50km south of Mombasa is Diani Beach which (until recently at least) was full of package tourists. 30km west of Diani Beach there is Shimba Hills National Reserve - a lovely quiet game reserve on the edge of an escarpment - but 1500 ft up and significantly cooler than the coast. We have enjoyed two nights here, plus early morning (6am) and sundowner game viewing drives, meals cooked on wood fires and paraffin lamps. Not a huge amount of game visible because the...

The press here has been full of the aftermath of Westgate and sectarian riots in Mombasa, but the reality of life for tourists here in Watamu is very different. It's approaching mid-October, its 0845 and its already hot in the sun. Breakfast has just been brought to us on the patio by Paulina, the house servant, Fadilah will come in shortly to make up our beds and do the washing and ironing and the gardener is clearing frangipani flowers from the swimming pool. ...

Driving in Africa is not like taking your car to France. You need a "carnet de passage" - essentially a bond in insurance form to the value of the vehicle (which would be forfeit if the vehicle is not brought back to its country of origin). The document in the photo is the log book for Tim's Landrover - which is needed to get a "carnet de passage". The Kenyan AA issue carnets and the process is pretty straightforward, but the process for getting a logbook from...

One of the local "Kuku" (chicken) grills - excellent BBQ chicken from a roadside shack. We had a sit down meal at a slightly more up market version the other night - and ended up eating by candlelight, because they were experiencing one of the regular power cuts you get here.

Civil war around Bunia in Eastern Congo, Al Shabab in Westgate in Nairobi and sectarian trouble in Mombasa. You could be excused for thinking that unrest was kicking off wherever we turned - but the reality is that in all these cases the problems have been simmering for years. This week is R&R in a lovely house in Watamu on the Kenyan coast (see picture), which belongs to Tim's sister/brother in law - whilst we finally (hopefully) get the Landrover docs orga...