Saturday 12th Sept
Today we fly from Mombasa for the 40 minute hop North to Lamu Island – a recommendation from Imran – It is a Unesco World Heritage Swahili town and seaside resort. We are b&b at a boutique hotel called the Peponi and we have high hopes for the food. we had to book these flights and the hotel ourselves outside of the Trailfinders package. We will see.
Car picked us up at 9 weather here still mixed with intermittent downpours and sun. Diani was lovely, the hotel and setting beautiful and we both agree another day here then home would have suited us better perhaps. We are both becoming a bit bah humbug wrt holidays of more than 10 days it seems.
Arrived at airport way too early but we were, therefore, first to check-in – bags slightly over the 30kg total allowed but the ground staff lady let us off – I assume because there were only about 10 people on the plane.
Flight was quick, uneventful and fastest ever baggage reclaim at Manda (I think that is the name – also an Island) airport then we were met and transferred by boat to Lamu Island.
Peponi hotel is an Imran recommendation and it is right on the beach. We checked in, chilled, then braved the village behind – Shella – wasn’t long before a well spoken Kenyan took us in hand (Ali samosa he said he was known as) and insisted on showing us around – very basic, muslim village – he looped around and down to beach and back to Peponi – a 3km hike we weren’t expecting obviously wanted a tip for his efforts – as do most Kenyans.
We showered then with high hopes went to dinner for a shared tempura prawn starter, Swahili crab for Carla and a very un-Kenyan smash burger for me. All very average again – the prawns were just battered not tempura the burger definitely not smashed and the crab well a nice crab shell overlaying no less than 8 claws! Maybe our expectations were too high but the food was so bigged up before we left. Shared a bottle of Rosé. Carla still quite dozy in the evenings (and her Ōura still saying she is showing signs of strain) so she bedded down quite early and I sat and powered through most of book two of James Wolff’s – ‘How to betray your country’. Lights out for me at 2215.
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