Day 6 - Tsavo West -> Mombasa

Final Safari

After breakfast we took farewell of the lodge and headed into the reserve for a last safari before we would aim for Mombasa.

Some of the "roads" Ian drove on, I would hardly want to drive in a jeep. Not sure how he managed to steer the minibus in offroad mode.

As always in the mornings, animals are almost everywhere.
The use the roads just as we to move around quickly.

Ian took us to a vantage point called "The Roaring Rocks". 

As we walked up the path to the summit of the hill, Agneta could not keep commenting that it was "snake territory".  I tried to explain to her that snakes in Africa are no more interesting in us than the ones we have at home. Told her to walk "hard" as snakes normally flee when they feel tremors.

Up on the peak we had a marvelous view of the surroundings, absolutely breathtaking.

Hell on wheels

We made our way through the landscape up on to the main road that would take us to Mombasa at the coast. One could gently note that their main road is in my view a rather minor two lane road.

Since it's the main road it's filled with convoys of heavy vehicles transporting goods.
Combined with a two lane road it increases the travel time.

Normal traffic sight on the main road

An all too common sight is road accidents when heavy vehicles have got too close to the edge of the road and tipped over.

One tipped lorry

In many cases leaving burnt out wrecks along the road.

I got the understanding that traffic mortality rate is a bit high in the country so the government tries to educate, or at least warn people of the consequences. Every now and then there were old wrecks put on pillars with signs such as "speeding kills". Well they undoubtedly make a point.

"speeding kills"

What really made this part of the journey stand out was the constant road works we encountered.

When one didn't think it would get much worse then we hit gravel roads.

The dust from all the cars on the gravel forced us to close the windows. 

Dusty roadwork

The temperature immediately soared in car.
I'm a big fan of sauna and used to high temperatures but not for a prolonged time over hours.
Amazingly enough the kids prevailed without any major complaints.
A little stash of candy is always good to have to bribe the kids with if they start to get a bit of stingy...:)

One red hot tough soldier

One should note that we had free access to water in the car for the entire time so no immediate risk of dehydration.

As we started to close up on Mombasa the poverty started to show it's ugly face.

Kenya is along with most African nations poor compared to European/Swedish standards.

One doesn't see the poverty in the same way when out on safari and moving around in e.g. Masai land.

People live in the same way as they always have done, farming and/or herding animals.

But as one gets closer to the major cities the slums start to appear.

It's a heart breaking sight. Huts made of sheet metal and pretty much wading in waste.

A valuable lesson for our kids that by comparison are extremely spoiled.

Our son reflected that it had to be hellishly hot to live in those hut.

slum outside Mombasa

Welcome to paradise

Finally arriving at the Voyager Beach Resort hotel that would be our final destination on this trip.

As always one gets wet towels upon arrival to freshen up. I can tell that the white towel was no longer white when I returned it.

But it was a bittersweet feeling as suddenly the moment of goodbye was upon us, our and Ian's paths would split. 

He had been with us since day one when we arrived to Kenya. From early morning to late evening.

Countless hours had we spent together in the car, it's kind of difficult not to form some kind of bond.

I felt a lump in my chest waving goodbye to Ian as he drove away leaving us to enjoy the last days on our own.

Oh my what a contrast it was to arrive at the hotel. Now we were at a 4-star tourist hotel with all the facilities one normally associates with such establishments. Not that I complain on the lodges they were absolutely marvelous considering their location out in nowhere.

A beautiful lush and green park area residing at the shores of the Indian Ocean.

Quickly we dropped off the luggage and made our way down to the beach.

The white sand is so fine it felt like walking on powder.

paradise beach

The hotel from the beach

This place would be our home for the next few days filled with pure laziness.