Tuesday, June 16: Fort Jesus

We woke up to the sound of rain. It rained last night, but this was the first morning rain we have had for a while. Hopefully they got some rain in Kakamega. We walked down to the beach; it was very deserted except for some fishermen down the beach. They use a boat to drag a net out from the beach and then circle back in. Then about five men on each side pull the net to shore. I was too far away to see if they caught anything.

The kids went in swimming. I stood on the shore and watched crabs and clams. There was a greenish crab in the sand. He (or she) looked dead, so I was going to pick it up. When I touched it, it moved its legs. I poked it a bit more and it came out of the sand. It was about five inches across. It moved away a little, then as a wave went over it it buried itself so just a green rectangle was left. I saw it on and off for a while, then it disappeared. The experience made me look more carefully where I stepped.

There were those little sand-colored crabs scooping sand out of their holes, carrying it to a little pile about a foot away. They were busy, but ran and hid if you got close.

Robert, another captain, came over to sell me a trip to the reef. We agreed on a price if the weather would be good. However, the entire day was rainy, sunny, rainy, sunny, rainy... well, you get the idea.

I had to talk with two other vendors for a while. They are all too friendly and you don't want to just say, "get lost." After finishing at the beach, David, Kayla, Sarah, Lisa, Gail, and I set off to Nakumatt for more groceries. DK&G took borda-bordas. That was a good choice, as I had to talk with another sales person for most of the walk. A young man caught up with me, asked where I was from, and then started telling me he could arrange for us to visit any attraction in the city. It was a pleasant enough conversation, but I would have preferred to walk in silence. We parted at the turnout to Nakumatt.

All of us stopped at Chelsea's Internet Cafe to get our business done, then headed to the grocery store. Foe some reason, I was given the chore of getting food, while everyone else went browsing through the two-level superstore. We had a bag for everyone when we finished, and the three borda-borda riders met us at the exit. They called for three more bikes, and we all rode home. It was much more pleasant than walking with heavy groceries.

Timothy, Christine, and Evey left around 8:30 for the other side of Mombasa. Timothy needed to buy cane tips for some of the people in his congregation and they planned to visit a hospital for children with disabilities. This hospital also makes prosthetic devices.

When they returned, we had to decide about the reef trip. The weather was cool and looked like rain. We decided to visit Fort Jesus instead. Gail, David, Timothy, Christine, and I headed for the road. Immediately, a matatu traveling in the wrong direction screeched to a stop and asked where we wanted to go. They had just a little left to the end of their route, and were eager to pick up a group of five. Another matatu coming in the correct direction honked, and came to a stop. The first conductor yelled at them to keep going. In the meantime, the first matatu sped down the road, made a quick U-turn, and drove up (as the second one sped away). The door opened, and the conductor asked the person inside to get out and walk the rest of the way to his stop. He was carrying a large blue tank, like a welding tank. I felt badly. We got in, and headed for Mombasa.

Timothy wanted to get the driver to take us right to the entrance of Fort Jesus, but he refused (even when offered more money) as it would be against the matatu rules of Mombasa. We were dropped at the appropriate point, and jumped into two tuk-tuks for the rest of the journey. A tuk-tuk is a sort of motorized rickshaw, an enclosed three-wheeled motorcycle with a passenger compartment in the back for three passengers.

Gail, David, and Christine were in the lead and had a very aggressive driver. At one point the drove into a ditch, partially up the other side, and then back onto the roadway. They made a two lane road into three. Timothy's and my tuk-tuk was shared with a woman and child and seemed a bit slower. We arrived in front of Fort Jesus, and joined the others.

We entered the fort, and paid our fees, and then were greeted by a man that wanted to be paid to give us a tour. Timothy went back to the ticket window. He came back with a guard who introduced us to a "real" guide. He explained that people arrange to give tours at whatever price they can. This is allowed, but there are volunteers with name cards (not a hand lettered badge that says "Tour Guide") that do not charge. The wanna-be guide went off to find another victim. We went with our volunteer guide and had a very nice time.

Fort Jesus was built in the 1500's by the Portuguese to guard the entrances to the Mombasa ports. It was taken by the Arabs about a hundred years later. Then, in two hundred years, by the British. Kenya assumed control when it became an independent country. The fort is shaped like Jesus on the cross, hence its name. One of the most interesting features of the fort was the toilets in the wall. These were little egg-shaped alcoves with a hole at the bottom. By squatting, you could release the unwanted matter into the hole where if slid through the wall to the outside of the fort. Today, there is a nice garden along the wall in that location.

When we finished our tour, we walked into the downtown Mombasa area and caught a matatu to a point near home. Evey had cooked supper. The rest of the evening was just for relaxing and visiting.