Diani Beach

Hey Guys!

After a great time in Zanzibar, we left Tanzania and headed for Kenya. We had heard good things about Diani Beach, so decided to stop there on our way to Mombasa (and eventually Nairobi). It is a beach town as well, but with some fun extras. 

Speaking of fun extras, here we are feeding bush babies (galagos) at our hostel. About 50-60 of these bush babies live on the grounds of this hostel, which is a bunch of tree houses nestled in the forest. They feed them at 7 pm, which is when these nocturnal creatures are just getting up for the 'day.'

This was beside a hardware store, a bunch of goats were just sleeping in the heat of the day. 

We visited the Kaya Kinondo, which is a sacred forest for the Digo peoples. It is still in use today for ceremonies and as a place to pray to the gods for things like rain and good fortune. We learned all about various medicinal plants, and the belief system of the Digo. They prohibit the cutting of tress in this forest, and we were not allowed to eat or drink anything, other than water. Kissing or PDA was also prohibited. 

There were some amazing vines to swing or lie in. Our guide told us about how it was wrong to cut even a small vine, because you were interfering with the tree's plan. In this case, the vine went up, came down and wound back on itself, making a seat for a person. By cutting this vine earlier, we never would have know what the tree had in store for us. 

On long walks through the forest, it could get pretty hot. The Digo used to stand and 'hug a tree' for 5-10 minutes to cool off, which actually worked. It was super hot and muggy, but it felt nice to lean into the tree for a few moments. We are also wearing black robes, which is part of the traditional dress of the Digo, and all visitors to the forest must wear.

This is coral rock, because this segment of the forest used to be underwater, and this would have been a coral reef. The Digo predict this land will return to the ocean one day.

This was a replica of a house the Digo would have lived in traditionally. Our guide, Hamsa, was of Digo ancestry. 

There is a Great Hornbill in this picture, though it is a bit hard to see. There were over 10 Hornbills flying above our heads while we took this forest tour. It was absolutely fantastic. 

Here I am in front of a baobab tree. This was near our hostel, one morning before we headed to the beach to watch the sunrise. I didn't know this, but baobab were introduced by the Arabs and are not native to Africa.

After Diani Beach we headed to Mombasa, with plans to take the train to Nairobi tomorrow. What used to be an 18 hour bus ride is now a 4 1/2 hour train journey. Sign me up! 

We had lunch in a Hare Krishna temple, and the food was fantastic. India, I am coming!

Ready for the train the next morning. Security was actually quite tight, and they found ALL FOUR of Jared's knives and multi-tools while scanning our bags. I knew he had a few, but I didn't realize he had 4! When asked why he needed all of these knives, I asked the exact same question to myself. Luckily, they didn't confiscate them. They 'escorted' them to Nairobi with a security officer, and we got them back when we reached the end. 

Until Next Time!