Mombasa, Kenya

            Thursday, 22 Feb 2018 – Again this morning at least six “native dancers” were entertaining us in colorful, skimpy costumes on the pier.  To Jesse, one of the dancers called, “Welcome home!”  As yesterday, we and other passengers were saying “Jambo” (“Hello” in Swahili) to people, who always returned the greeting.

The Republic of Kenya lies on the equator along the Indian Ocean, north of Tanzania and south of Ethiopia.  Its situation on the Indian Ocean made it an historic trading center, and it has been controlled by many countries because of its strategic location.

Our bus left the pier at 9:00 for our 4-hour excursion “Mombasa – A Glimpse of the Past.”  The buses were large ones this time (not minibuses as they have been), but they weren’t totally full.  Although today wasn’t quite as hot as the past two were (only 90 degrees this time), it was more difficult to bear because our bus, apparently the oldest of the fleet being used today, did not have very good air-conditioning.  (We tried to get every bit of good possible from the blowing air coming from the vents!)

Our guide’s name was Mwakzei Mwamuye, whose English sounded like Swahili to Sally.  Another younger man was assisting him.  In addition, Insignia had designated a person from the ship for each bus to help in keeping track of passengers.  For our bus, it was Kath (whom we met in our first few days on the ship – she and her husband teach classes in bridge on at-sea days).  She assisted in keeping us in a tight group when we got off the bus to see any of the sights.  We also had security personnel with us although they did not appear to be armed.

Our first stop was the Akamba Woodcarving factory, which was like a village, where skilled craftsmen were hand carving their art in time-honored tradition.  We walked between the various sheds, seeing them at work and then through the cooperative shop.  In one instance, a man had produced a very large giraffe, which was standing near him while he was working on something else.  He said that the giraffe had taken him two months to carve and that it was made from one piece of wood.

Our bus traveled through the city center, past colonial administrative buildings, markets bright with fruit and colorful cloth, street stalls, and modern office blocks, temples, and mosques.

At a Hindu temple we entered a huge, beautiful blue door into an area of graphic pictures with slogans under them, such as:  “If a person kills or eats animals for food in this life, they have to pay for their sinful deeds in hell.  They are thrown forcefully in a pot full of boiling water.”  Similar pictures and slogans showed payment for drinking alcohol or for stealing from others.  On the other hand, “By chanting the powerful matra ‘om shree swaminarayan,’ all sins are washed away and it protects us from the evil spirits, demons and yanduts at the time of death.”

After removing our shoes, we walked further inside, into a spacious gallery of several large paintings illuminating Hindu legends.   One illustrated a woman seated on a bed, with a lioness behind her, and a man standing in the doorway.  The caption read, “Rajbai – a female devotee of Lord Swaminarayan, was unwilling for marriage, but forced by her father, she married, on the very first night she appeared as a lioness to her husband.”

Enormous Aluminum Tusks

Uhuru Gardens

Very near the enormous aluminum elephant tusks that span the main avenue through the city, we walked through a park (the Uhuru Gardens).  In the large trees above us, bats were hanging from the limbs and moving around.
Soon after that, (although our brochure read “one quarter mile”) we walked through the Old City, walking surely more than one-half mile in all, over cobblestone streets.  Since we had to walk in a tight group, we couldn’t veer off into small shops or stop more than a half-minute to take a photo.  Eventually, we ended up at the old Fort Jesus, which is today a museum of coastal antiquities and history of the coast and its people.  It also displays artifacts recovered from a Portuguese frigate sunk in 1697.  Part way through our walk, we were given a cold soft drink.  At the fort, Sally sat for 15 minutes in the shade on the stool that Jesse carries for her, while he climbed up to the ramparts where he saw what the fort had to offer.

Old Fort Jesus

Although Insignia had advised guests to dress “conservatively” today, due to Muslim traditions, meaning that legs and shoulders should be covered, a few passengers still wore shorts.  The majority of Mombasa’s population is Muslim.  However, some of us passengers agreed that we saw fewer women wearing long dresses and veils today in the city than yesterday in Zanzibar.

At 1:00 PM we arrived back at the Insignia, our nice and cool “home away from home,” where we soon enjoyed lunch.  Although afterward we headed to the pool, when we arrived there, it was full of “talkers,” with no space to swim; therefore, we returned to our cabin.  Later, after Sally napped, we returned to the pool.  Since it was close to dinner time, others had left and we had the pool to ourselves.  At that same time (6:30 PM), the Insignia sounded several long, almost deafening blasts as she departed from Mombasa harbor; and the western sky was blazing red.  Already, we felt a cool breeze that had replaced the stagnant, humid air.  By the time we finished our half-hour swim, the sky was pitch black except for a quarter of the moon straight above us.  Up to now, we had always been in the pool during the day, but had wondered what it would like at night.  Although big lights under the water at both ends of the pool kept us from hitting the sides, it was too dark to see each other. Even afterward, we took time to savor the healing hot tub.

For dinner, we enjoyed soup, escargot, seafood stir-fry, and cheesecake (Jesse) and warm brownies with large nuts, frosting alongside the Insignia’s homemade ice cream.  These desserts are typical, not extraordinary, on this ship!

Soon after dinner, we went to the Insignia Lounge for Dance Night, where a crowd was “bribed” with lotto tickets to stay on the floor and dance.  Although lotto tickets were continually distributed by Insignia staff and champagne was periodically given away, we won nothing but stayed until the end at 10:30 PM.