Malindi (October 10-14)

Since we get both Kenyan holidays off as well as some Muslim holidays, we had a nice long weekend. On Wednesday, we had Moi Day, which is to celebrate the first Kenyan president and then on Saturday, we had Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan (their month of fasting). All these holidays meant for one long weekend. So eight of us single teachers decided to go to the coast of Kenya, Malindi to be specific. There was Jess, Jenn, Wendy, Dalina, Brenton, Jessie, Paul and me. We rented a house that had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and dinning area. It also came with a chef that would cook any food that we asked for. We decided to do 2 meals a day, breakfast and dinner. I cannot tell you how good the food was. We had French toast for breakfast most days with lots of fresh fruit (mango, papaya, passion fruit). It was great. Dinner was mainly fish meals. All the fish was bought fresh from a local fisherman and it tasted wonderful. I had so much food, but I just couldn’t stop. It is absolutely better if you can eat it fresh.

Most of our group

The Mitchell House

The first night we arrived, we decided to go for a little walk on the beach after dinner. We weren’t really prepared for what was going to transpire. The ocean was on low tide, so the cove that we were in was bare. We started to walk towards the reef, when we all got stuck in the mud. Paul, who teaches 6^th grade science, was pointing out all the creatures – crabs, shrimp, and others. After telling us about some poisonous ones, that is when we all got stuck. Our feet sunk in really deep. What was the funniest was that Brenton was behind Jenn, who was not at all dressed for the experience. When Brenton got stuck, he lost his balance and kind of fell on Jenn, pushing her into the mud. It was a muddy and sticky mess that followed.

The rest of the time on the beach consisted of swimming in the swimming pool or in the Indian Ocean, eating, sleeping, reading, playing games, tanning, playing Sudoku, listening to music and eating some more. It was a nice relaxing time.

One day we went snorkeling. There were many areas that were part of the coral reef. I got to see different fish, a lion fish, huge clams (yum) and other sea life. Then we went out to the edge of the bay and we saw small sharks.

Another day, we took a walking tour of the city of Malindi. It had a different feel than the other parts of Kenya I had been to. The Muslim population there was overwhelming. I felt like I was in Morocco. Even the people’s skin color was lighter than the other Kenyans I know. Oh yeah, this day, we went without electricity from the morning into the night. The whole city as well as the coastal areas was without power. We had a nice candlelit dinner, but it wasn’t fun when we ad to sleep in mosquito nets with no fan to keep us relatively cool.

The trip was nice and relaxing. Just in time to get back to work.