The last week of Christmas break was wonderful and probably one of the most adventure packed weeks of my life. Not to mention that I felt like I truly was in paradise.
Here’s a little bit about my explorations:
We (Katie, Keith, Jacqui, Emily, and myself) started out the journey to Mombasa stuck in traffic with only minutes to spare before missing our train. So we jumped out of the van and trekked on foot the remaining two blocks to the station, making it just in time to buy our tickets and find our cabin.
The five of us ended up sharing a four person compartment on the train, thus leaving me to try and get comfortable snuggling with Jacqui and later Emily on the sticky, humid, overnight train to our destination.
We made it to our hostel, which was very hostelish and got to see and swim in the INDIAN OCEAN that first day. Not to mention the fact that the sunscreen I put on was actually water-resistant and not water-proof. This led to my bright red shoulders that for two whole days felt like they were being pricked with needles if anything grazed them. That night, I don’t think I’ve ever slept in a hotter place, but in the morning I don’t think I’ve ever had a better omelette.
The next day, Katie, Keith, and Jacqui took a taxi to where we were meeting a few other Maxwell families to a place called Hillpark Hotel. Emily and I decided to go on an adventure on our way to this place. Setting out for Fort Jesus as our first destination. This involved a guided tour through the fort, into Old Town Mombasa, and into a spice market. It was awesome.
We, also, pretty much took every public form of Kenyan transportation available that day. We started with a Matatu, then a tuk-tuk, a ferry, and lastly a piki-piki. For those that don’t know what these are, matatu=van like bus/taxi, tuk-tuk=three wheeled and three person type car/motorcycle, and a piki-piki=motorcycle. Oh! I also am pretty bomb at making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a bumpy tuk-tuk with my sanitized sunglasses!
The next three days weren’t as photographed, because I was mostly swimming all day, but it was amazing. The house the SMs stayed in was right on the beach with an ocean breeze as a cherry on top. Monkey’s broke into our house a few times and stole bread, but that just added to the experience. I snorkeled, SCUBA DIVED for the first time, held sea animals, saw even more amazing sea animals, and enjoyed like to my hearts content. God is so good!
After Hillpark Hotel, we migrated up the coast a ways to meet up with the rest of the Maxwell Community for our staff retreat. This retreat was at Voyager which is an all-inclusive resort that acts as a cruise ship. This pretty much means. I ate great food whenever I wanted, swam in the multiple swimming pools, and relaxed. I also got to snorkel more here, see giant tortoises, and ride a camel!!!
The day we left was a great day even though I got to sit on a bus for 8 hours. I was able to read, listen to music, and have a few good conversations with Emily; we even saw wild camels. When the bus ride was done, it was nice to be back at home. God has really blessed me.
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