Conversations

Last night Kizzie and I went out for drinks, a late night snack and a good chat. We went to a local restaurant/pub and settled down with a Tusker each. I like going to the local hangout places but seldom do it because without some local input it could be a dodgy experience. The place we were at was good though, clean with cold beer and really tasty chicken. It was a good evening out filled with conversation about Kenya, South Africa and the normal solve the world's problems. He dropped me off at the hotel just before midnight and I was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.

When the alarm went off this morning I could feel the late night but nothing a cold shower couldn't sort out :-) At work we put our noses to the grindstone and finished all the reviews by lunch time. The afternoon was spent digging through as many scientific papers as we could find to try and beef up the information that is in the database. Tomorrow morning we are going to try and get hold of someone at the Fisheries Department to see if all the data they collect is in a format that we can use. I am not concerned so much about data for this year but I really want to see a relationship form between the research institute and the department so that in the future they will collaborate more since they really do need each other.

Initially I thought that I would get away from work early today but it ended up being the day I left the latest. I went straight from work to the Nakumatt store to get another book to read. Usually I find some interesting reads in their small book section but it was a bit of a struggle today. That always seems to be the case though when I have just finished a really good read. I did find something eventually and only paid the equivalent of R45 for it so even if it is not particularly thrilling, it won't bother me that much. At least I have something to occupy me on the way home.

I got back and was dying to go for a swim but there was a bit of a party going on there so I just hung about in my room for a while. Eventually things downstairs seemed to quieten down a bit so I got into my swimmers and headed for the pool. I had swum one lap when I was joined in the pool by a young Kenyan guy who I had met (in the pool) an couple of afternoons back. He decided that he wanted to chat! He seemed a pleasant enough guy and really quite well spoken. The other day we just chatted briefly because his girlfriend was there but today he was with other mates. Anyway I got his ENTIRE life story today! Then he asked me how many children I have and was utterly horrified when I said I had none and told me that a person could only be happy if they have children. Dream on boyo! Next he very pointedly told me that he wants to get rid of his Kenyan girlfriend and get a mature white woman as his girlfriend. He, by the way, is 24. While he was telling me this, his mates were shouting some sort of encouragement from the sidelines in Swahili - all I understood was the bit about the Mzungu (white person). Anyway, I got this long story about how it wasn't for the money but because he thought he should try out everything in life :-) Then told me he wants a sponsor to be able to leave Kenya. Anyway as soon as I could politely extract myself from the conversation I was out of there. And I only swam 1 lap!

One more night in Mombasa, back to Nairobi and a little luxury tomorrow. Good night all!

Oh yes ..... a photo of the Tamarind floating restaurant, one of the most expensive restaurants in Mombasa:

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