Kenya was such a wonderful experience for me in so many ways. I really enjoyed the food here, every person we met was so welcoming, and I got to realize some childhood dreams here as well. We had six days in Kenya, and I chose to spend the first at the mall, getting snacks for the next leg of course. The second through fourth day were spent on safari in the Tsavo East and West National Parks, which I HIGHLY recommend. The final night was spent at Diani Beach, which was an experience to say the least. Kenya is a country I am determined to return to one day, especially with my children.
SAFARI:
This was a life changing experience for me for sure. My family had a zoo membership growing up, so I have always loved all animals, but specifically giraffes. This adventure was a must-do for myself and my friend Erin, specifically in Kenya. We chose a 3-day, 2-night safari throughout Tsavo East and West (the national parks closest to Mombasa) and this was perfect for us. We booked through Eastern Vacations, and we had a guide named Bosco. He spoke great English and went above and beyond in every step, giving us fun facts or taking us to a better “picture spot” constantly. Our price included our hotel stays, most meals, and two safari drives a day. Many people chose to go farther from the ship to Nairobi (a flight away) and tour Masai Mara, but I really loved our choice and find myself looking back at pictures all the time.
MOMBASA:
This city was about a 25 minute bus ride from the port, luckily SAS arranged this for us and it took us straight to a hotel in the city with a cafe. The image on the left is the wonderful welcome we received at the port. There were so many vendors at this port with different souvenirs and also a man handing out free coconuts. So neat! We wandered around the city center for a bit and then got an Uber to the mall. Their mall (City Mall) was huge and had all kinds of restaurants, including an Italian spot with lots of gelato options, and stores, both that we recognized and were unique to the country. There was also a huge grocery store where we stocked up on snacks.
DIANI BEACH:
This was an absolute nightmare to get here but so worth it once we did. I have since found this website that has great reviews and would help arrange transportation much better. We tried to call an Uber unsuccessfully for about 45 minutes, and then the waiter told us he had a friend to take us for cheap. Worst car ride ever…
Once we were there, it was absolutely beautiful. We stayed at an AirBNB in walking distance to the beach. It was very hard to find by car for Ubers and any taxis, so I would recommend maybe a hotel that would have a staff to help organize everything. Otherwise, everything was great. The beach was full of salespeople however, so that is something to keep in mind. One of us always had to stay with the towels in case and eventually we did not want to deal with the sales attempts anymore, so we went to our pool.
We did find the best spot for dinner, Casamia Restaurant. It was such good Italian food and the staff was just wonderful to us. We got all dressed up, got to try fun wines, and they even had a wonderful car service to take us home. I would definitely recommend!
CHURCH:
Ash Wednesday happened to fall in the time we were in Kenya, so my bestie Giuliana and I decided we would make our grandmas happy by attending mass. For my non-Catholics, Ash Wednesday is the start of Lent, our season before Easter. The church we went to was beautiful and was so packed we sat outside in the second overflow side yard with 100 other people. I unfortunately did not do my research and the entire mass was in Swahili, so we did not understand anything. however, I am so glad we went as this was such a unique faith-filled experience in a semester where we had few faith opportunities due to being at sea.
TIPS:
- You need to get some cash ASAP as most transactions are done in cash. If you have not left your home country yet, I recommend opening a new credit card if you don’t already have one that has Visa or Mastercard. My Discover was pretty much useless in most countries, and credit cards are way easier to report fraud than a debit card.
- Kenyans are kind but pushy. This is a country you need to stand up for yourself or you will find yourself in all kinds of situations. Use Uber when you can rather than negotiating a taxi, and always go low on bargaining items to start.
- Buy a bed/hostel liner for this country. Many of the hotels we stayed in were very clean, but they just cannot prevent bugs getting in as they utilize the wind for natural air conditioning. If bugs at all gross you out, having your own sheet with you will help you sleep better.
- As I mentioned above, there is not A/C in these hotels or many of the places you will go to. Pack light, breezy items to wear and I would even suggest a cooling blanket or headache cap as once we got past Kenya, the temps only rose in our cabin.
That’s all for today! Thanks for reading, and be looking out for Mozambique and South Africa guides… see you soon!
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