"The Coast"

Well as it turns out we could not take the train. We went to the train station the day after we arrived in Nairobi to see if we could get tickets. Thought this train would be cool. It's the train Teddy Roosevelt had a chair strapped to the front of so he could hunt on the journey...anyway it travels overnite from Nairobi to Mombasa. First class...meaning you get a compartment...was sold out. We coud ride in the general compartment...whatever that was called...but decided it best not to ride with the chickens and other wildlife that would be in the car. So we were off to the plane. Nairobi to Mombasa...then a cab to Malindi.

Now one thing that needs to be explained about Kenya at that time. There are alot of people...alot of them were not working full time let's say...so they stand in groups along side the streets. Almost as if a parade was going to come by. Speaking not out of any racist bias...they were also primarily locals...meaning they were dark skinned. And they liked to stare at anything that went by that was of a different skin tone. I found out quickly what it may feel like to be a minority. In Mombasa, thousands of men were on the sides of the street. They stared at these three white boys from New England as they passed by in the rickety Mercedes (and it truly was rickety). Landing at the airport we were hustled out to this guys cab. Doug, in his infinite wisdom, told him he heard we could get to Malindi in one hour (Malindi is 200 Km away). Answer from the cabbie, " I don't know, but I'll try. I have a Mercedes." So in we git...and before we got out of the airport parking lot, the dashboard fell off in Doug's lap. Great! Let's race!

Remember we are in an old colony of England. This means you drive on the left. The road is not so good from Mombasa to Malindi. In many cases they were performing "road work". To notify you they put a sign in the middle of your lane with a skull and crossbones. A few hundred meters up they put bushes in the road...on your lane. A hundred or so meters ahead is another skull and crossbone sign stating "YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED". Do you think the cab slowed? Or anybody else for that matter? Luckily when a lorrie came head on, our cabbie had the wherewithall to go into the ditch, around the truck, and back on the road. All at 120Km per hour.

Now we were still in a time warp from the airplane. Let alone the cultural shock of being in Africa. So we were in a cross between absolute terror and those uncontrollable giggles you get when saturated with tiredness. This was about the time that Doug announced' "I saw my first breasts!" I guess he must have looked at a few National Geographics before we left. My reply, "it's about time...you are over forty."

Next stop Malindi and Watamu.