Kenyan coast

I am a very lucky person. No, I have never won the regular lottery, but a lot of times I think I won at least a mini jackpot in the life lottery.  Besides having a knack for finding rockstar parking, I have also had numerous amazing travel lucky things. Kenya seems to be no different.

On the plane on the way here, TC and I were seated next to an Englishman who spends most of his time in Kenya. It turns out he owns a little resort about 25km north of where we are staying. Resort isn't really the right word though, it's more like a small (about 6) group of cottages sitting on top of a cliff, overlooking the sea with winding paths amongst Magnolia trees and coconut palms. They aren't the type of cottages that make it into your average glossy travel brochure - they're a little rustic, but in a beautiful way. It's like a slice of heaven for regular people (by comparison, the stilt villas with private pools, glass floors and private butlers in say, Tahiti, are a slice of heaven for rich people).  Some of the furniture is mis-matched and there is no hot water, well, at least not until the sun warms up the holding tanks but it's like being invited to a private cabin at a beautiful lake back home. With tea at 4pm daily.

When the host said we should come visit, we did, thinking that it would make a nice excursion for the day. He insisted we spend the night. We ended up spending the better part of two days there and are headed back tomorrow. It sure beats our generic, huge (but eerily empty) resort with German's in speedos.  He also had one of his staff take us for a bike ride - we ended up in our cycling leader's village and shared coconuts with his family. Things like that just aren't in the guidebook and I am very grateful for the opportunity.

We head out on a safari on Monday morning (at 6am!), we ended up booking with the gentleman who owns the cottages, or rather the company that he recommends to his guests. We are paying a bit more than the safaris offered by our generic hotel however we will be staying in much nicer places and we should have a safari van to ourselves rather than being packed in like cattle.

I know TC would be quite happy to go back to the cottages after the safari and not leave until the end of the trip; I am still hoping to head to Mombasa for the day. If nothing else, I'm hoping for an authentic cup of masala chai from one of the numerous Indian restaurants that dot that coastal port.

Again, I'm a very lucky person.