Garissa

Saturday 7th July 2007 Bahir Hotel Old City Lamu Island
This morning we were woken at the crack of dawn by the raucous braying of a donkey right outside our window, and we both jumped with fright. That was the end of all thought of sleep. The rooster started again, and then the muezzin followed, probably also woken by the donkey. We took a fast motor boat back to the mainland, organized by our little goatee-bearded chappie who kept popping up and helping whenever we needed him!
We met the others and proceeded to Garissa via Garsen (No police guard was necessary today?). On the way we saw Vulturine guinea fowl, large birds with pointed tails and stripped neck feathers.
I was a rough road but not as bad as expected. The countryside is harsh, scrub bush with not much grass, resulting in erosion (again). More and more camels are being used as the main source of transport as we approach the Somali border. The cattle are light coloured Boran-type, huge herds, and no agriculture as it is far too dry and hot. Temp went up to 33, but it often goes to 40 apparently. The Landcruiser is having over-heating problems again and electrical problems again. We arrived at Garissa and the locals appear very different here. They are very tall (2m), very skinny, thin-faced and Somali-looking. There are obviously mostly Muslems here. Some of our group wanted to bush-camp but Nev vetoed that idea as he wasn’t happy about the security, and found the ‘Government Guest House”, who allowed us to camp in the grounds. It is Saturday night, and they are having a party.
Dad Karg always talks about Garissa where he came during the war, and when Nev phoned him, he immediately knew where we were and asked if we were next to the Tana River, which is a few meters from us.
The others are debating whether to stick with us and see Africa, or speed on ahead.

Friday 6th July 2007 Bahir Hotel Old City Lamu Island
This morning we were woken at the crack of dawn by a rooster crowing outside our window. He went on for ages, and banished all thought of sleep.
We went on a fishing trip on a dhow to the next Island in the archipelago, Manda Island. Well, the fishing consisted of hand-lines dropped into the water next to the mangroves. The only people who caught anything were the captain and his mate, who each caught one tiny fish. We just baked in the sun. Then while the captain cooked a Swahili meal some of us went for a 2Km walk along the lovely beach. We had to eat the lunch with our fingers. It was rice with a tomato-vege gravy and braaied spiced fish. Yummy. Always serve your guests late, after they usually eat because then they are really hungry and enjoy the food.
When we got back half our crew decided they had had enough of Lamu and went back to the mainland to wait for us while we spent another night there. We spent an interesting evening with an Austrian couple who had just been to Ethiopia and gave us tips on where to go.



Thursday 5th July 2007 Bahir Hotel Old City Lamu Island
We had a goodnight and were awoken by the calling of a muezzin calling the muslems to prayers at five o clock. Due to form our sneaky little fellow showed up at 9am to take us on a tour of the old town. The town consists of narrow little alleys. There are no cars on Lamu except for one Landrover and a 3-wheeled ambulance, so no roads. Transport is by donkey back or people cart from the tidal warf . Most alleys are only 1 to 2meters wide and when the donkeys pass with their load, you have to stand in a doorway to let them pass. All the drainage from bathrooms and kitchen drains into the sea via open drains so you have to be careful where you step so as not to step into the drain. The aleeys are more or less clean, well sort of, at least they do sweep them every morning, but there is a smell. The sewerage goes into septic tanks. The warf is dirty. The town is about 10 alleyways wide parallel to the warf for about 1Km. The town dates back to the 14th century, by the Arabs, and up to 40 houses are interconnected by upstairs passages over the alleys, so the muslem women in those days did not have to leave the houses. Most of the Arab section is made of coral and limestone instead of cement with beautiful carved doors and up to three stories high. The Swahili section is made more cheaply with mangrove poles and mud. They live right on top of each other and the ally-ways are cool with lots of skinny cats and hundreds of donkeys, either carrying loads or just standing around. There are wells from which they draw water. Most of them have plastic bottles and junk inside, but it was demonstrated that the fish in the well are still alive, so the water is not poisoned, and is good to drink!! The people are very friendly and welcoming and everyone calls Jambo (greetings) and Karibu (welcome) to which you have to reply Jambo, Asante (Thank you). Our little chappie did a very good job of the tour, and was really useful and wasn’t a crook at all.
In the afternoon Nev and I went on a dhow for a sail to Shela beach where all the Larny hotels and expensive private homes are One, we were told belongs to Prince Ranier of Manarco, another to “the Italian Mafia” (don’t know if we believed that).July is not peak season because of the winds and the sea is dirty from the rains inland bringing the silt down the Tana River into the sea, so we couldn’t snorkel.


Wednesday 4th July 2007 Bahir Hotel Old City Lamu Island
Traveled from Watamu via Malindi and Garsen to Mot on a potted tarmac road as far as Garsen.Then we had to take two armed police guards to estcort us to M because of the fighting between two tribes, the Ardei and the Orma, and because Somali shiftas were in the area. We arrived at Lamu after taking a short trip (1Km or so) from the mainland and booked into the Bahar Hotel at R120 per person per night bed and breakfast. It was a basic but clean hotel (1 star SA style). There was one short Swahili chappie with a goatie beard smelling of alcohol and tobacco who latched onto us and showed us the hotel. He said he was a tour guide and would show us around the city the next day. He looked to us like a typical shrewd sneaky, untrustworthy crook.