JAMBO MOMBASA!

For my final dinner in Zanzibar I went to Monsoon Restaurant. When I walked around earlier in the day I checked out the menus of quite a few restaurants and Monsoon's seemed the most appealing for vegetarian options and the most reasonably priced. I got there fairly early and there was only one other patron there. I got there before the rush because by the time I left the place was full. I had the stuffed eggplant option and it was truely magnificent! It was a decent portion size too so I was well satisfied when I left. For the foodie friends the eggplant (brinjal/aubergine) was stuffed with a tomato relish and served with some curried brinjal on the side as well as a lentil stew, some creamed spinach, an unidentifiable yellow veggie (served cold) and some diced potato that was fried. I got back to the hotel and packed my suitcase ready for the departure in the morning. 

Monsoon Restaurant (no that is not me in the photo)

After a good breakfast, I was ready to depart. Before I could check out and leave, though, I had to wait for the WIOFish focal point to deliver some documents to me. At 9am Deddah (the hotel owner) came to me and said some women had phoned to leave a message for me but she spoke so quickly that he couldn't follow what she had said. So he phoned her back so that I could speak to her. Anyway she said that someone would deliver the papers in 10 minutes. Fortunately the guy arrived pretty quickly and I could leave for the airport.

I had a longer wait at the airport than the actual flight but the time seemed to pass quickly. Zanzibar airport can be interesting if you like plane watching. There are so many small aircraft coming and going so there is always some activity to watch. I also managed to get rid of all my Tanzanian shillings on some water and a small chocolate treat. Usually I am left with some money that I can nothing with later so I was pleased about getting rid of everything.

Part of the Zanzibar airport apron (from left to right: Zan Air, Tropical Air and Precision Air)

The flight to Mombasa was with 540, an airline I have not flown with previously. The aircraft was a very old Canadair CL-600-2B19, a small 50-seater jet. It was quite empty and I had no one anywhere near me which is always a bonus. My seat was so tired that when I sat down in the middle of it, I just kept sinking closer and closer to the floor. I squirmed back and perched on the seat frame. I didn't really want to move because I had a lot of space (at the emergency exit) and a nice window view too, besides it wasn't a long flight.

Canadair CL-600-2B19

The flight itself was not too bad and really was over before it began - only 30 minutes. The airline snack of a chicken sandwich was dreadful and I doubt I will try that again. What was nice was that we flew directly north over the whole of Zanzibar and then next to Pemba Island which was a new sighting for me.

 Last view of Stonetown

 The southern part of Pemba Island

The northern part of Pemba Island

We landed in Mombasa and had yellow fever certificates checked before going through to immigration. They always scan everyone's fingers and thumbs and usually I don't have problems with this but today the scanner had some issue with my left fingers. All the others were fine but it took four attempts before the scan worked on my left hand! By the time I had finished with immigration my suitcase was waiting for me on the carousel so I grabbed it and cleared customs with no hassles.

Next order of business was to draw some cash from the minibank/ATM. The first one I tried didn't accept MasterCard but the second one was fine. It is always a bit heart-stopping though when the machines don't give me what I want. I have some spare dollars on me but not enough to last the week in Mombasa. Anyway it was fine in the end and next I went to Safaricom to organise a sim card and internet connection. It always amazes me how little Internet access costs here: I got a week of unlimited access for the equivalent of R100 or $13! With that organised I found a taxi driver and we headed out into the hectic Saturday afternoon traffic to go to my hotel.

He had not heard of the hotel before but I explained it was behind the Nakumatt Cinemax complex and he said he knew where that was. Turns out he did not hear the Cinemax part of what I said so when we went past the road we should have turned into I was a little concerned but thought maybe he was going a different route. Eventually though I asked him which Nakumatt he was going to and it was the wrong one. We did a frightening u-turn on the busy road and headed back the way we had come. I had to then give him directions on how to get there - good thing that I have stayed there before and know the way!

It was a relief to get out of the heat in the car and I was welcomed the the Minalove Hotel by some really friendly staff. They did not have a reservation for me though! But I anticipate stuff like this so I had a print out of the email correspondence confirming my booking. There was a room available so it was no problem but I had to wait for the cleaners to finish getting it ready. The other interesting thing was that I was quoted $43 for bed and breakfast in the email but the price according to the tariff list in reception was only $30. So I most definitely only paid the $30 rate!

While my room was being sorted out I went up to the Nakumatt to get some supplies for the stay here. It was so hot but good to walk around. When I got back the room was ready and I could unpack and make myself at home. Then it was time to swim. The pool here is really lovely! Not long enough to have a serious workout but nice to just swim some short laps and relax in the warm water. And now I am going to spend a quiet evening reading.

Good night everyone.