As Day 40, of the 40-day tour soon approached, we were dropped off in Notorious Nairobi. Notorious - not only because Notorious B.I.G. was playing in every tuk-tuk, car and bus, but also because Nairobi was considered notorious for it's crime - in particular its robberies … hence the nickname "Nairobbery." I had been warned about Nairobi - never walk outside at night, always keep an eye on your bags especially if they are not locked, don't walk down any back alleys or dodgy looking streets, the list went on but this stuff was more common sense rather than a warning. Even the Australian Government "Smart Traveller" guide advised tourists to "reconsider their need to travel" to Nairobi, Kenya. However it also said this about Mombasa in Kenya and Cairo in Egypt and we weren't about to change all our plans for a small warning from Kevin 07.

We slowly said goodbye to the remaining members of the group tour for the first 3 days of our time in Nairobi. Apart from getting some half-decent Wi-Fi at our B&B, drinking some excellent chocolate milkshakes at the famous JAVA café and managing to buy another external hard drive (as apparently we are taking more photos and videos than I was prepared for), Nairobi was pretty boring. But this was also due to the limitation of things we could do as we didn't really know much about the city, only that there had been a bomb or something in a shopping mall (aimed at the Kenyan government by the Somali rebels to destroy their tourism) a few weeks prior to us arriving … hence the Smart Traveller warning. So we escaped to the one place we both love - the beach - the coast of Mombasa for a bit of R&R.

A little bit of a trek away (8 hours later) we arrived at Nyali Beach, Mombasa. It definitely had a different vibe than Nairobi. It felt almost hippie-like with chilled out backpackers walking around with dreadlocks and bikinis whilst playing the guitar. We stayed at Mombasa Backpackers, one street back from the beach, however only a short 5 minute walk to Nyali beach with its really, really nice waterfront hotels, all with infinity pools overlooking the ocean. My favourite hotel I discovered was called "The Reef." (To anyone who is just sitting at work right now or avoiding a uni assignment or even sitting in a lecture at the moment - google 'The Reef - Nyali, Mombasa' and check it out!!) Even though I had to pay to use their pool it was worth every cent. It was such a relaxing few days just chilling out by the beach on the Kenyan coast.

Next we tried another town about an hour north of Nyali Beach called Khilifi. I wasn't really that keen on leaving my comfort zone in Mombasa Backpackers because I had just started to get my bearings however I'm so glad we made it to "Distant Relatives" in Khilifi. The accommodation was so cool - hammocks all over the place, bamboo bunk beds, a beach volleyball court, swimming pool, outdoor bamboo shower, eco-compost toilets, plus they cooked great food. There was also plenty of people to talk to as well as plenty of places you could go just to escape. They ran activities every day such as snorkeling, fishing, diving, kayaking, etc but because we only had 2 days there, I decided to save all those activities hopefully for when I come back in a month or so. It really was the perfect place to just relax before heading to crazy Cairo.

It's really strange just being dad and I again without the entire group from the tour. So crazy to think you have to start all over again when you meet new people and introduce yourself again and explain that your travelling for a year and 'yes a year is a long time' and 'no I'm not really missing home', blah blah blah. I forgot how easy it had been for the last month with everyone already knowing that stuff I had told them on the first week and that was that. However given that we are about to start another group tour in Egypt in 10 days, it's really good that its just me and dad for a while because it gives us time to catch up. This might sound funny, given that we are travelling together for so long, except on for instance that group tour, I didn't actually speak to dad that much. Like I knew he was always there - but we are both different on tours and have our own friends and our own experiences. So the 10 days in Kenya was actually quite nice to just be adventurous and travel independently again (with dad).

My next entry should be from the Chaotic Cairo, that is unless I don't get injured in any substantial protests or riots or whatever (haha).

Catch you on the flipside xx