August 15-18 - Car Troubles and Mombasa South Coast

Heading East – Tiwi Beach and Ben’s Car Rental, August 15th – 18th

On the morning of the 15th we woke up really early to head east towards the coast south of Mombasa. The trip was to be 6-8 hours depending on traffic and our goal was to be out of the door by 9 a.m. The car that Justus had picked up from Ben’s rental had a back left tire that seemed to wobble and made the whole car shake (we learned this when he picked us up from the Journey show the night before). He got up very early and headed to Ben’s early to get the tire changed and checked out. By the time the tire had been changed it was now 11 a.m. and we were already behind. The tire still did not look or feel right though he assured us we would be fine.

Less than 50 minutes outside of Nairobi the car, which had been shaking, began to really move and Mer heard a metal clanking. When she stuck her head out the window she discovered a completely flat tire. We pulled over slowly, examined the car. We discovered how bad it was when the tire was removed to put on the donut and we saw a huge patch on the inside of this worn and used tire. We called Ben who said he’d check on our options; we waited a long time to hear from him. Meanwhile Mer is calling his boss to demand a new car. She is dialing furiously and shaking with the vengeance of a stalker because the boss refuses to pick up the phone but does manage to text saying he will send money for a tire. We don’t want a new tire; we want a new car. Three hours later one arrives. While a tad bit calmer we are still pretty annoyed and anxious to get our trip started. They show up with a markedly smaller car (we are five people) that has squeaky breaks. We try to argue for a refund (we had paid in full up front so our chances seemed slim) but when Njeri began to be rude to the man the conversation ended and he refused to speak more to us. We got back in the car and headed to Mombasa eager to forget it all.

Two hours later, POP! Another tire is blown, this time the front tire on the left side. Two young men appeared out of nowhere, ran up to the car and began helping us change the tire. We couldn’t believe our luck. We drove another hour to a gas station where we paid $1,200 Kenyan shillings to have the tube of the tire replaced. We had some food to eat because we were starving, and it was now 6 pm and getting dark. By the time food and drink were had and we were back on the road it was very dark out and we had at least another 4 hours ahead of us on the bumpy, unlit and treacherous Mombasa road. We all sat mostly silent and white knuckled for the following 5 hours – 5 because we got all kinds of lost when we got to Mombasa and took us a while before we found Tiwi beach on the south coast down some dark, unpaved roads. We were particularly frustrated when people in the car, speaking only in Swahili, kept asking directions but not sharing with us what the confusion was. This was especially annoying because we were the ones that actually had the map and knew where the hotel was. By the end we were all pretty testy and ready to go to bed. Poor Justus had been driving for the last five hours completely erect with his eyes being blinded by the bright lights of oncoming trucks on the two lane highway that refused to dim their headlights. He was so tired he ended up taking several road bumps at 40 miles an hour and we were sure we’d lost at least a muffler.

The saving grace of the trip was that when we arrived at Coral Cove Cottages we fell in love with the place. It was the cutest cottages you’d ever seen and at such a reasonable price. There were two bedrooms, a decent kitchen and a really nice living room. We decided that after a good night’s sleep we could all use the rest of the next day for some relax time. When we woke up to the sound of monkeys and birds all around us we walked down to find the most beautiful white sand beach ever. There was a great little ocean front restaurant with good coffee and decent (actually crispy) toast. We spent the whole day walking on the beach, playing cards, reading and trying to get over the terrible trip.

The next morning we got up early and ready to get our research on. As we waited for every one to get ready for our day trip to Mombasa to see Fort Jesus (the former Portuguese trading post) and Old Town Mombasa, Njeri decided she would take the car for a drive in the unpaved and grassy road. Despite Justus’ telling her it was a rented car and an automatic, which she had never driven (she’d been begging the past three days) she grabs the keys and gets in the car to show off her driving skills.

CRACKKKSCCCCRUUHNNCCHHH!!!

We look over and Njeri has just reversed the car into a palm tree which rests on the side of the cottage. The side mirror has been knocked off and the entire side has been dented and scratched, not to mention the big mark she left in the poor tree. We look at each other trying to decide if we should laugh or scream at the irony of it all – no luck with cars! We walk over to inspect the car and find an embarrassed Njeri and an extremely irate Justus. For the next two days we were trapped at the cottages while poor Justus and Andrew spent their days at the car garage in a nearby town trying to have the car fixed so the rental place wouldn’t know what had happened. Justus didn’t trust them to do the car well or use the car for a joy ride and camped out the entire time watching their every move.

While we were sad not to get to go to the Elephant Sanctuary or Fort Jesus, we appreciated the two days to enjoy the gorgeous beach and relax. It was our first time spending more than two days in the same place after the last two and half week whirlwind trip. We caught up on receipts, discussed curriculum and found ourselves reflecting on our trip thus far. We appreciated alone time where we could talk privately, share our frustrations and remind ourselves of how lucky we were to be there. At night we stayed up late, played Kenyan Poker, “Cadi”, with Andrew and Justus, shared stories and taught them how to play “rock, paper, scissors.”

While we were sad that the accident meant we didn’t get to do most of what we’d planned on the South Coast (the cottages are in a very remote place with no matatus running there and dangerous to walk to – we were told that even people who work in the various beach-side hotels and cottages get mugged on the dirt road). We did get to head out to Mombasa one night once the car was fixed. We drove around, saw Old Town Mombasa (which is largely crumbling and not well restored), and had a final meal together. The next morning we woke early to drop Andrew and Njeri off at the bus station. The price of fixing the car meant that Njeri had no more money to continue the trip with us up to Malindi. Andrew also had a tight budget but he thanked us repeatedly for letting him tag along and we were sad to say good-bye to him though we promised to hook back up in Nairobi. He is going to take us music and book shopping and show us some other parts of Nairobi we might have missed.