MOMBASA, KENYA

Including flight time & layovers, it took 42hrs to get from Saskatoon, Canada to Mombasa, Kenya!!! This is the farther we've ever traveled. We stayed at the Kenya Bay Beach Hotel for 16 nights. The resort was great! Good food, friendly staff, huge room with a/c & balcony, pool, etc.

The only thing that sucked was the beach! I have never seen anything so ugly! Not once did they clean the seaweed off like they do in Mexico. Yuck! So much filth & garbage washed ashore every single day along with the seaweed. You had to wear shoes to go for a walk, cuz you never know what you could step on!

There was no such thing as walking along the beach in the water ... this is what the shore was like Not cool.

One fun thing about the beach though was the camel rides! For $12 I got to ride a camel down the beach for about 15-20min. I was pretty excited to cross this off my bucket list ... however 2 min into the ride, I realized riding a camel isnt as exciting as I'd thought it would be. You sit right on its spine, and it rubs your ladybits raw, LOL! I can only imagine how uncomfortable it would be for a man!

Look how he sits! With his legs tucked under / backwards.

Kevin giving the camel kisses

Peanuts for sale. I asked her how she balanced the bowl on her head. She was walking around, turning her head this way & that way, and the bowl never waivered. She said she was taught as a small girl, and has done it all her life. Just like riding a bike I guess.

Colorful sarongs for sale on the beach.

Early in the morning the tide would be out. And let me tell you, I have never seen a tide go out so far! The ocean would literally disappear!

This boat was anchored the previous night in deep water ... less than 12hrs later and its beached due to low tide!

First time seeing Ibis birds!

One morning we bumped into some local fishermen who were on their way out to catch octopuses! The invited us along, and before we knew it we were on a 'sea safari'! They showed us all kinds of sea creatures in the shallow water. But first, let me tell you how HOT shallow water in Kenya is! Yes, I said hot. Up to knee deep, the water is hot like in a hot tub. I'm not joking. Sometimes it gets so hot I curl my toes cuz its burning. Why? Cuz we're at the equator and its +45C everyday here! The heat is unbearable, and the shallow water practically comes to a boiling point! From knee deep to thigh deep its perfectly warm. But when its +45C out, you dont want warm water, you want cold water to jump into! Once you hit shoulder deep, it gets cool, but never cold.

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They caught a crab for us ...

... and some yucky Sea Spiders ...

... a sea urchin & a sea cucumber ...

... cute little baby lobsters ...

... and a squid - at least thats what they told us this was, but I'm not too sure.

Another day we went sailing on an African Dhow.

It seemed to be held together with ropes! The mast was bamboo, and the sails were old sheets sewn together, lol! The actual boat was carved out of a mango tree trunk!
We stopped for a bit of snorkeling and found these 2 colorful starfish! Also in this photo you can see how deep / narrow the boat was.


We stopped at Copacabana Beach for lunch. I ordered chicken, and literally got a whole chicken! And Kev ordered tuna, and got 2 full tuna ... skin, eyeballs & tail included.


The next day we visited the wood carving factory. It was amazing seeing them turn a chunk of wood into beautiful animals, bowls, statues, etc. They were all so proud of their work, and all wanted me to take a photo of them with it.



Right beside the factory was a store where finished products are sold.

Me trying to get my arms around a HUGE 900yr old Baobab Tree nearby.

The colorful spice market in Mombasa.

And of course we had to buy some safari hats for our upcoming safari! ... no one actually wears them, so we found out. Total tourist trap, lol!