Layover in Nairobi

Last night we meet David (pronounced Da-Vid), from Spain, who ran the local dive shop. I had seen amazing pictures of the white sand beaches of Zanzibar and wanted to experience them. We had some time to kill before we had to catch our flight out and worked out a deal with him to take us out to the islands. As it turned out he owned the two boats from my sunset pictures.


On the way out he told us that his wife was expecting to give birth soon and they would be heading to the United States for it. My mind started racing with thoughts of a possible career change, and how long it would take me to certify as a PADI master diver, something that is still lingering in the back of my mind. We first stopped at a sandbar, it took my breath away. How can something so amazing exist and I am only now seeing it.








I have been fortunate to see some amazing beaches in my life, but Africa again would trump my past experiences, yes, the water was very clear.




We left the sand bar just in time as others would soon be arriving. David knew exactly where to go and what time to be there. We then headed to Menai Bay, a small coral reef that included three small islands, all made from coral as the water receded over the years. Our first stop was Miwi island. This was as close as the boat could get so we hopped out and walked to shore.


Leaving the only footprints the island would see today.


We climbed to the top of the coral and looked around.


This is the only structure on the island, a small shelter that local fisherman use on overnight stays. It looked great, and if there was enough time I could see spending the night, this is all that I need.


During low tide you can see the island floor, during high tide this is all flooded with water.


I used to think Maya Bay on Phi Phi Leh, Thailand was the most beautiful, but then everyone found out about it, so I changed to the Secret Lagoon on Railay Beach, Thailand, but I have to change it again. This place, this beach, there is no one around, it is untouched, this is the most beautiful beach I have seen. The only problem is you have to bring your own cooler full of beers.




We then made our way out to Nianembe island, the sand is white out here because it is actually crushed coral, and not mixed in with the ground which causes the yellowing we more commonly see on the mainland.


I climbed to the top of the coral again, what a view, and you just want to sit for a while, taking everything in, thinking about where you are and what you are doing, it’s a time of inner peace, and you don’t want to leave.


No shelters on this island, but a fisherman did leave some kind of traps here for later use.


Again our boat could only get so close so we walked the remaining way.


I think I could call this place home.




Yes, the water was clear, very clear.


However the clock was ticking and we had a plane to catch, more things to see, more adventure to play out, so we had to head back. Checking out the local fisherman’s nets as we walked to shore back to Fumba.


The hotel was kind enough to let us use one of their showers to clean up, even though we had to check out before leaving for the islands. After cleaning up our driver arrived and we headed to the airport. Our driver helped us check in which was a huge help, we were lost and had no idea what was going on. We were on another Precision Air flight but that line was long so our driver checked us in on the Kenya Air counter as there was no one in that line, not sure how it all worked but we had no problems. And in this heat the less issues the better. We had about three hours to sit in a crowded, hot, dirty, and noisy room that was the terminal. After a while I felt like I might pass out, but I hung in there as our boarding time finally arrived, and by now the shower I took was well worn off, and I was spent.

We were heading to Cape Town, South Africa, the long way. We left Zanzibar and flew in to Nairobi, Kenya. My guard was up because I often heard it referred to as Nai-rob-you. We arrived and going through immigration and customs was a breeze, and our bags were waiting, I could not believe it. We found our driver and headed to the Fairview Hotel, which was beautiful, and if we had to have a layover this was the best place for it. Although on the way there we drove through a lot of sketchy areas where people approached our car at stop lights, I kept the windows rolled up and the doors locked. Our hotel was right next to the Israeli embassy and the road to our hotel was very secure, so I had no worries once we got there. We checked in, grabbed dinner at one of the four restaurants in the hotel and then headed to bed as we had a 5 am ride to the airport the next morning. No more resting on an island someplace, we again would be trying to cram as much in as possible on our few remaining days. The hotel had a TV, which I almost forgot how to operate, but we managed to turn on CNN out of London to see what was going on in the world. I again was reminded how poor the news is in the United States, we have no idea there is a whole world out there and only seem to think of ourselves, what ashamed. So guess what headline came across the screen…. “Two fighter jets scramble from Madison, WI to intercept a Northwest flight more than an hour off course”. I guess we are not that far from home after all, and the world seemed small to me for the first time in my life. We turned off the TV and much like the pilots of that Northwest flight, we decided to get some sleep.

VIDEO: Vacation on Zanzibar