Why Kenya?

November 4, 2006

The natural answer would be why not Kenya? Well it really should have been Tanzania, but Tanzania wasn't one of the options available to me if I wanted to use my "Airmiles" points to fly to Africa. I wanted to go to Tanzania because I guy I met in a bar on a hundred year old Dhow on the Micronesian Island of Yap during a typhoon invited me to come a visit his safari and dive operation there. Well it was sort of an invitation, but I would still have to pay - but he'd give me a discount, not a big one - but a discount. Hey! A discount is a discount. So the first roadblock I had to deal with was the fact that I couldn’t use my airmiles to fly to Tanzania, but I could get to Kenya - and that was right next door. The problem is that it might as well be on the far side of the moon! There is no cheap and fast way to get from Nairobi to Pemba. Then there was the little problem that my good friend, Raf, somehow lost a family of 5 scuba divers and to this date their remains have yet to be found. So staying with Raf, desipite the discount - if I could find away to get there seemed somewhat less appealing. I threw my energies into looking into taking a trip to Kenya. I've always been lucky finding really good local travel agents, and after sending emails to about a half dozen I settled on Raza at AfricanMecca. Raza and I hit it off really well and he designed a 17 day combination scuba and safari trip for me. We agreed on dates in April. I would finalize everything in early January. Unfortunately about a day before I was to book my flights, I woke up and peed blood for about half an hour - not a good omen to book a trip (I'm a strong believer in omens - particularly ones involving blood - my blood). A few short months, several trips to the Urologist, and a simple "procedure" (Simple to him. He's not the one with s tube shoved up his penis!!), and I was good as new. A new target date was set for this November.

In late August I called up the Airmiles people to book my trip only to be told:

“Sorry, no flights available for those dates.”

“Okay,” I said, “I’m flexible. How about something a week on either side?”

“Nope, nothing available.” The agent said after much computer clacking

“How about a month?” More clacking. “Nothing available>”

“Three months?”

“Sorry.”

Upon a little investigation I found out that Airmiles was having issues with it’s overseas carriers. In fact there were NO seats at all. Nothing Nada on any of it’s international flights on NWA, KLM, and Air Italia. I was told to try again in a few days – maybe they’d resolved their “issues”.

In a few days I called again. A different agent insisted on going through the same routine. When I asked her if the “issues” had been resolved, I was told I shouldn’t have even been told about the “Issues”

So, folks, it appears that you can collect all those double airmiles at Safeway and Rhona, but be warned if your thinking of using them to book an exotic trip to one of those far away destinations they list on their website you may be out of luck. I have no idea whether they resolved their “issues,’ but after three weeks I gave up and booked a flight at Flight Centre” for about a thousand bucks return out of Toronto.

Getting to Toronto shouldn’t be too bad – the good news is that I”ll be flying; Westjet – an airline I like to fly. The bad news is that I’m flying standby, the good news is that since my daughter works for the airline I get to fly at a reduced rate – but standby. That means flying a day or so early to make sure I make my connection. That means staying in a hotel in Toronto for a night or two. So when I add up what the room would cost me I could fly regular fare and make my connection, but my daughter would be insulted that I didn’t take advantage of her generosity of getting a job that benefited her father; not like her lousy brother who’s only an engineer.

So, dear friends, that, in a nutshell, is why Kenya – and hey! I haven’t even left yet! This should be one heck of a trip!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Living the Good Life in Kenya

After leaving Satao Rock camp, my guide who has been with me the past five days, drove me up to the Northern end of Tsavo West park. This is the area where the “man eaters of Tsavo” came from. It was made into a movie starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. It was about two lions that devoured over 140 railway workers in a couple of years.

A simple jaunt of only 180km and taking about three hours. From there we drove 35 Km into the bush to Kilaguni Serena Lodge. Imagine driving through bush on rutted tracks and suddenly coming to a luxury lodge that would rival Banff or Fairmont Hot springs! It’s like driving through the Nevada desert and suddenly coming into Las Vegas.



When I checked in, I was shocked to find that I had been moved to one of their few suites which usually go for 550 a night! It was about twice as big as my son, Elan’s downtown Vancouver Condo - a huge living room-dining room, master bedroom, fuzzy robe and slippers - the whole nine yards. Outside the gorgeous dining room is a water hole where there were about a dozen animals grazing and drinking. You don’t even have to put down your fork and knife to see the wildlife here. Too bad it was only for one night.

THE NEXT DAY


Another long day driving over 250 km back to Mombassa and to my final destination, the Pinewood Village. This was a pleasant surprise again - at the end of Diani Beach, which is a crowded tourist area. A small hotel with about 24 rooms and 8 suites. No suite this time, but that’s okay. Room’s are very nice, air conditioned - the hotel would not be out of place in the Caribbean Ocean. Have to keep the balcony door closed. The monkeys are always trying to get into the room to look for “treats.”


The diving here outside the hotel is “okay.” Nothing spectacular. Most of my dives have been with just me and Caroline, a tall blonde lady from Switzerland. The funny thing is that since I’ve arrived in Kenya, I have seen a total of one American and one Canadian couple. It’s really a European destination. Too bad. If people knew how nice it is here and how much value they get for their dollar, they’d flock here, despite the 20 hour travel time. The Kenyan people know that tourism is their 2nd largest industry and go to great lengths to make you happy, so you’ll tell your friends and relatives to come here. North America could learn a lot for them. It’s also funny here, as they prefer Euro’s to American dollars.

KISTE MARINE PARK AND MPUNGUT MARINE RESORT
The last scheduled event on this marathon trip was day outing to the Kistie Marine Park and Mpunguti Marine Resort. This was going to be another two hours there and two hours back, and frankly, I was getting toured out and was tempted to skip it - except that I had already prepaid the diving, so I reluctantly dragged my self up at 5:00am so I could make the 6:30am pickup. The shuttle bus picked up another 8 or 10 people along the way. When we arrived at the dock to take the boat over to the reserve, I was informed by Sally, who owns and runs the resort, that the other six divers had canceled and I would have my own Dhow and crew of six to go and do what ever I wanted for the next four hours.

While I had not been impressed with the diving in Kenya so far, the diving here was fantastic. The deep colours of the reef and the amazing amount of fish, had me checking to make sure that my regulator didn’t fall out of my open mouth. They were the two best dives since Micronesia. There were lots of Manta Rays, eels, and herds of sea turtles.

When I got back to the lodge on Wasini Island for lunch I was in for another surprise. The agenda called for an original “Swahili Lunch.” When I hear the word “original” I tend to get nervous, but like my experience in the Queen Charlotte Islands, the lunch lived up to it’s billing.

I was brought a huge Mangrove Crab in the shell. It looks a lot like our Dungeoness Crabs - but I was told this was a small one. In addition I was brought a basket of marinated fish pieces and deep fried Coconut. When I finished, what I thought was lunch, they told me that was only the appetizer! I was brought a whole fried red snapper cooked again in a coconut and lime marinade, and a Swahili dish that consisted of rice on what looked like flattened pitas, covered in sauce. It was very hard to move after that. Of course I had to wash this down with several beers.

Today is my last full day in Kenya. Tomorrow afternoon I begin the long trip back. Hope to be home sometime on Saturday.

Jeff
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