Watamu

After saying good bye to the girls, I wandered through downtown Mombasa in the vague direction I was pointed and hopefully toward the matatus to Malindi. Fortunately I was able to find one without too much trouble and was on my way only 15mins after I set out...not bad. About 10 mins into the ride the conductor starts to ask for the fare, 250 shilings, and I start to dig my money out when I hear a flurry of swahili arguments going back and forth between all the other passengers and the driver and conductor. The next thing I know we are turning around and drive all the way back into Mombasa...it turns out that the normal fare is 200 shilings.

We all pile out of the matatu and an hour after the first ride debacle I find myself on a larger bus ambling along toward Malindi. A few hours, some flooded roads, and a couple of naps later I find myself in Watamu just as its getting dark. I manage to fend off the touts and quickly make my way to Villa Veronica, my home for the next 3 nights.

My first day out I managed to find an internet cafe where I met a group of about 9 girls from all over the world working near by at an eco-concervation center called 'A rocha', all doing various research or volunteer work. They kidnapped me for the day and took me back to their place for lunch. We spent the afternoon playing pictionary, body surfing in the warm indian ocean, I fixed an email problem for them and they fed me dinner before dropping me back in town.

While I had planned to spend day two doing a bit of snorkeling, I missed the outgoing boat and ended up relaxing on the beach with my book instead. By day three I was ready to get up to Lamu Island...