Diani

It’s been almost two months since I updated the blog. I’ve been busy. More on that later.

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I’ll turn back the clock a bit to catch up. After my last trip to Mogadishu, the girls had school holiday the last two weeks of October. Ideally, we like to take advantage of the break to do something with the kids. Its tough for them to just hang out at home for that long. So we opted on a trip to the coast.

When we go to the coast, we usually go to one of two hotels that provide all-inclusive accommodation. We’re often at a point where we really need a break and it’s nice not to have to worry about shopping for and preparing meals. The food options are generally quite good so it works well.

Given that I couldn’t take any time off, we opted on flying. We’ve taken the train, and it’s a cheaper option, but it eats up too much time. In the future, when I’m not under so much of a time constraint, we’ll likely take the train.

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We arrived at the small airport in the afternoon. The weather was warm but not as hot as it can be this time of year. The girls always enjoy taking tuk-tuks to drive the short distance to the hotel. It’s not always the most practical option. We can’t fit into one so we need to take two. They’ve begun to restrict tuk-tuk access to the airport which complicates things further. And with the two of them, it’s not less expensive, but we did it anyway.

Kinaya taking the plunge

We settled into the hotel and were soon in the pool. After the travel and stressful week, there’s nothing better than jumping into a warm swimming pool. It was good to be back.

 

the amazing colobus monkey

There wasn’t much that was eventful that happened. We ate a lot. Watched colobus monkeys. We went to the beach in the evenings and waded in the warm water, watching the stars.

One evening I had a call with my younger sister in the US. She informed me that my dad’s health was declining more rapidly than had been the case the previous weeks. It was clear to me that I needed to get there as soon as possible. After the call, I reached out to my team to begin changing my travel plans. I had booked a ticket for the second half of November. Now, in late October, I would try to catch a flight before the end of the month.