We have about 3 hours left before we leave for the Bangkok airport and begin our final journey home. We will fly to Taipei where we will change planes. We leave around 11:30 p.m. and arrive in San Francisco the same day, five hours earlier than we left! It's going to be a very long day!!! The final flight is 11 hours long.

So anyway, back to Nairobi...

We were met at the airport by Kim, a wonderful man who works at the house where we had been living in Nakuru. He brought our other luggage, which we had left behind on our trip to the coast. It was great to see a familiar face! We said our fond farewells and entered the airport for check-in, only to find out that Air India had no reservation for us. We later came to find out that the rest of our entire itinerary had been cancelled due to a computer or agent error!! Thankfully, we were able to get on the flight and over the next week we were able to get everything else re-booked at no extra cost. We were a little worried that we would end up staying longer than we had anticipated.

We arrived in Mumbai (Bombay) and proceeded to our next flight. We were initially told that there was no space (our reservation had been cancelled). An agent there helped us and somehow he was able to push ahead of some other people and confirm a reservation for us. We have found angels in many places on this trip.

Next stop -- Goa.

Bosco's relatives: Aunty Dionizia, Maura and husband, Xavier, Edvin, and Shyane (Zelma's son) were there to greet us as we exited the baggage area! We were met with hugs and bouquets of flowers - just the beginning of an amazing weeklong visit with family Bosco had not seen for over 30 years and some who weren't even born at that time!

They took us and all of our baggage to the timeshare where we would be staying for the week. It was a very nice resort on a beach in South Goa called Varca Beach. It was very close to where some of the relatives lived, although Maura and family live in North Goa, about 1 1/2 hours away.

The week in Goa was filled with visits to relatives and invitations to wonderful Goan meals. We were treated to all the Goan specialties such as, fish curry, sorpitel. bebinca, prawns, and many others. One evening, Maura and family treated us to a dinner at the resort where she works. It was a fabulous Chinese buffet, outdoors, under the stars with entertainment by an exotic dancer. The food was prepared by students of the culinary academy. One day we had lunch by the River Sal, at a restaurant of the same name. We also visited the outdoor market at Anjuna. There were hundreds of booths with merchants from all over India selling their wares - clothing, textiles, arts and crafts, spices, jewelry, etc. It was a feast for the eyes! We also visited Old Goa and the famous church of Bom Jesus, where the remains of St. Francis Xavier are entombed. Another day we visited a spice farm. Zelma and her family treated us to this really fun experience. We were welcomed with a shower of flower petals and treated to some herb tea and then were taken on a tour of the farm, where they grow cinnamon, cloves, betel nut, pepper, vanilla, tumeric, chile peppers, cashews, among other things. At the end of the tour everyone was doused with cold water down the back to cool off -- shocking, but it really did feel good! After the tour we had a wonderful meal of Goan specialties, including one dish made with wild boar meat.

One of the things we wanted to do while in Goa was visit the house that Bosco's parents had had built with the intention of moving back to Goa one day. The house was never entirely completed, although the majority of it is. No one has ever lived in the house and it is still in the name of Bosco's granny, who has long passed on, so there are some legal issues that need to be resolved before anything can be done. So, guess what? We get to go to Goa again!! The house is situated on a nice big lot, surrounded by other houses. It is in need of roof and stucco repair, septic tank and electricity. But it probably wouldn't take too much to make it livable.

The many relatives we visited (besides those mentioned already) include Aunt Idinha, her daughter, Maxcy, and her daughter Andrea; cousins Olvy and her family and brother, Agnello; and the families of cousins, Maura, Edvin and Molfrey. We also visited Aunty Mathilda's brother, Leo.

We are so grateful to cousin, Edvin, who served as our "chauffer" while we were in Goa. He's a great driver, too! Driving in Goa is very different than driving in the US. You must share the narrow roads with a multitude of scooters, motorcycles, cows, dogs, and Edvin tells us , even crocodiles cross the bridge at night sometimes! Passing another vehicle happens constantly, and use of the horn while passing is a must. So, as one driver we had in New Delhi put it - you must have good brakes, a good horn and good luck to drive on the roads in India!

We also are so grateful to Maura, who coordinated everything for us, showered us with gifts, and took a week off of work while we were there.

It was a wonderful week. One we will never forget. Now we need to get Bosco's sisters to go for a visit too!!

It is hard to believe that nearly a month has passed since our last post! Our last 2 weeks in Nakuru were very busy -- trying to finish up our work at Pistis Academy and makng final visits to our many new friends in Nakuru. Then, of course there was packing to do and final arrangements for the rest of our journey.

We left Nakuru on the night of Jan. 10 on a bus headed for the coast (Mombasa). If we had known then what a horrendous trip it was, we would have definitely opted for the train. First of all, the bus was over 2 hours late in leaving. Secondly, the road between Nairobi and Mombasa was so bad and the bus so uncomfortable that at several points I became airborne and landed hard on my tailbone - so hard it made me cry!! Of course everyone else thought it was funny. We were in the very back of the bus with 6 across the back seat. We are talking about a 10 hour bus ride!!

We arrived in Mombasa tired and hungry and relieved to finally be off the bus and still alive. We found our way to a decent hotel and had a nice buffet breakfast, then went to see the famous "tusks" of Mombasa that criss-cross over a main street. We made our way to the matatu that goes to Watamu Beach - about 2 hours away.

We were very surprised and delighted to find Watamu to be such a wonderful and beautiful place. The Italians seem to be the only other people who have discovered it. There are so many Italians there that even the local people speak Italian!! It' s a very small community, and not overrun by tourists at all. Watamu has 3 beautiful bays within walking distance of each other. They each have outcroppings of coral islands and the one nearest our hotel had turquoise water like I have seen in photos of the South Pacific islands. When the tide goes out, you can walk about 1/2 mile out to the Indian Ocean, where the gentle breakers hit the shore. The water is wonderfully warm, too. We had originally planned to stay only 2 nights there, but we loved it so much that we stayed for 4. We had a great hotel for under $20.00/night!

We made a day trip to Malindi, where Bosco and his family used to vacation when he was a kid. A great guide approached us and was able to show us around to all the places that Bosco remembered, including the guest house where they used to stay and the shop where they used to get halwa (an Arab sweet with the consistency of thick gooey jelly). We had some fresh out of the pan and some packed to take with us.

We also visited the ancient Arab ruins at Gede. Beautiful and fascinating!

Our next stop was Lamu Island. Lamu is an old Arab settlement and is unique in that there are still no cars there. All transportation is by foot, boat or by donkey. (Of course, we had to try riding a donkey - bareback, no less!) There are over 4000 donkeys on the island. A new culture developed in Lamu and the coast of Kenya when the Arabs came to settle there, creating the Swahili people and culture and the Kiswahili language. The town of Lamu is like a maze of narrow streets, most only wide enough for a donkey. The main street is a whopping 10 feet across, at best! We stayed in a former old Swahili home (now a guest house) with lots of staircases and a beautiful garden courtyard. There was also a rooftop restaurant. One night we had dinner with a local character known as "Ali Hippie". He has been hosting tourists in his home for over 30 years. He prepares a nice meal and his family entertains with song and dance.
We took a beautiful sunset sail on one of the many dhows (Arab sailboat) that ply the waterways. Besides Lamu there are many other islands in the archipelago that keep the waters calm. There are also many mangrove trees that seem like other islands when the tide is high. The boat ride was a definite highlight of our stay in Lamu.

We stayed for 3 nights, which felt like enough. We flew back to Nairobi to begin our onward journey to India on Jan. 19.

Will close for now and update more tomorrow. We are now in Bangkok and we begin our journey home on Friday the 3rd of Feb.