The Beach Boys

So yesterday I was still very sick and just layed in bed almost all day and drank water. Kind of a bummer but I feel better today.

Last night we just relaxed outside our room and played some chess and then cards. Our neighbor who has a connecting deck with us played some cards with us too. Tommy is about 90 percent sure she is a prostitute and I am only about 50 percent sure. Either way she was nice to us and never tried to make any deals or anything like that. She taught us a card game which through her explanation made no sense. We went to bed at about 10.

We woke up this morning and had to check out. Since our train does not leave until 7 the hotel told us we could leave our stuff by the barside. When we went to bring our stuff there we saw that the tide was very low. We decided to walk out into the ocean.

We headed out through the sand and plants. Two beach boys walked with us and showed us the different sea urchins, sea cucumbers, etc. that were now visible. We immediately knew that they were going to want some shillings for this even though we never asked for them to come with us and it tends to be very annoying. However, they were very helpful. We were able to walk a couple hundred yards from the normal shore in water that was never past our shins.

Anytime you read about Mombasa a reoccuring theme will always be the annoying Beach Boys. This cannot be emphasized enough. As soon as you step on the sand they all bother you. They want to sell you necklaces, keychains, drugs, massages, boat rides, you name it. It is not like you can say "no thanks" and they will leave you alone either. These are the most persistant dudes you will ever meet. Last night when we were walking back from dinner on the beach and it was dark out. The beach boys are pretty much all gone at this point, but one kid was still out trying to sell peanuts. This same kid has bothered us to buy peanuts every day we have been here. Last night we were like, "no thanks we dont want any peanuts" and the kid (probably like 13 or so) was like "you always say you dont want peanuts, everyday you say that." Well, that is because we really never want any peanuts. Last night I was feeling sick and tired so I just said "get lost kid." As Tommy mentions in his blog, these people may be poor, but I dont think that gives them the right to constantly harass every foreigner that walks on the beach. We are always polite and say no thank you, but after saying no thank you a certain amount of times I think it is best to just tell them to get lost.

I like Mombasa. but I like our little villages around Nairobi more. Everything there is more authentic and more "Kenyan". Mombasa was kind of stressful in its own way, although being sick the whole time I was here probably did not help my opinion of it. We leave tonight at 7 back to our host family and I am excited for this.

I am also very excited to be back home in the USA.

-Kevin