I should have said yesterday, Christmas started with the vigil Mass, which was full of song and joy. Starting at 10pm, home about midnight. No Christmas Carols as we know them. The church was decorated with balloons and was very festive.
Christmas Morning we got out the banana-fibre crib we bought in Nairobi.
After breakfast, Lucy was soon onto preparing lunch – a simple meal of ugali and cabbage ahead of tonight’s feast.
We were visited by the children of some neighbours (the parents were working I think)
Soon Lucy’s aunt (in pink) and uncle joined us.
We spent most of the day sitting and chatting with visitors.
The watoto eat their lunch.
In the afternoon, Lucy,Meld and I paid a visit to the St Joseph Sisters whose convent is next to the church.
The sisters loved seeing the photos on my phone, and were soon taking selfies (but the light was challenging and they weren’t very good)!
Sister Ancilla had dislocated her wrist working in the shamba.
We returned via Maggy’s home, saying hello to her family and to Black Jack.
Back at Lucy’s, preparations for dinner were under way. Our contribution was a Christmas Pudding and custard. teaming the pud wasn’t too difficult, though making custard (even from powder) on a very hot wood fire was a challenge.
Soon the pilau was served.
The Christmas pud was liked by some and not by others (just like home!). And I got to finish off the custard 🙂
Having got the electrics wired up to the oven, Meld made some Lemon Drizzle cakes for Christmas.
In Shanzu, Tina was more traditional, making ugali for the family.
The four remaining pups wait for supper.
Christmas Eve, Black Jack is ready to travel to Mivumoni.
But runs off to lie with her brothers.
Then it all went a bit pear-shaped. Our hire car, promised at 8, only appeared at 11. We hurriedly loaded and set off, picking up Maggy. But we only got as far as Nyali when we were stopped by the police because one tyre was very illegal.
We got taken away to the police station, where extended discussions took place, trying to get the owner of the car to come and take the rap, but eventually we were encouraged to make a payment to the police and meet the owner in town to resolve matters.
Needless to say, the owner didn’t show, so we had to get a new tyre fitted, then we headed off, but the queue to the ferry was long. Net result was that it was getting dark as we reached Likoni, so we drove all the way to Mivumoni in the dark (the one thing I wanted to avoid). We arrived in time for late supper instead of lunch!
Then we hurried off the Christmas Mass, taking Black Jack with us because there was no time to take her to Maggy’s home beforehand.
Friday, a day for massage, laundry and visitors! In the afternoon, Joe came and drove us to Chalets Beach for a quick swim and soda. Next to the beach are the Cowrie Shell Apartments: you can almost see the coloured glass in the link between the two blocks.
Joe dropped us in Bushy and we picked up vegetables before walking home. We met Joe’s sister Sidi on the way an she took us to see her home/.
Jacob brought his girlfriend Lydia home, and on Saturday morning they looked smart for the children’s birthday party.
After a morning of websites, we went up to Kikambala with Maggy and had a drink at Sun’n’Sand Hotel.
The tide was far out when we arrived so we didn’t swim, but the view was nice.
In the evening we went to a house mass with some of Joe’s parishioners, their children and grandchildren, followed by supper.
Tuesday morning we went up to Barnabas Childrens Center to deliver some bits and pieces we brought from home, and to greet thee kids. There are about 29 kids (orphans and street kids) who stay there even during the holidays.
Football in the classroom!
The little ones were playing school
Marius, a Norwegian intern, has just arrived and was soon playing games with the kids.
Silas, the deputy head.
Pretty flowers near the school.
Back near home, some huge spiders on a web between two tall trees.
Wednesday we planned to go to KWETU, a project just across the creek, that specialises in products of the neem tree, but when we got there we were told we had to pre-book because the staff were mostly away on holiday.
On the way there (it was a long way: into Shanzu, matatu to Mtwapa, then 6km on motorbikes) we stopped at a former childrens fun centre. The owners have returned to Europe, and edu has the option to use the premises, but its a big undertaking and needs capital.
Back home, we had a visit from a friend of Jacob, Kisten…
And then by Manny and cousins.
After supper I made another trip to Club Lambada for some light refreshments.
Thursday we went to City Mall shopping and I lost our small-change purse with about £20 in it. Not a disaster but very annoying. In the evening we were given super at Eunice’s (just round the corner) before Aid went off to Bundus to meet Edu (who turned up 2 hours later!)
It’s been a few days since we blogged, so it’s time for an update. We’ve not been idle, but we’ve been doing things that aren’t really photo-worthy. So this is a pot pourri of snapshots from the past few days.
On Friday we found Mary sporting a T-shirt she’d got from the scrum on Thursday, and looking very pleased about it.
On Friday, Saturday and Monday we had downpours just before lunchtime.
On Saturday, Angelo (the largest of the puppies) was off to his new home with a cousin, so he had to be shampooed.
Catherine had come to get help in completing an application form to be an au-pair in Germany, but ended up picking fleas off Angelo!
Handover – kwaheri Angelo
And then there were four.
Saturday night I went out for a drink or two with Tina at Club Lambada in Mtwapa (so I wasn’t very impressed when Jacob got up at 5 on Sunday and started housework!)
On Sunday we went to Mass at Barani and Bomani, the two southerly outstations of Kikaambala (both pictured before). In both places (as at Vipingo last week) there was a big fund raising push to help the Diocese pay off its debt.
After lunch we went to the beach with a youth group from Kongowea parish – unfortunately, few from Kikambala turned up. The water was full of the remains of fishing nets – Natasha and I did our best to clear up so that we could swim.
The youth played games on the beach.
Gillian, the local representative.
Group photo
On the way back we stopped at Sweetwaters Pub for a soda – Maggy and Gillian insist they are the Tangawizi Twins, it’s not Tusker!
Monday was spent at home, with me working on a web site for Okoa Jahazi (you can see the early progress at http://okoajahazi.asimons.co.uk) before heading to a very wet and muddy Mtwapa for shopping.
John Mumba, father of Sidi, Samuel, Joseph, George, David, Jacob and Elizabeth, died on 6 December 2012 and was buried at his shamba on 12 December 2012. Soon after we arrived in Kenya we were told “on 12 December we will all go to the rural home for a memorial service”. And so it was that Joe picked us up early and, together with Samuel, Ed and John we drove to Mariakani where we stopped (for ages, it seemed, in the hot sun) to buy supplies. We then proceeded to the shamba.
Most of the family were already there, having travelled earlier. Mary (now with her long hair!) was looking after Anton (her first cousin once removed).
The kids wasted no time in exploring Joe’s truck.
There was a lot of activity, segregated on gender and age. The younger men had slaughtered the goat and were butchering it.
Many of the women were sorting rice for pilau
others were peeling vegetables
The kids were mostly just having fun
The older men (wazee) sat under a tree and chatted (in Giriama).
An old radio, powered by a small solar panel, played music.
Jacob had told us it was de rigeur to wear the traditional kikoi and commemorative t-shirts. In fact, we were the only ones with the new polo shirts, though several people had the t-shirt printed last year. There were only a few people sporting kikois too, but it comfortable attire and it’s nice to be somewhere where no-one bats an eyelid when you wear one.
The pilau gets under way – I thought we’d brought a paddle for someone’s canoe, but it was just a huge stirrer.
Some of the family with granny, John’s widow, sadly now getting rather forgetful.
Patrick and Mary – brother and sister together for once!
This man seemed to spend the whole day making a mat.
John takes a nap.
Selina plaits Elizabeth’s hair.
Mama of the spoon.
A lot of mnazi (palm wine) seemed to be consumed in some quarters.
Little Tina got hold of my phone and took some random pictures of her family
Joe with Chris
Samuel
The pilau is served
Oh, that’s me (asking for my phone back!)
As we ate lunch, the grey clouds gathered.
Mass was postponed as we sheltered in the tent (the brolly was necessary because the tent has holes)
The women were in the house, dancing and singing, and came out to chase the rain away.
It worked!
There was a lot of rain in a short time!
We soon gathered for Mass around the tent (in case the rain returned)
Joe preaching
Blessing the water
Around the grave, the cross ready to be installed
Installation
Processing back as the sun gets lower
We then distributed the clothes we’d brought from various friends in the UK, which were greatly appreciated. Jacob and Robert had to act as askaris (security men) so we didn’t get squashed! Some of the recipients put their new acquisitions on straight away.
The face fits the t-shirt!
They didn’t seem to care whether the clothes were gender specific or not!
Tina and Grace
The moon is out- it must be time to go home.
I thought it would be a good idea to get a picture of everyone who had the traditional kikoi on (I thought there were just 5 of us, me, Meld, Jacob, Elizabeth and Gladys) but suddenly loads appeared! (Sorry, I gave Grace a big challenge to take this in the half light)
And then, everyone wanted their picture taken with the kikoi!
So, we headed home in the dark, and eventually arrived safely, tired but happy after a wonderful celebration day. (It was also Kenya’s 50th Birthday, and we saw lots of that on the TV when we got back)
We’ve had a couple of quiet days. Tuesday Eunice and a friend came round to discuss a website for Okoa Jahazi, the women’s group we met a few weeks back. We sat under the mango tree and ran through things,using my camera as a scanner, until the geckos on the tree distracted me.
After lunch I went to Shanzu for shopping and met some friends, ended up in Bundus drinking Tusker…
Wednesday we went to Samuel’s to collect Edward. Their eldest sister, Gladys, was there and we found John dressing his nephew, Anton.
We headed into Mtwapa, went to the post office (a first!), then lunch at Al Mansura (lunch for 3  including a soft drink for £3.50). We had planned to go to Kikambala so that Meld could get her hair cut at the salon at North Coast, but Ed mentioned the hairdressing school in Mtwapa so we wandered round there. But they said “we’re a salon we style hair but you need a barber” and sent us to Club Lambada (a night club). Strange as it seemed, they have a combined beauty salon and kinyozi (barber) and we both got a haircut (Meld’s first with clippers rather than scissors). The guy took a lot of care and £10 for 2 seemed cheap to us (and expensive to Ed!)
Ed, who has a fractured hand after an unfortunate encounter with a drunk in Shanzu a couple of days ago, seemed happy to wait and watch!
Today we attended Mass at Vipingo, north of Kikambala. We went with Joe, and abut 20 members of the Kikambala community who are members of the Legion of Mary. They sang in the back of the pickup as we headed north.
Vipingo was laid out for an open-air celebration.
Processing Our Lady’s statue
Liturgical Dance
New recruits are commissioned
The congregation sheltering from sun or rain (at different times!)
We were fed on pilau after the celebration
Most people had their pilau served in a black plastic bag (and it’s amazing to see locals eat rice with their hands, with no spillage)
There was no specific blog entry for yesterday because we didn’t do very much! I worked on the CLP website, Meld read her book, and we had several visitors, including Selina who (apart from befriending Black Jack) plaited the fringes of my kikoi and took some of Melds skirts away to reduce them in width.
Also, a local lady came to give me a massage, and I’m very glad not to have photos of that to share with the world, but I did emerge very relaxed (and all for under a fiver).
Today we went into town. First stop was Marikiti (a corruption of Market by the local Giriama speakers) where there are lots of clothes and fabric shops, We bought kikois, shirts, dresses and shoes.
Then down to the ferry at the south end of Mombasa Island, and a walk around Mama Ngina Drive.
Pilot boat returns, having dropped the pilot on an incoming ship.
There were many huge baobab trees at the south end.
Fresh casava crisps (casava is a root vegetable, widely eaten here – also the source of tapioca)
The ship (a car transporter we think) approaches the entrance to the harbour.
The coastline
A container ship leaves port.
Bird on a rail
Parts of the coastline are quite unspoilt, considering you are in town.
The golf course
Walking round the golf course
Smart houses
A lighthouse
Quite a location for the golf course
The coral is in evidence
Unusual road sign (Tuk Tuks are little 3-wheeled taxis)
A park by the council office
Into Old Town
Not a lighthouse, but a mosque
Good tag line “You ring, we bring”
Swahili doorway
Another mosque
Ornate balcony
Then home via the shops, including pyrethrum shampoo to try to rid the puppies of fleas. As the sun set, we bathed the little wrigglers.
So, after a shower, Meld modelled one of her purchaces, a dress for church tomorrow.
The pups are growing, but they still like to suckle their mum (who is patient – for  while)
We took the matatu to Kikambala to see Joe and witness the progress on his new house. They are rendering the internal walls.
Progress is evident
Surveying the works.
The render is drying over the blockwork.
Most of the windows are now in place.
Teddy was drying maize in the sun.
Joe dropped us at North Coast while he went to bank.
Back at the church, rain was coming so Teddy was now rescuing his maize!
The church choir were practising dance routines for their video.
We stopped for shopping on the way back and dropped off some yoghurts for Gloria and Shanique. Shanique loves her yoghurt.
Back home, we went round to David’s for supper. The house was full, not just with his family, these are 2 neices (twins) from Taveta.
Emanuel and his friend Dick.
The house cat – actually friendly (and purring!)
Then we enjoyed a great Pilau before walking home under the stars, straight to bed, to awake to learnt that Nelson Mandela had died and Africa is commemorating his life non-stop on TV.
After our trip, this morning was the time to catch up with washing clothes – Tina and Mary came and did most of it, while I was childminder of Shanique.
Later, David and Eunice came round with baby Tina, and Meld got to hold her.
Then with Jacob and John (brother of Nick, Ed and Tina) we took a matatu to Chalets beach. The monkeys watched us as we walked down the track.
After a long swim, we relaxed with some of Jacobs neighbours from Majaoni.(and a drink!)
Well, I slept though Meld didn’t! When I awoke, about 05:45, we were coming into Voi station and it was starting to get light. Past Voi we saw the Sagala Hills.
The sun rising
We passed along the edge of Tsavo East National Park
The only animals I saw were these cattle with their Maasai minders
We had to stop frequently to let freight trains pass (using passing loops, it’s mostly single track). This train was carrying Magadi Soda.
Our train rounding one of many curves. Children waving at the train and asking for money was a common sight.
The signal box at Miritini
Another signal box, handing over the token for the next section of track.
Water containers piled up on the outskirts of Mombasa – there’s no running water here, but at least the houses are reasonable.
The track does downhill, and so does the accommodation
And these “dwellings” are on a rubbish dump, just before the causeway onto Mombasa Island
Fishermen on the edge of the island
Coming into Mombasa station – wreckage of old sleepers (we’d seen buckled rails alongside the track at many locations)
We’re here, at last, after 16 hours (only 2 hours late!)
The smoky loco that hauled us here
We stopped at Tuskys for supplies, opposite this temple.
From Helen”s we took a taxi to the Railway Museum, before catching our train “home” to Mombasa.
The museum documents the history of the “lunatic line” from Mombaasa to Uganda, and the other East African routes.
rack inspection bicycle
One of the huge locomotives 4-8-4-4-8-4 configuration
Meld boarding our train to Mombasa – looks like something out of the museum
A local train
Cattle claass
Meld in her compartment (we ended up with one each!)
And so, a mere 45 minutes late, we left Nairobi. Dinner was served as we passed through the suburbs and out through Athi River, then we retired for the night (there nothing to see in an African night!)
After a leisurely breakfast, we travelled with Helen to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage for baby elephant feeding hour. While we were waiting we saw a Thomson’s gazelle nearby.
More milk (actually, SMA baby formula from the UK)
I can do this myself
And I can steal another bottle (but it’s an empty)
Not quite got the drinking with my trunk thing – I’ll stick my mouth in the water like other mammals
Time to go home
Helen and Me
One of the elephant stables – the keeps sleep with them on the bunk
From there we went to the Karen Blixen Coffee House, and looked at the Swedo house, the older house that Karen lived in before the house we visited on Saturday.
Elegant puss
The restaurant (we had lunch in the garden)
Jua kali (literally “hot sun”) workers work along the roaadside, this is a furniture workshop
And here they make sculptures out of metal (I’d like to take that giraffe home, but think if the excess baggage)
Then back to Helen’s for tea, packing and farewells. Asante sana Helen and James
After our luxurious night in the Intercontinental, we walked (just next door from the hotel) to the Holy Family Basilica for the “English” Mass. Ironically, the hymns were all in kiswahili!
It had rained heavily during mass, and the sky was heavy with grey clouds.
After Mass we checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to Helen and James’ apartment near Junction. After coffee and lunch we headed to Bomas of Kenya, expecting to visit the traditional homesteads and see the traditional dance displays. However, when we got there we discovered another event going on in the main hall (and didn’t realise the traditional dances were in another hall). We bought tickets to the show, which we were told would include traditional dancing and singing and went in…
The event turned out to be a show by / for a girls school. They were supported by The African Boys Choir who were absolutely amazing.
Some of the girls did aa fashion show.
They also sang as a choir, and did a wonderful display of song and dance, but I was so engrossed I failed to take and photos or video.
Last view of Chania Falls before we leave Blue Post and Thika.
We drove uneventfully down the Thika Superhighway to Nairobi and reached our posh hotel (The Intercontinental). Having checked in and relaxed a little, we headed out to the Karen suburb of Nairobi to the Karen Blixen House, a museum to the famous Danish author of Out of Africa. (Traffic was awful, but we eventually got there).
You’re not allowed to take photos inside, but the grounds are also interesting. This is a Fordson tractor bought by Blixen in the 1920s.
Coffee beans – she tried to grow coffee here, but without much success.
Trees Karen brought from Durban, South Africa, in 1921.
A little bird on the agapanthus.
In the garden
Back of the house
Another bird in the hedge
Australian Flame Tree
Is it a tree, or is it a cactus?
Front of the house
After lunch we drive to Lang’ata following another strange load.
At teh Giraffe centre there are also wart hogs – with piglets.