Mombasa!

I'm back! No two ways about it, Mombasa was incredible!
Our plan was to take the night train from Nairobi to Mombasa, but after sitting in insane Nairobi traffic for several hours, we ended up having to walk the last block or so to make our train. We all arrived sticky and safe the next morning, surrounded by new sights, new smells, and new humidity. We took a taxi to our hostel where we spent the afternoon in the Indian Ocean turning varying shades of pink in the equatorial sun.
The next day was when my real adventures began. Tanzi and I decided that simply going to our hotel would be boring, especially since this would probably be our only chance to explore Mombasa itself. We watched the other SMs load up their taxi and drive off in their taxi as we started walking down the road. We knew we wanted to get to Fort Jesus, but we had only a little idea where it was or how we were going to get there. We didn't have to walk long before a matatu picked us up and we were off to town. We were planning on getting off whenever the conductor kicked us out, but we ended up riding way too far. When the man who took our money found out we were going to Fort Jesus, he informed us that we were too far into the city and would have to take a tuktuk back. Despite our detour, we made it safely to the Fort, and had a great tour of both the Fort and the old town surrounding it.

Fort Jesus

Buying spices in old town Mombasa

We found market after market overflowing with fabric, vegetables  and amazing spices, but after walking around in the noonday sun and sweating profusely, I was definitely ready to rejoin the others at the resort. We took our second tuktuk to the ferry, crossed over, found another tuktuk. Even though it was a 30 minute ride, we never got bored. It was lunch time, and with no knifes or spoons, we turned a pair of Tanzi's sunglasses into the best peanut butter and jelly spreaders Mombasa has ever seen! By the time we finally arrived at the resort, I'm pretty sure we had sampled every single form of transportation Kenya has to offer, with the exception of an airplane. We even took boda-bodas part of the way! (Dad, you're not allowed to Google that one...)

Making pb&j sandwiches in a tuktuk with sunglasses = Major adventure!

The rest of the week was spent snorkeling, eating, sleeping, snorkeling, and eating some more! We went out on a boat one day, and I'm pretty sure I saw the entire cast for Finding Nemo (minus the sharks) all in one morning! Including two Sea Turtles!! Day = Made!

The view from my back porch 

The last few days of our vacation were spent on staff retreat at an all inclusive resort. That's right! Eating, swimming, and more eating all. day. long. It was wonderful. We even found time between all that lounging to kayak, ride a camel, and pet giant tortoises!
It was one incredible vacation, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to end Christmas break.

Riding camels next to the Indian Ocean 

Giant and ancient tortoises!