Kenya – A Travelling Accountant

From Wikitravel: “Diani Beach is a beach resort in Kenya, located 30 km (19 mi) south of Mombasa. Diani has a population of around 100,000 inhabitants and is famous for its white sand beaches, blue ocean and surfing. The beach is popular for relaxing resorts which are popular with honeymooners, backpackers and families on holiday. The white sand surrounded by abundant forest drives the attention of many nature lovers towards the resorts. Waves near the sea shore attract many adventure lovers towards the destination. The area near the beach is well known for coral reefs, black and white Colombus monkeys and nearly located wildlife reserve named as Shimba Hills National Reserve.”

If you follow my Instagram then you may already know that I spent the weekend of March 12, 2022 pretending I am wealthy at Leisure Lodge Resort, Diani Beach, Kenya (pronounce dee-A-ni). It was a leisurely paradise and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

My flight was even paid for by work because the following week was filled with project and partner meetings, unfortunately not at the same venue. Budget hotels in resort towns are OK, but moving to one after a four-star resort is a little rude 😉

I flew in daylight and enjoyed watching the landscape from Entebbe to Mombassa. The flight included a fly-by of Mount Kilimanjaro, so I snagged a photo or two.

We arrived at the hotel after dark because of the long taxi ride from the Mombassa airport. It was a nice drive through Mombassa, the ferry crossing and then some countryside. Since our driver was recommended by the resort, the price was set and I felt safe and secure.

Leisure Lodge Resort was more than I expected from the moment we arrived. The front desk is situated such that you have to walk through some of the building, past shops and lovely scenery before even arriving at the desk. The luxury vacation mood was set before I even got to the desk!

While they finalized our check in we were seated and given fresh squeezed tropical juice. I am getting used to such hospitality as it is common even in more budget hotels I have stayed in while in Africa.

As I said above, I decided to pretend I was still making Oil & Gas industry money for the weekend. Of course that meant booking an ocean view room and it was worth every penny (about $30USD more per night) The sound of the waves, the ocean breeze and sea smell were ever present, soothing and refreshing.

As it was late evening, we were quite hungry and headed to the dining room after I changed and freshened up. I had the buffet for dinner both nights and it was amazing! Fish, beef, chicken, pork and vegetarian options. Pasta salads, vegetable salads, fruit, juice, Indian food, matoke, and desserts. The chocolate cake was especially decadent. I was fully stuffed that first night.

Short video from the balcony when we arrived

The second night, Saturday, the dinner buffet was set up outside as a barbeque. Again, I filled my boots completely, with no repeat dishes from the night before. It was like being on a cruise!

The breakfast buffet was also outstanding and included with the room rate. The woman in charge of the omelet station could not be better at her job. She moved us through with great efficiency but also created made-to-order egg masterpieces cooked perfectly. Breakfast offerings included sausage, bacon, pancakes, fresh waffles, potatoes, vegetables, mandazi, and more. And of course, an abundance of fresh fruits. The fresh Passion Juice ran low both days due to high demand, but we still managed to snag some.

I love colobus monkeys, which are shy in Uganda. They have beautiful colouring and never approach humans for food. This held somewhat true at the resort as well. We met some along the path as we left breakfast. They did not approach us at all, but they also did not run away, or even seem to care about us. This fella was enjoying his own brunch of flowers and did not mind us stopping to take his picture. I also posted a video of this on both my Instagram and Tiktok – @a_travelling_accountant

I didn’t do much for activities this weekend, as I was supposed to have the next weekend as well. That plan fell through, so I did not scuba or snorkel in Diani – yet!

We spent Saturday relaxing, took a lovely ocean swim and then enjoyed some beach cocktails on the beautiful stretch of beach belonging to the resort.

Here is a selection of photos from our balcony, and one looking up at it. The sunrise was taken at 6:30 am Sunday morning, just before I closed the black-out curtains.

Saturday evening after dinner they brought in some Maasai dancers. It was a fun show and afterwards we bought some jewelry. Likely overpriced, given the location, but beautiful. I didn’t take pictures through the performance but here are a couple of screenshots from a video I took when they visited our table.

As I mentioned, we had some sea-side cocktails before dinner. We continued to imbibe through dinner and eventually went for a midnight-ish beach stroll, hoping to crash a party at the resort next door that we spotted from our balcony. The bouncer would not let us in so we took a stroll up the beach, in the moonlight, walking in the sand while waves rolled over our feet. It was magical. Crabs skittered across the sand back to the water as we approached them. Silver in the moonlight, their side-hustle made me giggle.

We came across the bar of a neighbouring resort that still had a few staff in it. Somehow, we convinced them to bring a large beer order to us, and we shared the bounty with them. An enjoyable experience chatting with some local guys on the quiet mid-night shore. Then we headed home and crashed, rather inebriated but happy!

We checked out the next morning and I crossed the road to the hotel booked for my work week. Whenever I am back in Diani Beach, I will very likely return to Leisure Lodge Resort. At the end of the week I flew to Nairobi from Diani Beach instead of heading back to Mombassa. I learned that if you are flying from Mombassa you are going from the airport, but if you fly from Diani, you are going from the airstrip. That is semantics only though. The airstrip is still an airport, just a small local one.

Fly over the beach as we left from the Diana Airstrip

Wow! Even with the limitations and monotony imposed by a global pandemic, 2021 is flying by! Masks, curfews, social distancing, quarantines all over the planet for more than a year now. It almost feels normal at this point…

I am fortunate to live in Uganda where we so far have evaded the level of spreading that so many nations are experiencing. But I am also unable to visit my family in Canada. If I elected to go home right now I would have to choose between seeing my daughter or my parents, because interprovincial travel is a no-no. And that’s after paying for 2 weeks in quarantine. So I wait and hope.

I have a trip planned for my upcoming birthday, so I figure its about time I post something about my Christmas trip to Nairobi. I didn’t really do much touristy but I still have a tale or two to share.

I went to Nairobi with my guy, Maina, who is Kenyan, so I traveled a little differently than when I am a solo female.

First difference, we went by bus not plane. In non-pandemic times several busses run between Nairobi and Kampala and much of the travel time is at night. But these are pandemic, lockdown, curfew times so no night busses.

We got up just before the crack of dawn to be out catching a bodaboda in time to make the bus at 7am on Saturday morning. We naively assumed that would be easy. Not the case for us. At 6:30ish we were walking Bukasa Road with our backpacks wondering if we would make it!! Obviously we did, but it was a mildly stressful start to the day.

The bus got out of Kampala late, closer to 8:30am instead of the scheduled 7:30. Kenya curfew was 10pm at the time, so schedule mattered!

We were socially distanced on the bus…. 1 person per 2 seat side, so 2 per row. That was nice. I was determined to keep my mask on the entire 13-15 hour journey. I confess that after about 7 hours the combination of non-functioning air conditioning and nobody else keeping a mask on (except my guy, a true mask trooper) I was airing my face out regularly.

MASH bus depot Kampala, boarded and ready to go

Complimentary water and coke, not so ample leg room 😆

A significant difference between the bus here vs at home is these ones have no toilets. So you pee when the bus stops. Period. Bus bathrooms are usually disgusting, but in a pinch they can save you. And, let’s face it, bus depot and service station toilets are also disgusting.

Does anyone else limit their water intake while traveling to minimize their water output?

The border was uneventful for me. I showed my negative covid test results and my work permit and through I went. No need to pay for a visa because I am a resident of East Africa:)

Maina had a wee bit of excitement. Because of travel bans he did not have the exit and reentry stamps he was required to have in July (every 6 months) Easily explainable, and with a small recognition to the border officer he was also through.

The ride was hot (see air-conditioning comment above), scenic, and uneventful until it became questionable if we would make it to Nairobi before curfew. Then my stressed out inner worrier emerged in full force. As we left Nakuru after 7pm, in unrelenting traffic, panic started to set in. What would happen if we got to Nairobi after curfew! Please understand that I have been responsible for trip planning ever since I got married the first time. I had no idea what we would do.

I needn’t have worried at all because of my travel partner. He grew up in the village but lived in Nairobi for more than 25 years, so he was not concerned. BUT he could see my panic rising, so he acted. He called a friend in the police force who assured him we should have no trouble but if we did, just call the friend back and he would send a car from the nearest detachment to deliver us to our Airbnb. My stress instantly subsided. There are so many ways to say I love you without saying the words. Calling an old friend for a favour just to ease the worry of your lady is definitely one of those ways.

This post is long already, but our late dark arrival in Nairobi is too funny not to include.

There is a crazy amount of construction on the roads approaching and in Nairobi. Like summer in Canada, where they shove 12 months of repairs into 5 months of work time.

Well, our bus drivers got lost! Yes, it is literally their job to know how to get to from the station in Kampala to the one in Nairobi, but nope. The changes were beyond their knowledge. It ended up with Maina and another passenger sitting up front trying to direct the driver.

When he realized that we were very close to the location of our Airbnb, at approximately 10:30 pm so 30 minutes past curfew, Maina asked me to trust him and get off the bus there. we were at a well lit round-about with a large service station. I said sure and we disembarked.

This service station was well populated, vehicles refueling, shoppers in the store and even the food counter was still manned despite being past curfew. We got food, beer and a taxi without any difficulty. Curfew in Nairobi was quite different than Kampala at that time!

The Airbnb was perfect. We settled in, had some beer, snacks and laughs and our vacation was underway. * we had some minor excitement mid-bus ride concerning the Airbnb but it all worked out.

Tag: Kenya

Weekend on the Shore of the Indian Ocean: Diani Beach, Kenya

May already?! Is it too late to talk about my December trip to Kenya?

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