Marcin conquers the East African coast

As I mentioned earlier we had bought bus tickets from Arusha to Mombasa. We bought them online in England. Upon arriving from Simanjiro our friend Lazaro said that there was a little problem with our tickets. So we went to the office and found out that the problem was that… our reservation was not in the system. Allegedly there were communication problems between Arusha and Mombasa and it was Mombasa’s fault. I could go with a complaint to… Mombasa. It would be difficult considering the fact I had no tickets to Mombasa! They gave us contact details for another “travel agency” called Simba 🙂 where we managed to buy two tickets for the next day. Instead of 5 hours the trip was supposed to last 8 and the price was 50% lower. It was a little bit puzzling but we were happy to have the tickets. The bus was departing at 7am so we were there at 6:30. The driver arrived at 8 am… Well it’s good that he had arrived at all because the area where the coach stop was was dodgy and trust me that two white backpackers draw a lot of attention in a city like Arusha. The bus looked like the 2nd class in Mexico (or coaches in Poland in the 90’s).

The seats were wet but if the coach washing was the cause of the delay it was a pity that the driver did not wash the coach also outside… But squeezing in hand our tickets we took places numbered 21-22. As we were probably traveling with all the livestock of Arusha and building materials for the whole of the motorway we had to keep our backpacks with us on the bus. All windows open, the African disco at full volume from the speaker above our seats, other passengers looked a little suspiciously at us probably thinking we were lost but eventually we set off around 8:30. As we expected, the trip did not last 8 hours. We arrived at Mombasa around 11 pm… The driver tried to take every possible passenger, the people around us changed, if you left your seat already someone else was there on your return, only we were holding to our seats number 21-22.

We crossed the border in Taveta, the whole bus was unloaded. We, with our European passports, of course finished our control last. Once we left the building we noticed that everyone was already on the bus, waiting only for us. So we were prepared to sit separately. What’s worse, we only saw Matilda’s backpack. Expecting that it was “lost” we got on the bus to ask the driver about it. Immediately a young boy called Matilda, saying that he took her backpack (which was actually mine but the fact was that the young man wanted to do something for Matilda). Guess what seats we got? 21-22! Other passengers clearly decided that this was “our” place. From then on we could both get off and be assured that the seats number 21-22 will be waiting for us. As if all of them unanimously decided to look after us. It made us feel very welcomed. As the Tsavo National Park is practically next to the border pretty soon we started enjoying beautiful views.

Pretty much first thing we saw after entering the Park was this beautiful elephant standing next to the road

During the stopover we could buy fruits and snacks through the window and as the trip was longer than planned we bought some bananas. Unfortunately we were supposed to arrive in Mombasa after dark and we still had to get to our hotel at the Diani Beach south of the town. We decided not to take a tuk-tuk but to get to taxi stand where we planned to haggle over the price. Once we got off the bus at Mwembe Tayari Road we were surrounded by tuk-tuk drivers. We chose or rather were chosen by probably the strongest driver to take us to the taxi rank. But he managed to convince us that at this time the tuk-tuk will be even faster, cheaper and that he knows exactly where our hotel is located. How can one refuse?!? We wanted to take the matatu but that was the plan if we arrived around 3-4pm not at 11… The old town and center of Mombasa (called in Swahili Kisiwa Cha Mvita – Island of War) are located on the island so to get out you have to take the ferry which is free for pedestrians. As we were going south, we took the Likoni ferry. Although I did not feel 100% safe, there was something romantic in the ferry crossing after dark. After being inland, the smell and the sound of the sea almost blocked my senses. The ferry was fast filled, people were standing around each vehicle, I felt almost cosy surrounded by this human crowd. Despite the exhaustion of our day trip, adrenaline and a mixture of scents – sweat, spices, sea, engine oil – made me fully awake. Aware of how exotic and full of history this place was, I started to smile to myself and Matilda.

When we left the ferry our driver drove so fast that actually the taxi would not have drove faster, given the condition of the roads. Of course we were stopped by the Police officers, who after seeing us demanded a bribe. The driver tried to refuse saying that he had no money and that he was not supposed to take his payment before taking us to our final destination. Police in Kenya are very helpful, they told him to hurry and that they will wait for him…

The driver obviously had no idea where our hotel was. As I looked at google maps earlier I had an idea where to turn but he knew better 😉 First he tried to find it himself ignoring my suggestions to ask someone. Finally after 30 minutes of driving around we reached the hotel. Thankfully they let us in, and in the morning we were able to look at our hut.

Cute and cosy, right?

The adventures in Kenya will be continued soon but in the meantime I send my warm greetings from rainy and windy Gothenburg.