Excuses and a bit about where I am
Trip Start
Feb 19, 2009
1
15
16
Trip End
May 19, 2009
Mombasa, Kenya
Saturday, March 28, 2009
But before I begin apologies to those of you that are sending me emails asking why the delay in keeping the Blog updated, well there's one reason only - no power! If it rains here (which it has done periodically over the past week), the electricity power companies go into overdrive or some sort of shut down for long periods, the power will come back on from time to time (you are only ever alerted to this when the one and only fan in the house above you starts twirling again or you go the fridge and something smells pretty pungent), no power, no internet, no internet no Blog I'm afraid. So I start a new entry and then the power goes off, but worst of all is that I start to download a few pictures and its lost in space as there is no mega internet speed here; it is slow and cumbersome (remember years ago your home computer used to take 10 minutes to arrive in Yahoo); well I guess if I was at the top of a tower in Nairobi it would be quicker, but I'm not I'm 8 kms outside of Mombasa and the sun rises faster than google
Where I am
! So I'm rushing to get a few entries that I've said in Word over the past week uploaded before I leave shortly.For those of you who would like to know where I am exactly and what is in the back yard here!
Mtwapa Creek Cottages is only 8 kms north of Mombasa and approximately 45 minutes from Mombasa's Moi International Airport. There is a reasonable road from Mombasa to Nairobi, which also continues to Malindi via Mtwapa (where I am); and your chances of not being killed or harmed are bleak but survivable depending on what time of the day you are out and about and whether the Police are pulling Matatu over to charge them with some new tax that they devised during their coffee break at the local station that morning! God help the passengers if the Matatu drivers and fixers are p........ off!
The Jumba Ruins in Mtwapa Forest (which is essentially is Marie and Kaka's back yard out here) is an interesting site of a once thriving Arab village where a community, where what I can only assume dwarfs used to dwell in tiny midgit houses all clumped together and once occupied by wealthy merchants who used the Creek to trade. You can just about make the remains of a village of some 20 houses and a mosque, which was built in the 13th century which has slowly over the centuries been reclaimed by the natural rainforest, its towering trees have grown through walls with massive roots and vines weaving their way where once there were windows, chimneys and streets. Perhaps it was just a decline in trading or invaders from another country that caused the demise of this once busy trading town; it is not certain
The ruins behind the Cottage
. However, it is certain that today the ruins and forest are home to multitudes of indigenous animal, bird and plant life many of whom I've photod on my balcony in the early morning with the occasional indigenous insect having fed off my blood that night!Flora and Fauna: It is an every day occurrence to see the ibis perching on the roof of the main house or flying over the grounds and across the creek. A pair of fish eagles have a nest nearby, the pretty Sykes monkeys chatter and stare inquisitively at you as you pass, the tiny antelope, the DikDik, always very shy is quite likely to be startled into flight as you walk along the drive to the house. The grounds have been planted over the years with coconut palms, frangipani, euphorbia and flame trees, with a majestic baobab tree, and it is not hard to understand looking at the tree why Africans call this tree in Swahili 'the upside down tree'. Standing in the grounds in the morning's first light you get the distinct feeling that time has stood still. Kaka's fishermen have now left for Pemba Island as the fishing season has just closed as we await the torrential rains, but if you spend time at the Creek you'll see a few left still plying their trade from dug-out canoes and trading dhows still cross the horizon out into the Indian Ocean.
The ancient city of Mombasa (about 2 km square) is still the most wonderful and romantic mix of many cultures and architecture, predominantly Arab, with its wonderful old fortress, Fort Jesus, which was constructed in the 15th century by the Portuguese and still dominates the coastline of Mombasa
Fort Jesus
. The original colonial Mombasa Club still flourishes, and there are a number of first class hotels, excellent European style shops and, of course, throughout the old town the picturesque Arab shops and houses and the hustle and bustle that you would imagine would dominate this type of old city. Then Mombasa itself swarms for miles in each direction, a collection of islands and plains dried up in the intense heat, roads shimmering and easily able to fry an egg in a second, buildings mostly old now and in need of repair, beggers everywhere, absolutely mad and chaotic most of the time with street stalls, markets, repair shops of every sort, indian and curried food mixed with engine oil, dirt from the roads, fumes from machinery all enveloping the air, then a nice bit of Mombasa that has been cleaned and where a half way decent hotel stands next to five internet cafes and three garages. Occasionally you'll come across a supermarket (Nukamatt) that is your bit of how you remember Europe, but mostly Mombasa is divided into areas of shanty towns joined together with the occasional bridge over water, selling tailoring, mechancial parts, hardware, old furniture shops, indian cafes that have seen much better days but still smell wonderfully of fried samosa; then you have small business areas and the ports, a university and lots and lots and lots of back streets that lead no doubt to some slum area. But the city is vibrant in many ways if you care to keep an open mind. Mombasa is excessivly hot and humid though - I'm sure if the City was a tad cooler the frantic pace to do something quickly and get the hell out of there would be far less. History: A strip of coast land, which also included this property, was once under the jurisdiction of the Sultan of Zanzibar and in a treaty with the British, when they relinquished sovereignty of Zanzibar, this strip of land was returned to Kenya. Advertisements describing the Nyali Beach Hotel which was one of the first, luxury, truly international standard hotels in Mombasa, was described in its advertising as having "All the romance of the South Seas, with none of the desert island hardships" - you certainly couldn't say that now though!. It is interesting to note that the Nyali Beach Hotel was constructed by the grandfather of the present owner. Kenya has 480 kilometres (300 miles) of beautiful coastline which stretches from the Tanzanian border just north of the latitude 5º south to the boundaries of Somalia beyond the Arab-influenced island of Lamu. Mombasa was well known as a port for centuries, noted by the Greeks in the 1st century AD and it was with the help of Ptolemy's early maps (on which Mombasa was named Tonike) that the great Victorian explorers went in search of the Nile, struggling inland from the coast to discover Lake Victoria; first Burton and Speke, then Speke and Grant, and Henry Morton Stanley for his epic finding of Dr. David Livingstone in 1871. In 1874 Stanley made yet another plunge across the whole breadth of Africa (his 'Dark Continent') tracing the mighty Congo River to its mouth on the Atlantic, a journey of 5,000 desperate miles taking 999 days, after which, it was said, Africa was never quite the same again. The explorations of those great Victorians put East Africa on the map only so far as Europe and America were concerned. Looking out at the Indian Ocean from the property or Mombasa there is a lot more to meet the eye than just the swell of the Indian Ocean breaking on the barrier reef - you are looking at liquid history. In the 7th century thousands of Muslims emigrated to Africa's East Coast to set up townships and markets, bring their knowledge, customs and religion. In 1498 a Portuguese fleet under Vasco da Gama arrived in Mombasa. It was during the Portuguese occupation that Fort Jesus was constructed and it was not until 1729 that the Portuguese were finally driven out. There was a succession of Arab governors right up to the Protectorate days in 1895. Mombasa for centuries has been chronicled as one of the notable trading ports with a long association with the slave trade. Long after trading in slaves, prevalent for centuries along the whole coastline, was considered a crime by Christian countries, it was not so regarded by the Muslim countries. It was the putting down of the slave trade, passionately and actively campaigned for by Queen Victoria's 'empire builders', that finally put an end to Mombasa's bloodier history and diverted energies and enthusiasms into more progressive channels. Providing slaves for France's overseas possessions - Ile de France (Mauritius) and Bourbon (Reunion) - as cheap labour for the sugar plantations, had made a lucrative living for many who were reluctant to see its abolition. At the turn of the century, however, the Railway from Mombasa to Lake Victoria was constructed. By opening up Eastern Africa, it put paid to slave trading activities and brought with it opportunities for civilisation, settlement and stability, but today it is struggling - but then so are so many similar destinations.
So there you have it....... a bit of old and a bit of new... I just wonder what this place will be like in two year's time, if, as many suspect, Civil War or some other political situation hasn't taken place - will there be change, I doubt it very much - someone said to me the other day what are we educating our children for when there is hardly any employment; let alone a decent amount to survive comfortably on, you educate the kids, their expectations grow, the demands on the Country grows and then what???
