided to stay until after Xmas, a decision made easier by the arrival of our Crazy Dutch friends, Anne Marie and Patrick and Obi the dog. 

At first it was just us and a couple of others, but it is getting really busy, and our beach idyll now resembles a bit of a car park, but it beats sitting at home watching the telly!  One family has turned up with what appears to be a marquee, with not one but two support vehicles.  I suspect they are going to start selling hot dogs. 

Every day guys on bicycles come round, selling fruit and veg and the fishermen also turn up selling super-fresh fish.  The question is, was this one caught or bought??

When all else fails, throw money at the problem..

In spite of this Uber-healthy diet I suspect we’ll both be as fat as houses again by the time we leave here, as we’re eating 3 times a day as opposed to once, and the cold Tusker goes down mighty well in this heat…

I’ve been an eejit and forgotten to compress the images I wanted to post on the blog, so will try again in a few days.  In the meantime we wish everyone a very Merry Xmas, and we’ll be back in 2009 from Tanzania.  Lots and lots of love from us XXXXXXXX