My African Adventure: Day 10b...Mara to Mombasa

Up early to say goodbye to each other and go our separate ways. Although there was one more day in the itinerary full of fun things to do in Nairobi, many of us had separate trips planned.

Saying goodbye was bitter sweet. On the one hand, I had just spent almost every waking hour with a great group of people that I was just really getting to know and I was sorry to see that come to an end. On the other hand, I was excited to start the next part of my African adventure, see where my Mom was born, and spend time with family...not to mention relax by the beach! :)

Thank God, a bigger plane!

I was very lucky that Free the Children organized my transfer to the Nairobi international airport where I met up with Jimmy and Ligia and together we flew to Mombasa. From there on out my brain went on vacation and I just "went with the flow"! :)

Hello Mombasa! It's hot here!

Nothing could have prepared me for Mombasa! Talk about a culture shock coming from the tranquillity of Bogani and the Maasai Mara to the noise and chaos of Mombasa! I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this kind of dirty, extremely loud, bustling, Arab-influenced, predominantly Muslim, port city.

City Mosque

Culture shock!

When I first started this blog I said that it was the people who really made this trip amazing and my time in Mombasa was no different. The moment we landed, Jimmy's cousin, Baba, picked us up at the airport, took us to his home for "tea" (which was really an amazing spread of food and drink), and everyone (there were a lot of people at home and some who just dropped by) made me feel like I was a part of the family. It was great! Thousands of miles away from home, in a foreign city, and I felt like I had just met a bunch of cousins I never knew existed. And my absolute favourite part was re-connecting with Zena, who I hadn't seen in 17 years! She lives in B.C. but we had to come half-way around the world to see each other, hilarious.