Hey guys!
Sorry for being this quiet. Kenya is
making me so lazy..
For the past month I have been
traveling a lot. First there was the trip to Ethiopia and then we travelled for
two and a half weeks with Enni. First we went to the South coast of Kenya, Mombasa
and Diani Beach, from where we continued to Tanga, crossing the Tanzanian
border. From Tanga we went to Zanzibar through Mikadi Beach in Dar Es Salaam.
We spent five days in Zanzibar, first in Stone Town and then at the Northern
tip of the island called Nungwi beach. After Zanzibar we went back to Dar es
Salaam, then cities called Arusha and Moshi in North Tanzania to see Kilimanjaro. We reached
Moshi just in time for my 23rd birthday and I was so happy to be
celebrating my birthday in such an awesome place, sitting on the rooftop of our
lodge watching the sunrise revealing the snowy top of Mount Kilimanjaro on my
birthday morning.
We travelled only by bus (and a ferry to Zanzibar of course) and during the couple of weeks we sat in buses for
over 50 hours. The buses were always really crowded and they had no air
conditioning but then again it was clearly the cheapest way to travel. We
figured traveling by bus is a good way to see the countries as well but somehow
I was so tired all the time that I ended up sleeping most of the bus trips.
Oops.
Too many stories to be told about
our travels but let me just share the best parts with you.
Ethiopia was one of the most
beautiful countries I’ve ever visited and the people there where by far the
friendliest, most welcoming people I have ever met. We went to cities called
Bahir Dar and Lalibela and I really enjoyed both of those places. What I will
definitely remember for the rest of my life was the drive from Bahir Dar to
Lalibela. The drive was about 8 hours but the road was going along the top of
the mountains and the scenery was just absolutely breath taking and something I
have never seen before. I was just looking out from the car window smiling the
whole drive. In Lalibela we visited some rock churches, churches that are made entirely
by carving rocks. All in all the week in Ethiopia was so wonderful filled with
coffee ceremonies and delicious Ethiopian coffee, kind smiles and meetings with
warm-hearted local people, smell of incenses, injeera and other Ethiopian foods
and amazing scenery. Ethiopia is definitely a country I want to visit again and
see more of it.
South coast of Kenya was really nice
as well and I fell in love with Diani Beach especially. The sad fact is that
the concerns about terrorism has really ruined the reputation of the Kenyan
coast among tourists which means that the beaches were almost completely empty
with only beach boys desperately trying to make a living by selling souvenirs
or snorkeling trips to the few tourists. In Diani beach I saw the whitest,
softest sand and the unbelievably turquoise water that was so warm it could
have been bath water. And the climate there was so hot and humid exactly like
they sing in the Finnish song called Mombasa. We stayed at a place called South
Coast Backpackers and that was one of the most awesome places I have ever
stayed in. 5/5 for sure.
Even though I enjoyed Diani, Zanzibar
was my favourite place I have so far visited. Stone Town was pretty chaotic and
it was raining a lot there and our hotel was in the middle of the town
surrounded by so narrow streets that the only way to get there was by foot. Somehow we ended up being lost every time we left from the hotel or tried to get back there. We
had dinner in this fish market at the harbor and that night was the only time
I was actually a little scared of how we are able to get back since it was so dark
and we didn’t know the way to the hotel. Everything turned out well though and
we got back to the hotel with a taxi driver who walked us all the way to our
hotel’s front door. The next day we went to Nungwi beach, which was pretty
touristic but still I really liked it. Anyone getting married anytime soon
should really consider that as the honeymoon spot because the place was
ridiculously romantic. I saw the most beautiful sunsets there and there where
so many fancy -looking hotels along the coast line. Of course we couldn’t afford to stay
in the fancy places but we found this super relaxed, cozy guesthouse called
Kajibange from the beach with hammocks and reggae music playing all day. That’s
another place I definitely want to stay again if I ever get a chance. We
spent the days in Zanzibar mostly lying on the beach, swimming, snorkeling,
eating out and going to beach parties. I felt really sad to leave that place cause
for some reason I really felt like home there.
All in all Tanzania was a lot of fun
but what surprised me was that Tanzanian people don’t really speak English. Since
our Swahili skills are pretty limited we had some trouble trying to be
understood but in the end everything worked out really well. And we got through
the whole trip without any accidents or problems so no need to be worried.
We have now been back in Juja for
little more than a week. Life has been really slow here, not much been
happening. Apparently all we have left at school are two final exams. I gave a
presentation in one nutrition conference this week which was pretty exciting
but other than that I haven’t been doing much, just hanging out with friends
and sitting at the bar in our yard using the wifi. During the weekend we go to
our friend’s graduation party and then there’s a concert at Senate where a
local artist plays kikuyu (one of the Kenyan tribes) music. Next week my dad is
going to be in Kenya from Tuesday to Saturday and we will first spend couple of
days in Nairobi and then do a safari in Lake Nakuru. Gonna be a lot of fun!
Before we went traveling the thought of going back to Finland made me feel
really sad but now I am actually feeling a little home sick. I don’t know what
changed during the last few weeks but now I am actually looking forward to be
coming back home. Maybe it’s the fact that I miss my friends and family and
just some normal stuff like proper internet access, working electricity,
finnish food (!!!), drinking tap water, watching Netflix and just simply the fact that things are well organized and goes
as planned. It is so funny how often me and Enni talk about the foods we miss
from Finland, mainly sandwiches and dip sauce. So mum, I count on you that
there will be sandwiches waiting for me when I come home! Still I know that
leaving Juja will be super sad so I just want to make the most of these last
four weeks here.
Here is a link to some pictures throughout my whole stay here in Kenya as well as from the travels. :)
Love, Iisa
