Diani Beach

This weekend we went to Diani beach, it is about 30 minutes south of Mombassa. I left Lewa at about 10AM on Thursday and had the day in Nanyuki and met with some people from the SAFI project, which are a group of students from Harvard University who are trying to establish some recycling initiatives in the Laikipia plateau (the area around Lewa). Hopefully we can work together and find a way for Lewa to better manage their plastic waste.

We then walked around Nanyuki, it is a really cool town and some locals showed us around to the good shops. We then took a 4 hour private vehicle to the Nairobi bus station (fairly sketchy), and I was hungry so Michael and I ate some fried chicken at a fast food place (didnt get sick somehow!). From Nairobi it is about 7 hours to Mombassa. the bus was nice but the bus drivers drive crazy fast. None of us slept very much and we were really beat by the time we were in Mombassa.

From Mombassa you have to take a 3 minute ferry ride (we couldn't figure out why they don't build a bridge) to the south coast. The ferries are mayhem, nothing like BC ferries, packed to the brim with walk ons, bikes and cars. In Diani we stayed at a place called the Flamboyant, really nice place and we got a really good deal, less than 20 dollars a night.

Sandra, James and I competed in the Diani beach 5 a side touch rugby tournament which was really fun. A team dropped out so we filled in and we didnt have to pay the 100 pound team entrance fee and got free food for the weekend! We teamed up with 3 others, two from the Isle of Man and one from England. We played really well, only won two games but the other teams there were really good.

Diani beach reminded me a lot of home, west coast BC - Tofino, so although it was an awesome time, it was kind of the first time in my trip that I missed home. We did a lot of swimming, spent a lot of time at the Forty Thieves beach bar and a lot of time chilling on the beach.

The ride back to Lewa was much more manageable and now we are all back to work. Our vacation is over but there is still a lot to look forward to.