Local fishermen

Our penultimate day at the hotel began as the rest with breakfast and then relaxation by the pool. While on our balcony we hand fed some of the Verat Monkeys with fruit, we probably shouldn't have but couldn't resist it.

More relaxation after lunch and then prepared ourselves for our tour of Mombasa Old Town and Fort Jesus by Night. The coach arrived (early and although we arrived 10 minutes early it had been there for a while) and we arrived at a building on the mainland some 20 minutes later. This was rather puzzling to us as Mombasa is an island, and we weren't on it. All became clear as we boarded a boat, much to Lisa's horror. Thoughts of Lisa spending the next hour hanging over the side of the boat losing her lunch did run through my mind, but fortunately, the offered us snacks on the Dhow and she survived the boat trip with little upset. Entertainment was provided by a trio of musicians ho sang the songs we had now come to know quite well, the Jambo Song, the Shuffle song and annoyingly, the Lion Sleeps Tonight.

Fort Jesus by night

As dusk fell we were sailed passed Mombasa old town and I spoke to one of the guides who pointed out some of the landmarks, including English Point, where the English used to congregate while the island was under British rule. That point is now the site of a Marine Biology Research Centre. I was shown the hospital and finally Fort Jesus came into view. It looked rather impressive from the boat standing proud, high above the waves. We docked at a port in the old town and walked up through the narrow streets until we arrived at Fort Jesus.

I wasn't quite prepared for what we saw and Lisa commented that it all looked very intimidating. Standing at the entrance, which was only lit by flaming torches, were people dressed as the portuguese and local people would have been dressed 400 years ago. Some of these people were holding flaming torches. From inside the fort, appropriate music was being played and it all added to the atmosphere. Everyone went quite quiet and stood still, not knowing whether to enter the fort or not. When we had plucked up the courage to move on we enterd the fort and found it lit mainly by flaming torches. We were shown to a seat in front of some old fort buildings and a Sound and Light show was presented to us, which told the story of the fort, how it came to be built by the Portugese and what has happened there in the 400 years since.

All lit by flaming torches

We were then shown to a table in the open courtyard of the fort where we ate yet another splendid meal, lit again mainly by candlelight and flaming torches. Lisa described it as romantic. I described as atmospheric, because I'm a man and romance is for sissies!

Following the meal we were met outside the fort by a coach and we headed back to our hotel, driving through the middle of a very busy Mombasa. We were informed that the town, although busy, was not usually this busy of an evening but we were in the middle of the Islamic festival of Ramadan, so the local Islamic community (of which they are the majority) were out grabbing a bite to eat.

This was actually one of the high points of our trip, not that there were any low points and worth it for the meal alone. A definite must for any visitor to the town.

Arriving back at Voyager Beach, we met up with Gwin and Mark in the bar before heading back to our room for a well earned sleep.