Day in Lamu - Nairobi
Woke up early but stayed in bed until 8 o’clock. We packed and moved out of the room before breakfast. We went out to the front of the hotel, the tide was out and down on the sea bed were cats and donkeys foraging on the rubbish left behind by the tide. A strange sight, we have seen donkeys here eating a lot of things that one would think were not good for them. As it turned out it was a total waste of time, the important person and entourage cancelled the proposed visit. To amuse ourselves we walked along the seafront and on the way we noticed a water leak outside the compound of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, on our return John reported it to them because water is a scarce commodity. On the edge of town stands a huge shed housing the town’s electricity generator. Everything around the perimeter of the building is black with an unpleasant smell. Further on a group of men were making a sail for a dhow and our hotel. It was becoming very hot and I had not taken a hat so thought it sensible to return to base. We were crossed by a team of donkeys carrying in panniers of Coral stone blocks from the jetty. Then a bizarre sight, a donkey was being washed in the sea.
Mid afternoon our luggage was loaded onto the hotel boat and we were transported to the airstrip. As before our luggage was searched by hand. There was a bit of interest when our bags were being weighed, an American woman who had bought a large souvenir, perhaps a picture, was way over her weight limit and had to pay excess baggage. She argued with the official as she was told in Nairobi that she would be exempt from having to pay as she was an employee of the American Embassy. This cut no ice and she had to pay. We then sat under a shaded roof on benches until we were called. Walking over the airstrip we could see that there were two Cessnas, 208D Caravan 1 planes to fly us all to Nairobi. A small German boy got to sit in the co-pilots seat and he was very happy. On arrival we took a Taxi to the Emmett’s house arriving at 6.30pm
I feel very sad because this is the end of our trip. We had enjoyed our nomadic existence while it lasted, living out of suitcases and something new every day. I fell totally in love with Africa.
Before we left England, Jane, my daughter insisted I borrow her beach sandals to use on our trip. I finally caved in and accepted. They in fact were very useful. Walking along the water front when we were visiting Lamu, one is walking in donkey droppings so when Jane received her sandals back she wasn’t amused because of the stench of donkeys.