OCEAN CHILD: Mombasa dreamin’

My dear Avivar,

Yeah yeah, I know. As far as friendships go I haven’t exactly been a stellar friend -and neither have you, so there is plenty of blame to go around. I literally decided to write about this wonder-lusting thing we had always been talking about, thirty minutes ago. So I thought, why not start at the beginning? By the way, remember the girls trip to Singapore we had planned a few years back? I watched Crazy Rich Asians and we are so going. FYI, you will be financing the whole trip, I hear you have a jet nowadays.

I don’t claim to have an eidetic memory or anything but if I am being honest, this post should have been written seven months ago, when was actually in Mombasa. You have to agree with me though, some things are unforgettable.

I had never been to the coast. The nearest I had ever gone was Hippo Point, Kisumu during my campus years. So, when the opportunity for a work trip to train some folks at the coast arose, I was only too happy to oblige. Thanks, boss lady.  I was so excited- like the way a kid gets when they get the toys they have been asking for a long time. I was going to make the most out of it.

My friend Nells hijacked the trip and we travelled a day earlier. She’s one of those coasto natives so as far as Mombasa was concerned, it was her playground. I was sorted in the tour guide sector.

We travelled at night and when we reached the Hotel that had been reserved for us (thanks again boss lady ), we only had time for a quick shower to get rid of the bus lag (if there is something like that )and then off we went. Nelly may or may not have called a friend- Alvin, who made us fried meat for breakfast. Nells and Alvin… these two love meat probably more than I love chocolate… which is a lot… She claimed that since we were binge-sightseeing and only had a free day and we needed the energy. I am one of those people who took their time while sightseeing but I had to agree with her. We had so many places to visit and too little time.

Well, we had a little mishap with my tampon and it wouldn’t go all the way through. Nells with her infinite wisdom decided that the best way to save time was for me to lie down and for her to shove it in. That was not going to happen, like ever! I was going to prosper on my own.

We started with Likoni and hopped on a ferry, it was scary as fuck, floating on water on a vessel whose only protection from the sea below was a pair of old horizontal cylindrical metal frames held together by an equally old pillar. As a kid, I had been told of the Mtongwe ferry accident and the many people that died. Looking around, no one seemed bothered, and decided to just go with the flow.

I moved closer to the edge and leaned on the beams, took a deep breath and smiled. I may have loved the sea before but at that moment, I was in love with the ocean.
Nells must have been watching because she smiled when I looked at her. She saw first hand when I finally became an ocean child. She shook her head and we went back to watching the water, trying to decipher the secrets it held below. You asked me why I love the colour blue. I love blue because it is the colour of the sky in a place I feel safest and free. A place so vast so secretive and yet so serene and calm.

All too soon we were on the other side. Nells was taking me to eat octopus. She was disappointed when we were told the fishermen had not yet come from the ocean. Octopus eating fest had to wait a few hours, which we didn’t have. We ended up buying dates instead. Did I tell you I am a sucker for dates? I could eat them for hours. Imagine just eating dates on a date. Yum! Nells says they are too sweet, and every time she does,  I reply that life should be made of sugar and spice and everything nice. You would like her, she drives me crazy sometimes, kinda like how Twali does you, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. With my personality, I need someone to cool me down a bit… 😂

We ended up taking the ferry back to the island and walked to Mama Ngina drive where we ate Kachiri (cassava crisps ) straight from the jiko and some coconut water. Yum… my mouth salivates just thinking of them. 😋😋. We sat and enjoyed the smell of the sea and the breeze while eating but the chilli would get caught up in the breeze and end up in my eyes. I didn’t remember whose brilliant idea it was to remove my shades. By the time we were done, my eyes were red and I was a crying mess. We just decided to let them stay on for the rest of the trip.

After about an hour then we were off to Fort Jesus. There we met our tour guide Anthony who took us through the history of The Fort and the old town of Mombasa. He was so detailed some stuff just went in over my head. If he wasn’t almost-ish my age, I would have thought he was there at the time. I wished I had paid attention to my history class though 😬. We went around the fort, taking as many pictures as possible. When we reached Ali Mazrui’s quarters, the dude seemed to hang on my every word and trying to strike up more conversations. When I looked at Nells, she just shrugged. Turns out, while I was taking photos, Nells was busy singing my praises and getting to get me a guy. She had him eating at the palm of my hand so much so that he offered to take us to Wasini to swim with the dolphins the next time we were coast side. I am definitely going to take him up on that offer. We wouldn’t want to let the dolphins down, would we? The dude was nice… not my type but nice nonetheless.

It was getting late and we had the beach to get to. We were planning to go to Mombasa beach but Nells had said that they closed by six… we ended up going to Pirates because I wasn’t going to spend just an hour with my beloved ocean. Besides, I wanted to see how it looked like at night. Remember Alvin, the guy who had made us meat for breakfast? We met him there with some of his friend who subsequently became our friends. The beach was everything I had hoped and more. A day well spent, if you ask me.

Avivar, I am not one to succumb to hype. I haven’t read Becoming yet or watched Infinity Wars… oh the horror.  I watched Wakanda a few months after it was released.  I could have told you the story from the beginning to end. Have you watched it, or are you too busy with work and the twins? Speaking of the twins, I am sure they are giving you and that hunk husband of yours, Malcolm a run for your money. You go, girl, you deserve the best. Those kids will know what love is till they die. Oh, did Twali ever marry Sunil? I hear he is an African version of Hrithik Roshan. Well, I wish her all the best, though it will be hard to tame the chics. 😍😍 Oh yeah, I met Twali too and in the thirty minutes we spent talking, one would have thought we knew each other a lifetime. I get why you have her as a friend. People like that are a rare find.

Back to succumbing to the hype, I didn’t till I heard so many stories about the ocean and my interest piqued. It called to me, the same way a siren song calls to you. You can’t escape it, you just have to hear it again and again and again. I am glad I did.
There are so many things that I want to tell you, Avivar.  I will have to stop here for now though or I’ll be typing to next week. Say hi to Josh and Elsie, and Max and Killiad, if those two weren’t man whores, I’d probably be married to one of them. Yikes! You should know that since Malcolm comes from a family of twins, you will probably have twins (crossing fingers). Sending lots of love to you. Don’t be a stranger.

Until laters.

Love Lolyne.