Greetings from the East African Coast

I do not ever want to leave this place! But unfortunately I am out of money and obligated to return to Nairobi tonight. Currently I am sitting in an internet cafe in Diani Beach, outside of Mombasa, on the coast of Kenya.

It is like I entered a different universe on this side of the country. There is no burning trash, the streets are clean, all of the restaurants and bars have toilets, with toilet paper, that flush. The people here are better dressed, and are obviously far wealthier than in Nairobi. It is a town built upon tourism, that is clear in every capacity. White people are everywhere, and the locals are polite and catering to tourists - no one gawks at you, but instead just asks you a thousand questions.

We stayed at the Diani Classic Guest House, a cheap but clean room that had a shower and a ceiling fan, so it was pretty great. Its about a 30 minute walk to Forty Theives, the beach bar and restaurant where we hung out but it was a cheap matatu ride to get there. It was breathtaking...the restaurant is open air, with a thatched roof, to make it look "island style." Palm trees swayed in the breeze, the beach was beautiful white sand, the sun was hot...it was like a less expensive version of Hawaii. The weather here is great - hot, sunny, a little humid. It is downpouring at the moment, but as I am leaving today I don't really mind. Compared to Makuyu, where it is gray and cold much of the time, it is really warm here. I am used to sleeping with wool blankets all bundled up at the orphanage so its been great here.

Though it might have been nice to see other parts of Mombasa, I really just enjoyed the vacation doing nothing. I feel rejuvenated and excited to go back to the orphanage. It was just so relaxing and so great to be here, and reminded me so much of family vacations to Hawaii...in fact I keep thinking how much I would love to have my family here because they would love it.

Poverty still exists here, to be sure, but it is more veiled. On the beach, "beach boys" prowl, targeting women who they perceive to be wealthy (generally middle-aged or older, but they try anyone). They flirt, compliment, and sweet talk the women in order to make them feel like a close friendship is growing, and its all quite romantic until they pull out some sob story about needing money. I imagine it works for some of them. Its a strange dynamic with the locals here...some of them are simply just being nice and talking to you, but some are trying to sell you something or get something from you. Its hard to tell which people are being nice though, and of course being young and female you have to be very careful, which can be frustrating because I just want to be nice and just trust everyone.

Tonight I take the overnight bus back to Nairobi and to Watoto Wa Baraka, and then Thursday I leave to take another bus into Uganda, to go white water rafting on the Nile River...check it out here. I am doing the full day rafting and then staying on through Monday to spend time with friends. 

I will be able to write much more when I get back to Makuyu next week, but I'm off to enjoy my last day here!