On our fifth night on Lamu, I was woken up by a terrifying sound, it was the sound of Mats throwing up (sorry to be so indiscreet), it was so violent that I thought he was about to die. That was the start of the rest of the vacation. First Mats got sick then myself and just when we thought Noah would make it, he got sick too. We all had caught some tummy bug and I tell you it wasn't pleasant! The only good thing that week was that we had moved up to the top suite with a large terrace and there we resided like in a house arrest for the remainder of the holiday.
The day before New Year's Eve I was feeling quite alright (after a few Imodium pills) and ordered food for the next day. Unfortunately I felt worse on New Year's Eve while Mats was feeling better and had two grilled lobsters and coconut prawns to himself while his other half was lying on the day bed trying not to puke by the mere thought of eating. We managed to stay awake to see the spectacular fireworks which came to a few little puffs and some sparkles, we couldn't help but being a bit amused.
On the day of leaving, Noah woke up but he was definitely not himself that morning. He was very tired and withdrawn and didn't reply when speaking to him. We got really worried and decided to call for one of two doctors working on Lamu, we caught him just before catching the boat to Shella, a lucky strike.
The doctor turned out to be a very pleasant Somalian man who seemed to know what he was doing, no witch doctor here. Poor little Noah was dehydrated and we felt like sucky parents since we hadn't managed to make him drink enough. The doctor comforted us saying that when small kids catch a tummy bug they get dehydrated very quickly. As soon as the crew of Subira House heard the news they all came running up to show their support, I got really stressed having everyone around and I asked them kindly to leave. Only later did Christina tell me that this is the way people here on Lamu show their support and I felt ashamed for having sent them away when they were being so sweet. Noah had to be put on a drip and I tell you it was not a nice thing watching them put a needle into the small veins on his hand. I actually had to look in another direction because I couldn't bare watching the whole thing and yes by the way they had to do it twice.
Anyhow, after a liter of fluid Noah's face had gotten the color back and he was smiling. We were all given medicine which we of course cross-checked with our health insurance company but everything was in order.
We flew back home later that afternoon and I was relieved the airplane was a little larger this time and the journey was quick and comfortable.
That was the end of that vacation.
Showing posts with label Shella. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shella. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Beach bums
We were quite happy to kip in our rock hard beds that night.
Alllaaaah Akbahr! screamed the megaphone loudly at 5 o' clock the next morning and one could hear people's footsteps in the dark alleys, still no sign of daylight. For people getting up at that inhumanly early hour I guess it would be a safe wake up call, I bet the muezzin just got up to yell his prayer and then went straight back to bed. We woke up 2 hours later feeling refreshed and hungry for breakfast. The table was set with freshly pressed juice, fruit salad and yogurt, scrambled eggs and toast, jam, banana pancake and coffee with hot milk - yummy!
After breakfast we set off for Shella beach, it would take about 45 minutes to walk there but it would be difficult if not impossible to walk there with a pram so we went down to the jetty to find a boat. After some dealing we found a "slow boat", a dhow with a motor, that would take us there safely in about 15 minutes for the price of 500 Ksh ( 5 Euros). I am sure giving tourists lift back and forth to the beach is a quite lucrative side business for boat owners here.
As usual the quay was crowded with people and donkeys and we wonder how we will manage to get down to the boat since there are only steep cemented stairs leading down, however the locals turn out to be most helpful and before we know it Noah, the pram and ourselves are on our way. Apparently a recently introduced law require boat owners to supply life jackets on board so we both got dressed up in bright orange life jackets while Noah already had his own, now we really must have looked like dumb tourists! Never mind, we were out on the Indian Ocean and the sun was shining ( I will add photos asap I get hold of a bloody cable). The engine sounded like an old sewing machine and Noah was sitting on top of it, humming a song, we passed the shores of Lamu and as we came closer to Shella the houses grew larger and more elaborate but without feeling too touristy.
We were let off at the quay of the legendary Peponi Hotel which was first opened in 1967, it does not have any of the facilities or services of a posh hotel but nevertheless manages to attract 5-star guests. What Peponi has is plenty of personality, charm & delicious cocktails. It is rumored that Andreas Casiraghi, the handsome son of Princess Caroline of Monaco comes here to dance by the bar. If you aren't very interested in the celeb gossip I can tell you that the restaurant offers fresh oysters, tuna carpaccio, grilled fish, lobster in mango sauce, food that melts in your mouth while you are sipping on a glass of a chilled South African chardonnay.
We continue on to the beach, locals are watching us curiously, they have probably never seen anyone with a pram here before or at least not on the beach...The reason for bringing the pram was because there's no natural shade to hide from the sun and there sure are no sun chairs or parasols for rent either, even if someone could have made a fortune from it.
We found ourselves a nice little spot and plunged into the green water. The temperature of the Indian ocean is just perfect, along the shore it must easily have been around 30+ degrees I am not kidding! We got home later that afternoon feeling happily burnt and with sand enough to open up a smaller beach.... in our room.
Alllaaaah Akbahr! screamed the megaphone loudly at 5 o' clock the next morning and one could hear people's footsteps in the dark alleys, still no sign of daylight. For people getting up at that inhumanly early hour I guess it would be a safe wake up call, I bet the muezzin just got up to yell his prayer and then went straight back to bed. We woke up 2 hours later feeling refreshed and hungry for breakfast. The table was set with freshly pressed juice, fruit salad and yogurt, scrambled eggs and toast, jam, banana pancake and coffee with hot milk - yummy!
After breakfast we set off for Shella beach, it would take about 45 minutes to walk there but it would be difficult if not impossible to walk there with a pram so we went down to the jetty to find a boat. After some dealing we found a "slow boat", a dhow with a motor, that would take us there safely in about 15 minutes for the price of 500 Ksh ( 5 Euros). I am sure giving tourists lift back and forth to the beach is a quite lucrative side business for boat owners here.
As usual the quay was crowded with people and donkeys and we wonder how we will manage to get down to the boat since there are only steep cemented stairs leading down, however the locals turn out to be most helpful and before we know it Noah, the pram and ourselves are on our way. Apparently a recently introduced law require boat owners to supply life jackets on board so we both got dressed up in bright orange life jackets while Noah already had his own, now we really must have looked like dumb tourists! Never mind, we were out on the Indian Ocean and the sun was shining ( I will add photos asap I get hold of a bloody cable). The engine sounded like an old sewing machine and Noah was sitting on top of it, humming a song, we passed the shores of Lamu and as we came closer to Shella the houses grew larger and more elaborate but without feeling too touristy.
We were let off at the quay of the legendary Peponi Hotel which was first opened in 1967, it does not have any of the facilities or services of a posh hotel but nevertheless manages to attract 5-star guests. What Peponi has is plenty of personality, charm & delicious cocktails. It is rumored that Andreas Casiraghi, the handsome son of Princess Caroline of Monaco comes here to dance by the bar. If you aren't very interested in the celeb gossip I can tell you that the restaurant offers fresh oysters, tuna carpaccio, grilled fish, lobster in mango sauce, food that melts in your mouth while you are sipping on a glass of a chilled South African chardonnay.
We continue on to the beach, locals are watching us curiously, they have probably never seen anyone with a pram here before or at least not on the beach...The reason for bringing the pram was because there's no natural shade to hide from the sun and there sure are no sun chairs or parasols for rent either, even if someone could have made a fortune from it.
We found ourselves a nice little spot and plunged into the green water. The temperature of the Indian ocean is just perfect, along the shore it must easily have been around 30+ degrees I am not kidding! We got home later that afternoon feeling happily burnt and with sand enough to open up a smaller beach.... in our room.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Lamu a different kind of paradise
Since our last driving adventure turned out to be a bit bumpy flying to Lamu seemed to the better choice. I've seen a photo of the airstrip of Lamu and it's nothing more than a sandy stretch in between the mangroves and the ocean so I already knew we would not fly a jumbo there, not even one of the smaller jet planes could land there. It turned out to be a 12 seated propeller plane plus the pilot. I´ve never been a real fan of flying so I felt rather brave climbing on board. No safety instructions hmm, I then remembered a story told by a friend of mine who once flew on a small plane in Norway. The air hostess -at least they had room for one, started the safety instructions and half way through she said, of fuck it, if we go down, we go down, very reassuring.
The ascending was rather shaky and I felt nervous for a while, Noah fell asleep almost at once, little cool guy that he is. Once we were up among the clouds I couldn't complain, it was a rather smooth journey and felt a bit like sailing. When we were about to land, there were some really strong wind so we didn't float over the airport or airstrip like one normally would, we flew down so to speak. Imagine sailing a large boat into port during storm, well I guess it would be something similar to that. However it did not last long and I was happy we had reached our near destination
(I tried not to think about the journey back), I wiped my slightly moist palms, got out of the plane and tried to look cool. An instant almost unexpected heat welcomed us.
Lamu is a different kind of paradise, a little island in the Indian Ocean just off the Kenyan coast. The history tells about a wealthy trading port busy with merchants, sultans and their slaves tracing some 600 years back in time. The dwindling alleys, coral and limestone houses comprises the oldest and best preserved East African Swahili settlement, now part of the UNESCO World heritage. Even today the island attracts noble visitors such as princess Caroline of Monaco, Mick Jagger and so forth and it is not hard to understand why, here they can be totally undisturbed, no paparazzi, empty sun kissed beaches, the warm Indian Ocean and delicious seafood. However I am quite sure the celebrities don't stay in Lamu town, more likely at one of the 5-star hotels located on a secluded beach.
In order to get to Lamu we had to cross the straight by boat, you could actually see the town from the opposite side. The jetty was already full of people waiting to cross, most of them were not tourists or at least they didn't look like tourists to me. The warm breeze was a blessing to our warm bodies, we tried to hold on to Noah in the pram, the jetty had large gaps of missing wood but with some effort we managed to get both our bags, our son, now dressed in a bright yellow life west on board a boat. It would cost us 400 Ksh to cross, an equivalent of 4 Euros.
As we are approaching the quay children are jumping in and out of the water giggling and screaming with joy while women are piercing at us through their black bui bui's. Lamu is a Muslim society and one is likely to see veiled women and men dressed in the traditional kanzu. Our hostess later tells me that this is indeed a Muslim society but not an overly strict one, for a Westerner the bui bui may seem strict but we do not know what goes on underneath.. Everywhere we are greeted with a smile and a - Karibu (welcome) and it seems rather genuine. I have to admit though that we were a little shocked by the ruralness of Lamu, I mean we did know that there were no cars here except from one 3-wheeled ambulance and a Landrover and that donkeys were the public transport but I suppose we were still in a Swedish state of mind, expecting neat and cleanliness.
This is not some typical holiday resort built to cater for the needs of tourists, this is Lamu, real and raw and far more interesting. We follow our porter through the narrow alley ways, trying not to step in donkey poo oh well sooner or later we will but in the meantime I would like to remain clean thank you! Most alley ways are only 1 to 2 meters wide and one quickly has to find a door way to hide in while donkeys pass with their heavy load and believe me they come at full speed. The town is about 10 alleyways wide and dates back to the 14th century, apparently some 40 houses are interconnected by upstairs passages so Muslim women in those days didn't have to leave the houses, sounds a bit like prison to me but maybe it was convenient.
We stop in front of a large carved wooden door, just behind Lamu fort, this is the entrance to Subira House, formerly a house owned by the governor of the Sultan built about 200 years ago, now a restored and beautifully renovated B&B run by a Swedish couple. Stepping inside is like entering another world, walking around town you wouldn't even know these oasis existed but behind a wooden door lies many secrets. We step into a beautiful courtyard, the center of the whole house, with two floors built around and above it. We take our shoes off and feel the smooth, warm limestone floor under our feet, we climb the stairs with exceptionally high steps to the first floor looking over another open courtyard with a small garden of flowers, a frangipani tree and pink bourganvillas hanging down from the roof. The first floor has 4 rooms all beautifully decorated in swahili style with four poster wooden beds, small tables with inlayed pottery and outside on the terraces you can relax in one of the daybeds decorated with colorful fabrics and pillows. The architecture and beautiful design of these swahili houses allows for a social lifestyle yet in privacy. All the open spaces and terraces lets the ocean breeze cool the interior and its inhabitants. Late in the evening the floor is still warm from the strong Kenyan sun, Lamu is situated only two degrees south of the equator.
To be continued...
The ascending was rather shaky and I felt nervous for a while, Noah fell asleep almost at once, little cool guy that he is. Once we were up among the clouds I couldn't complain, it was a rather smooth journey and felt a bit like sailing. When we were about to land, there were some really strong wind so we didn't float over the airport or airstrip like one normally would, we flew down so to speak. Imagine sailing a large boat into port during storm, well I guess it would be something similar to that. However it did not last long and I was happy we had reached our near destination
(I tried not to think about the journey back), I wiped my slightly moist palms, got out of the plane and tried to look cool. An instant almost unexpected heat welcomed us.
Lamu is a different kind of paradise, a little island in the Indian Ocean just off the Kenyan coast. The history tells about a wealthy trading port busy with merchants, sultans and their slaves tracing some 600 years back in time. The dwindling alleys, coral and limestone houses comprises the oldest and best preserved East African Swahili settlement, now part of the UNESCO World heritage. Even today the island attracts noble visitors such as princess Caroline of Monaco, Mick Jagger and so forth and it is not hard to understand why, here they can be totally undisturbed, no paparazzi, empty sun kissed beaches, the warm Indian Ocean and delicious seafood. However I am quite sure the celebrities don't stay in Lamu town, more likely at one of the 5-star hotels located on a secluded beach.
In order to get to Lamu we had to cross the straight by boat, you could actually see the town from the opposite side. The jetty was already full of people waiting to cross, most of them were not tourists or at least they didn't look like tourists to me. The warm breeze was a blessing to our warm bodies, we tried to hold on to Noah in the pram, the jetty had large gaps of missing wood but with some effort we managed to get both our bags, our son, now dressed in a bright yellow life west on board a boat. It would cost us 400 Ksh to cross, an equivalent of 4 Euros.
As we are approaching the quay children are jumping in and out of the water giggling and screaming with joy while women are piercing at us through their black bui bui's. Lamu is a Muslim society and one is likely to see veiled women and men dressed in the traditional kanzu. Our hostess later tells me that this is indeed a Muslim society but not an overly strict one, for a Westerner the bui bui may seem strict but we do not know what goes on underneath.. Everywhere we are greeted with a smile and a - Karibu (welcome) and it seems rather genuine. I have to admit though that we were a little shocked by the ruralness of Lamu, I mean we did know that there were no cars here except from one 3-wheeled ambulance and a Landrover and that donkeys were the public transport but I suppose we were still in a Swedish state of mind, expecting neat and cleanliness.
This is not some typical holiday resort built to cater for the needs of tourists, this is Lamu, real and raw and far more interesting. We follow our porter through the narrow alley ways, trying not to step in donkey poo oh well sooner or later we will but in the meantime I would like to remain clean thank you! Most alley ways are only 1 to 2 meters wide and one quickly has to find a door way to hide in while donkeys pass with their heavy load and believe me they come at full speed. The town is about 10 alleyways wide and dates back to the 14th century, apparently some 40 houses are interconnected by upstairs passages so Muslim women in those days didn't have to leave the houses, sounds a bit like prison to me but maybe it was convenient.
We stop in front of a large carved wooden door, just behind Lamu fort, this is the entrance to Subira House, formerly a house owned by the governor of the Sultan built about 200 years ago, now a restored and beautifully renovated B&B run by a Swedish couple. Stepping inside is like entering another world, walking around town you wouldn't even know these oasis existed but behind a wooden door lies many secrets. We step into a beautiful courtyard, the center of the whole house, with two floors built around and above it. We take our shoes off and feel the smooth, warm limestone floor under our feet, we climb the stairs with exceptionally high steps to the first floor looking over another open courtyard with a small garden of flowers, a frangipani tree and pink bourganvillas hanging down from the roof. The first floor has 4 rooms all beautifully decorated in swahili style with four poster wooden beds, small tables with inlayed pottery and outside on the terraces you can relax in one of the daybeds decorated with colorful fabrics and pillows. The architecture and beautiful design of these swahili houses allows for a social lifestyle yet in privacy. All the open spaces and terraces lets the ocean breeze cool the interior and its inhabitants. Late in the evening the floor is still warm from the strong Kenyan sun, Lamu is situated only two degrees south of the equator.
To be continued...
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