Just so that my visit wouldn't consist entirely of outhouses and concrete, I took a 10-day hiatus with
Chris Simpson to see some of the Indian Ocean coast. To get there we had to go through Nairobi and this time I really got to see the city at its best, a world city and regional capitol and not just 'Nai-robbery'.
Mombasa was very different from all the other cities and towns that I had been in. The city is mostly Muslim, much older and has a substantial Indian population. We visited two different Hindu temples,
tried to visit a Hare Krishna temple and sat down for some Q&A with a local Imam.
Trade in Mombasa goes back to the middle ages. The Portuguese occupied it several times only to have it revert back to the Swahili once their back was turned.
Oman was the other colonizing force prior to that and later the British.
One day while we were in Mombasa we were just trying to get a good view of the city from the tallest building we could find. Chris was trapped in an elevator once so now he avoids them in favor of climbing the stairs. When we got the 12th floor we happened to spot the Tanzanian consulate. They asked if we were there for our visas. We weren't but since we planned to go we said "...yes we are" The Trade Attache spent a whole hour helping us plan our trip. What we didn't know at the time was that the price of a visa had doubled and the Attache charged us the old price. For the time being anyway we were very pleased with our good fortune.
Probably the most welcome sights in Mombasa, apart from the lovely old buildings and the various places of worship was the ocean. I don't think of myself as much of a beach person since I never tan and don't like to sit still. But there was something wonderful and relaxing about the coast. Nairobi has all the stress of being a major city. The countryside has all the stresses of poverty. The ocean has a way of helping everyone relax