Woke up again with Jen and chatted over coffee and fruit before she had to go to work. Tommy and I pack up some of our things for our trip down the coast and went to a German bakery Jen recommended just down the street called The Golden Crust. It was hidden behind a fairly unmarked little shopping center where the eskari were looking under cars with a mirror before letting them in. The pastries and coffee were delicious! We had a apple turnover typed thing and a mushroom pie. It was strange food compared to what had been the norm over the last week.
Our taxi from Diani met us at Jens building and we set off for the ferry. It was a little strange to drive through Mombasa town since we had only explored it on foot. It was neat how things looked familiar. We waited in a long line of cars, trucks and hand carts for a ferry. The crossing is quick and only spans about 500 yards but Mombasa island could not facilitate the size of bridge it would take to allow cargo ships to cross under and no one trusts a draw bridge from what I have been hearing. So, they run two ferries back and forth all day. If gas tankers need to cross, no one else is allowed on and it pauses to allow shipping traffic to cross. The big trucks roll onto the ferry first, then the cars, then carts , tuktuks and bikes followed by a huge mass of people that spill on filling all the spaces possible. There is no gate or rope to keep people in, the ferry just takes off with a wide open bow and stern. The crossing takes about 5 minutes then you're fighting through all the traffic to get off, it's a little wild but it seems to work.
We drove down the coast through multiple little shanty villages with people out and about everywhere. About 2 hours later we took a little side road down to the beach and arrived at Asha Cottages. It was beautiful! A quaint little seaside abode with about 6 rooms, a pool in the middle, a bar and pool room, hammocks hanging from palms and seats by the shore. We dropped our things and headed out to the beach. We made it about 4 steps and were being harassed by beach boys trying to sell us things or "just talk" as they say. They wouldn't leave us alone so we went back to Asha. We lounged in a hammock, took a dip in the pool, had a mango and cashew salad and relaxed.
I mentioned the full moon from our dhow ride and it was still going strong out at Asha. The tides were massive highs and low lows, it was dramatic to watch throughout the day. When the tide was high it was coming up over the walls of the cottages. We tried to go swimming in it as the beach boys had no to beach to harass on but the rip current was dangerously strong. The tide went back out around dinner time and the beach was covered in ghost crabs and hermet crabs! It was as if the sand was moving! We had planned a boat and snorkel trip for the next day and we're told the seas would be pretty rough but the low tide would make for great viewing.
The food at Asha is great. We had dinner, played some pool and fell asleep.
Good news! My new malaria pill wasn't making me sick! I suffered quite a few mosquito bites so I was a little worried about not being able to take anything. I'm glad it worked out!
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