30 Dec 2019
We were up early in order to say our goodbyes to Lavender (my hospitality friend with big dreams!) and Jakub (our favorite server), before hitting the road. We drove the four hours to the airport where David was more than happy to get rid of us.
He dropped us three hours early in an airport that's the size of a shoebox. We've been hunkered down in the food court ever since and CANNOT WAIT TO GET TO THE BEACH 😎🌞🙌
After quite a bit of thumping and skidding we landed safely in Ukunda. It's aptly named "Ukunda airstrip" as it's no more than a runway and a parking lot. Our accommodation was nowhere to be found on maps, so I called and asked them to give our taxi directions. Our taxi driver took us to the wrong spot, incredibly close to the airport, so we tried to show him that he needed to keep going. He then told us that he had a pickup scheduled and needed to bring us back to the airport with him and drop us after. No thanks. We ended up getting out on the side of the road and hailing a tuk tuk.
Those are way more fun and way cheaper. We arrived at Masai Paradise Cottages and were a bit underwhelmed. We were used to everyone at the tented camps being so friendly and welcoming. Here we had to search for someone to check us in. A simple head nod let us know to follow this woman to our room. She unlocked the door without a word, plugged in the refrigerator and walked out. Surely she'd be back. And she was. She returned with two bottles of water and then turned to leave. "Umm.. excuse me," I said. She just looked at me. Ok, this was going to be like pulling teeth. I asked about coming and going--- there will always be someone at the gate so come and go whenever you want. I asked about wifi-- she showed me a picture of the password. I asked about food and drink-- there's none; we have to provide our own. I asked about animals--- no animals to worry about here. She then told me she was supposed to go home and walked out. Hhhmmm... As I turned a monkey was staring me in the face. No animals to worry about here my ass. I quickly closed our door and we contemplated our situation. It wasn't bad. We've definitely stayed in more rustic accommodations, however, after camping, we were both really excited for beach life. Mark had some work to do so we took advantage of the wifi and then decided to walk to the beach and find somewhere to eat dinner. Unfortunately the main road isn't lit. We walked to a resort with hugely ominous doors staring down at us and asked how to get to the beach . It was about a 15 minute walk to the first access road. Since it was pitch black we hailed a tuk tuk and paid less than two dollars to go the distance. The tuk tuk driver asked where to drop us and we told him we were just going to wander up and down the beach to find a restaurant. He explained that it wasn't safe for tourists to walk the beach at night because of pickpockets so told us he would drop us at a seafood spot at the top of the access road. He told us to call him when we were finished and he'd come get us. Hhhmmm... The outdoor seafood spot looked very inviting-- candles on each table nestled cozily between the trees and the sand. Upon arrival we learned that the power had gone out for the whole block and that the Kenyan Electrical Authority was out in their trucks trying to fix it. We ordered but had no idea how long it would be until we could eat. While waiting we decided that we needed to make a change. If we couldn't walk the beach in the evenings then we were very limited in what we could do. If we couldn't eat, drink or meet other travelers at our accommodation then again, we were very limited in what we could do. We looked on booking and found a hotel on the beach with availability for the next two nights. A pool, free breakfast, bar and restaurant, in addition to NYE activities. We decided to book and almost instantly after, the power came back on-- we thought it was a sign 😉 Mark enjoyed a rich vegetable curry while I worked hard to rid the crab shells of their deliciously tender meat. It was a filling meal, with rice, potatoes and drinks, right near the water, for barely fifteen dollars.
We decided to head back to our cottage and play cards on the porch because the cool breeze was so inviting. We celebrated the fact that we could stay up as late as we wanted (no alarms for 6am safaris) but by 1130 could barely keep our eyes open (oh how old we've become!) It was an unexpected first night at the beach.
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