Feb 9

Feb 9 PHOTO DIARY KENYA

Culture, Photography, Travel, Creative People

Leila Antakly shares some photographs from her recent trip to Kenya.

I'm just settling back home from a beautiful trip to Kenya where I opted out from a traditional Masai Mara safari and chose instead an adventurous Kite Surf and wildlife sanctuary break ( thanks to Lodo) on the coast of Mombasa. There are too many stories, adventures, and inside jokes to share here from "Hakuna Matitties" to the main lesson of all "enjoying the art of doing absolutely nothing".

Highlights include my daily routine of using a stick to open the shower drain to make sure no snake was lurking inside, a visit to a church in Ukunda, feeding bushbabies every evening at sundown, and rides on the matatu (local mini bus) where I befriended a very tipsy Masai warrior who's eyes glazed like a fish from drinking too much fermented coconut wine. I wasn't sure if he was trying to sell me his spear or if he was just proud of it. The best part of the trip was spending time with my friends on the beach and making new ones, because its a place that attracts interesting and courageous people like the Danish nurses and Austrian social workers we hung out with who are now in remote villages dedicating themselves fully to others in need despite the dangers. The Mombasa coast feels like a place that is stuck in time, and its hard to figure out in what direction it will head . In the meantime I left a little piece of me there and hope when I return I am strong enough to downwind on my kite ( with a strapless board Lodo) "Poli Poli" , (which means slowly in Swahili ).

Here are a several photos: