Turkey

Some of you reading this blog are aware that our travel plans for Spring 2024 were to spend 12 days touring Turkey and then continue overland from Istanbul to Helsinki by bus and train taking in as many countries as possible in the six weeks we had allotted for this next adventure.   However, for the first time in our nearly nine years of travelling we have needed to adjust the itinerary due to some family concerns.  We therefore only completed the Turkey part of our trip as it had been booked and paid for and are writing this after returning home.  Beware of “best laid plans”!

On Wednesday 3^rd April we hopped on the National Express Bus to Heathrow and caught a flight to Istanbul where we had three happy days exploring this incredible and vast city which straddles the Bosphorus Strait and is the junction between Europe and Asia. There is so much to see and do in Istanbul and at the risk of boring you we will endeavour to give you the highlights and briefly outline our time here.

The many mosques dominate the skyline and the call to prayer is heard ringing out over the city at specific times of the day. We visited a number of mosques, The Blue Mosque being the most well- known but honestly some of the others were more beautiful and less crowded (and obviously you have to be appropriately dressed).  

We tracked down two churches that hadn’t been converted to mosques and enjoyed an uphill and downhill walk in the Balat and Feder districts full of colourful houses, street art and countless cafés and restaurants all set up to serve the many tourists.

The Spice Market and Grand Bazaar were somewhat disappointing in that they lacked atmosphere and were rather more sanitised than many other Souks and Bazaars we have visited on our previous travels. Topaki Palace, a former seat of government and an official residence of the Ottoman Empire was especially impressive with its beautiful buildings and stunning location overlooking the Bosphorus.

At 6.30 am on Sunday 7^th April we were picked up and with a mini bus full of other travellers took the almost 4 hour journey to the Gallipoli Peninsular where we spent the afternoon with Ibrahim, our guide visiting a number of the WW1 landing places.  It was here where in 1915 the mainly Australian and New Zealand troops fought the Ottoman Turkish army who put up a fierce defence. Ibrahim was an exceptional guide, he told us of the many mistakes on both sides which tragically cost the lives of thousands of young men. We were moved by the various lovely and well-kept cemeteries and saw preparations underway for the annual Anzac Day Remembrance ceremonies on 24^th April.

After seeing Gallipoli we crossed the sea to Canakkale on the Asian side of Turkey and home to a somewhat disappointing model of the Trojan Horse. The following day was a long driving day (6 hours in total) visiting various old ruins, happily for us we were still with the brilliant guide Ibrahim.

First stop was the ancient city of Troy and then after a two hour drive visited the Pergamon Acropolis in very windy conditions set high on a hillside outside the modern town of Bergamo. Apart from its Biblical mention in the book of Revelation, Pergamon is famous for being a rich and powerful ancient Greek city where visitors can see the alter of Zeus, the remains of a number of temples and great library and a well preserved theatre with a capacity for 10,000 people.  

In between the two sightseeing stops we had a delicious lunch at a carpet weaving co-operative where after being serenaded by the manager and Annie having a hands-on lesson, we succumbed and bought a couple of cushion covers!

Kusadasi, a seaside town on Turkey’s western Aegean coast and daily stopping off point for cruise liners, was our home for the next two nights and here we visited the remains of the ancient port city of Ephesus which is now 5km in land. This time, with another excellent guide Azer who walked us through the well preserved ruins of the city explaining each of the buildings and how the city functioned in Roman times.

We discovered it was once the most important trading centre in the Mediterranean and a hotbed of early Christianity. We were blessed with warm sunshine and blue skies all day and were entertained by a fellow traveller from India who wanted to be videoed dancing in various settings in this incredible open air museum much to the amusement and entertainment of the rest of our group. 

This day concluded with a visit to the Temple of Artemis once one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  Today all that remains is a rather sad single column which seems to have been rebuilt from pieces of several old columns!

Our second day in Kusadasi was rather different, as well as seeing some more ruins, this time at Hierapolis, an ancient Greco – Roman city, on the same site there are hot springs that have caused a unique landscape of dazzling white terraces called Travertines.  These are caused by carbonated minerals left by the hot flowing water. In some designated areas visitors can swim and paddle in the warm water. Our visit coincided with the end of Ramadan and three days of public holiday days in Turkey so the site was busier than usual and the hot pools were very crowded with a mass of humans. 

The Hierapolis site was vast and so there was plenty to see and do instead of battling with others to experience the hot spring water.  It is home to a fabulous Roman Amphitheatre set into a hillside and also houses the tomb of Philip, one of the Apostles, which was only discovered by an archaeologist in 2011.

The night of Wednesday 10^th April was spent nearby in Pammukkale in a Thermal Hotel with its own hot spring pools where Annie enjoyed a quick dip before the sun went down.

We left the following morning for a very long driving day (10 hours) to Cappadocia. It was actually a much more enjoyable day then anticipated as our driver added on some extra points of interest along the way to break the journey.  The only planned stop was in the city of Konya, home of the Whirling Dervishes and the Mevlana Museum, home of the religious order of Sufi Muslims and training ground for the Dervish apprentices (although the Mevleviyah Dervish order has largely died out).  Again due to the public holiday days celebrating the end of Ramadan the place was absolutely rammed with visitors and although interesting not a very enjoyable visit despite our lovely and very knowledgeable guide. 

Our unscheduled stops though were very special as firstly we were taken to see one of the many sinkholes that have appeared in the Konya region of Turkey and then later in the afternoon to see inside one of the impressive fortress like structures called Caravanserai on the Silk Road which was a major caravan stop providing accommodation and trading for travellers since the 10^th Century. These Caravanserai were apparently located every 30 kilometres along the ancient silk road route because that is about the distance a camel can walk in one day. 

Our final two nights / one day in Cappadocia were fascinating, we stayed in a beautiful Cave Hotel, the tour had saved the best accommodation till last. Cappadocia is known for its extraordinary landscape of tall cone like rock formations called ‘fairy chimneys’ and cave houses hewn into the rocky hillsides.

Here we also visited Özkonak, one of the many underground cities in the area. These underground cities covering several kilometres were carved out of the landscape by early Christian communities in order to hide from potential persecution and the oppression of the Roman Empire. The entrance to the 10 storey Özkonak ‘city’ that we visited was so well concealed that it was only discovered in 1972, despite being able to accommodate up to 60,000 people for up to three months, leading to the belief that there are many more yet to be found.  Although it is a much visited and therefore touristy area Cappadocia didn’t disappoint and we understand why it is a world famous destination.

Our final two days were spent seeing four different airports, firstly a short flight back to one Istanbul airport and an overnight in the city before flying home to the UK via Berlin from a different Istanbul Airport on Sunday 14^th April. We loved our time in this vast and varied country, the Turkish people we met were almost without exception friendly, helpful and fun, the food was delicious and with a fabulous range of dishes with multiple Mediterranean and Asian influences.  A particular surprise we noticed is that sweet treats are a big part of Turkish daily life! Baklava being a favourite of ours and theirs.

Diani Beach and back to Nairobi

On Wednesday 24^th January we travelled the 170 kms from Watamu to the beaches located south of Mombasa, all collectively called Diani Beach.  Diani Beach is probably one of the most well-known tourist destinations in Kenya, it is a 17 km long stretch of dazzling white sand which starts at the Kongo River (30 kms from Mombasa) and ends at Galu beach in the south, which is where we had booked an Airbnb for three nights.  

The journey was pretty uneventful apart from a long time queuing to get on the somewhat chaotic Mombasa ferry which takes passengers off Mombasa Island to the Southern Coast Area. The ferries run frequently, are absolutely packed with vehicles of all shapes and sizes, and on our ferry we guessed there were also about 700 foot passengers. The ferries take approximately 15 minutes to cross a very deep channel of water and Annie remembers doing the same journey with her family in the 1960s! Although they looked the same we were assured the ferries have been upgraded since then.

Once again we felt so spoilt with our Airbnb as we had a huge bedroom and living room and two balconies overlooking the garden and pool. Joris, the owner of the house, was extremely welcoming and gave us so much advice about the local area. A short walk down a rough stone track took us to Galu Beach where, very conveniently, we found The Fisherman’s Community Project Beach Bar where we were able to base ourselves in the shade, chat to the locals, read our books, swim, enjoy cold drinks and snacks and go for long walks along the almost deserted beach.

We weren’t aware that this stretch of coastline is known for Kite Surfing and after watching them for several days we became ‘armchair experts’ on the sport.  Whilst here Annie was talked into a massage in a tiny and very hot beach shack by a lovely lady called Mirian (£10 for an hour).

For our final 3 beach days we moved to a beachside B&B at Diani beach which was about 6 kilometres north from our Airbnb and nearer to more resorts and even more Kite Surfers. 

Here we continued the lazy day’s theme of reading, walking, swimming and marvelling at the stunning scenery and colours in the ocean which looked completely different at low and high tide times.

Each evening we ventured out usually by Tuk Tuk to sample some of the many restaurants in the area. Our hotel was next door to The Ali Barbour Cave Restaurant, probably the most well-known restaurant in the area. As it had been mentioned to us by so many people we met we felt obliged to go, the spectacular setting and great ambience are definitely the highlight, the food was good but not exceptional. We decided it was style over substance but a great evening nonetheless.

On 30^th January we took a tuk tuk to the tiny Diani airstrip for a flight back to Nairobi.  Once again our tuk tuk driver had to pay the airport police some money just to be allowed to pass.  This has been the case throughout our time in Kenya where every taxi, tuk tuk or Uber we have taken have had to pay ‘bribes’ to the police at some point on our journey.  It’s so sad and unfortunately endemic throughout Kenya and seemingly accepted by all parties as ‘the way of things’.

On our return to Nairobi we had arranged to spend a couple of hours with Pastor Sammy again and it was good to hear about his recent trip to Tanzania where he had been really encouraged by the enthusiasm local pastors had shown towards his training proposals. He also shared with us his plans for future visits to do training with churches in Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi over the next year.

Once again we were warmly welcomed back to the home of our friends Sarah and Nick for our last two nights. Whilst with them Sarah took us to a local craft café and we had a walk in the Nairobi Arboretum close to their home in the Westlands district. On our last night we all went out to Dinner at a fabulous Asian Restaurant and apart from the dazzling company we had the best food of the entire trip. A great finale!

On 1^st February we caught our Kenya Airways flight back to the UK and arrived home in the evening of the same day.  This whole trip exceeded expectations in so many ways, Egypt and its ancient history sites have long been on our bucket list and didn’t disappoint. Meeting up with Sammy and hearing in more detail about his work was humbling and the time spent with Sarah, Nick and Millie was very special and long overdue. The Kenyan Coast captured our hearts, we are hard pressed to think if we have experienced any more beautiful beaches anywhere on our travels and the Kenyan people are so warm and friendly despite living with rising costs of living, high taxes and a corrupt police force.

Until next time…

Lamu and Watamu

A 40 minute flight from Mombasa took us to Manda Island on the North Coast of Kenya not far from the Somali Border. We had no option other than flying as the bus route took us through areas restricted by our UK Foreign Office where we are told not to travel under any circumstances.

From Manda airstrip we had a short walk to the jetty and a 10 minute boat crossing to Lamu Island and Lamu town where we had booked 3 nights in a guesthouse in The Old Town. In retrospect this was probably a mistake as although the old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and probably the most complete Swahili town in East Africa it is not in good condition.

The tiny narrow streets, just wide enough for a person or a donkey are a hive of activity with your senses being assaulted constantly by noise and smells (donkey dung and sewage mainly). The waterfront is bustling with activity, hand pulled pushcarts delivering goods around the town, donkeys laden down with mainly building materials and hoards of young men loitering on any available space. Annie wondered where all the women were until we explored the back streets of Old Town and found them either working in the shops or shopping for food. 

Our guesthouse was a 16^th Century restored Swahili house with the rooms all built around an enclosed courtyard, it was located in the middle of Old Town and found down a couple of narrow alleyways off the waterfront. The best thing about our accommodation was the comfortable and breezy rooftop terrace with view over the harbour to Manda Island.

A 55 minute walk northwards along the seafront at low tide brought us to a dhow building harbour and further on to Shela Village where most of the upscale resorts are located. This is clearly because just past the village there is a 12 km long white sand beach. The village itself is much quieter than Lamu town with a number of classy resorts and guesthouses and lots of narrow alleyways with plenty of gift and souvenir shops. It was in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of Lamu Town and is the location of the famous Peponi Hotel which seems to be the social hub of the area and the only bar selling alcohol in that part of the island. We met up with Carol, the owner of Peponi who is the daughter of very old friends of Annie’s parents in their Kenya days.

Having explored the few sights in Lamu town, the fort, the donkey sanctuary (apparently there are over 3000 donkeys working on the island), the mosque and as many back alleyways as we could stomach we decided to spend the rest of our time pottering around Shela Village and enjoying delicious food and beers at Peponi Hotel which we justified by the walk each way, ignoring the perpetual shouts from boatmen and motorbikes to take us to our destination “very cheap”.

On Thursday 18^th January we got the public ferry back across to Manda Airport and a 25 minute flight south to Malindi Airport which is probably around halfway between Mombasa and Lamu. We had booked 4 nights in a room at Kimya House in Watamu and were welcomed by Alfredo, the Italian owner, who encouraged us to take the cottage in the gardens. This we agreed was the best room we have had so far in this trip, we had our own outside veranda overlooking the beautiful gardens and pool, a huge bed and spacious bathroom. We felt so spoilt and Alfredo and his small team went out of their way to make their sure guests feel very welcome and enjoy their time in Watamu.

We were so enjoying the area that we extended our stay by 2 nights and moved to a beachside resort a few kilometres further south. Watamu is spread out, there are a number of different beaches to choose from and we visited several, the water is clear and warm and thanks to a Beach Clean Up initiative started in 2023 they are extremely clean and plastic free.   The majority of the tourists who come to Watamu seem to be Italian which means that there are a number Italian restaurants serving fabulous food. We also noticed that most of the locals speak three languages fluently, Swahili, Italian and English.

By co-incidence our Nairobi friends Sarah and Nick were having a weekend break in a nearby very classy beach resort and so we joined them for dinner one evening and had a very happy evening of drinks, delicious food and lots of laughs.

Not far from our guesthouse we had noticed an Anglian Church with a service in English at 8am each Sunday so Annie set off to join them (far too early in the day for Richard) and was warmly welcomed and enjoyed a very special service with the 30 or so other worshippers.

Since arriving in Kenya we have been struck at the widespread use of MPESA as a payment method.  This is a phone App where people safely store their cash (a virtual bank account) and it’s used for payments in almost every environment from shops, restaurants, Uber rides and all forms of transport.  In fact the only way we could buy our Mombasa Train tickets was through MPESA.  It is preferred to cash indeed even a tuk tuk driver who we paid in cash could not give us change on the return journey because he had already changed the cash we gave him into ‘electronic money’ on his MPESA account.  We’re finding this difficult to get used to as transferring money from a UK bank account incurs charges.

Tomorrow we continue southwards in the Kenya coast to the famous Diani Beach area.

Naivasha, back to Nairobi and on to Mombasa

Leaving Kembu Cottages on Tuesday 9^th January we wanted to see Lake Elementatia, a soda lake between Lakes Nakuru and Naivasha. It has a spectacular setting being surrounded by ancient volcanic mountains and is a protected area being part of the Soysambu Conservancy. The lake is home to a number of upscale lodges and resorts all within the conservation zone so on our friend Sarah’s advice we booked lunch at Serena Camp right on the lakeside.

After negotiating some more very tricky roads for at least 20 minutes that had been badly affected by recent rains we arrived at Serena Camp and spent a happy few hours in the sunshine walking around the estate, enjoying the views, the visiting herd of Zebra, a flock of pelicans and a small group of flamingos in the water. We also indulged in a delicious lunch before setting off for Lake Naivasha where we had booked a room on a basic lakeside campsite.

Two hours later we arrived at Carnelley’s Campsite in pouring rain which carried on overnight and into the following morning. We eventually found our very basic room (4 walls and a bed, luckily with a sheet! No towels and a broken power point) in a block of 13 rooms who all shared an outside toilet and shower block that was situated on the other side of the field. It wasn’t much fun trotting across the wet field for a call of nature in the middle of the night! We actually had a very unsettled night as some of our neighbours returned back to their rooms in the early hours of the morning having clearly enjoyed some libations! The best thing about the campsite was the very lovely restaurant and bar area which was clearly a big hit for locals and travellers.

We had booked our room for 3 nights but decided to move on after this first night experience and so set off in search of more comfortable accommodation.  We acknowledge that we must be getting soft in our old age as this wouldn’t have given us a problem a few years ago! Only a few kilometres down the lakeside road we decided to visit Elsamere, the former home of Joy and George Adamson, of Born Free fame and now a conservation trust. The visit included a 45 minute video on the life of Joy Adamson, a remarkable woman who was not only a conservationist but a talented artist and prolific writer. This was followed by a tour around the small museum and then tea and cakes on the lawn by the Lake where we were visited by colobus monkeys and a family of warthog.

The setting for Elsamere is very special and we were tempted to stay the night in one of the cottages in the gardens as the staff offered us a very good price but we decided to journey on and found ourselves a lovely room in a cottage at Kongoni Lodge set on a hill above the lake.

Our last 48 hours in the Rift Valley was dominated by yet more torrential rain which we are told is very unusual for this time of year in Kenya and had impacted many of the roads making driving in a town car rather tricky.  Not wanting to sit out another wet day we decided to head back for a night in Karen on the outskirts of Nairobi and we booked into Acacia Tree Lodge, a small but very classy guesthouse. Along the way we had our first encounter with the Police, being called to stop by a roadside officer.  

We have discovered it is common practice for everyone and anyone to get pulled in and then be expected to pay some money on any spurious grounds the police decide to dream up.  We had been warned in advance of this practice and had been told not to argue but to say we have very little cash – and if concerned, start filming them on our phone.  In the event we were set free with no penalty.  The other odd thing we have noticed whilst driving is the extraordinary number of speed bumps (sleeping policemen), some very high indeed and they are everywhere.  By this we mean on rutted roads where you can’t go more than a couple of mph to a three lane highway!  Not only do they create traffic bottlenecks but they are incredibly frequent and not to be messed with at speed.

Acacia Tree is run as a social enterprise with 100% of the profits going to a foundation set up to help children in the nearby slums. Annie enjoyed some walks and runs around the Karen area and on Friday 12^th January we were back in the mayhem of traffic that is Nairobi city centre to return our hire car and then grab an Uber back out of the city to the Nairobi Terminus for the Mandaraka ‘Express’ train to Mombasa. For the princely sum of £7.50 each (economy class) we and hundreds of other passengers were chugged the 483 kilometres through the changing landscape arriving 5 ½ hours later in Mombasa where we planned to spend 3 nights. The first thing that hit us as we stepped off the train was the stifling heat and humidity after being at altitude in Nairobi and The Great Rift Valley. Sadly the promised hotel transfer was nowhere to be seen so we had to negotiate a rate with a myriad of taxi drivers touting for our business.

Our first day on Mombasa Island was spent exploring on foot.  It really is a fascinating city if somewhat gritty, it has a mix of Indian, Arabic and African cultures which seemingly exist in harmony with each other and we loved it!  Everyone is extremely friendly and helpful and so we set off with google maps as a back-up and headed for the Old Town wandering the ancient narrow streets, dodging the Tuk Tuks and motorbikes and spending some time visiting the main tourist attraction, Fort Jesus, a 16^th Century fort built by the Portuguese and now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

We noticed the Palestinian Flag painted on the walls of buildings all over The Old Town and calls for a free Palestine to be created. Our walking tour included seeing the south of the island where we headed for a lighthouse which we never found but it was good to see the ocean and local people enjoying their Saturday afternoon by the sea.

The following day we got a Tuk Tuk to take us off Mombasa Island to Nyali Beach, a long deserted stretch of brilliant white sand lined with apartments and hotels in differing states of completion or maybe dilapidation and quality. Surprisingly there were very few beachfront restaurants or bars for people to stop at over its approximate 3 mile length. We walked the length of the beach and then enjoyed a delicious lunch in an Italian restaurant nearby before catching a Matatu back to Mombasa.

For those of you not aware of Matatus, they are privately owned minibuses used as shared taxis and the main form of public transport for locals anywhere in Kenya. Thy are often highly decorated usually in a very rickety condition with slogans and sayings and sometimes bible verses and the routes are marked on the side of the van. Some have ‘conductors’ who take the fare and hang out the door trying to drum up customers and so they stop anywhere and everywhere along their set route for pick-ups and drop offs, when you want to get off you inform the driver by knocking on the roof of the van twice.  The drivers have a reputation of being reckless especially on the long routes and we can certainly attest to that having seen them overtaking on blind bends on the Nairobi to Nakuru road. We noticed less reckless driving in the cities probably due to the heavy traffic and that they are stopping so often.

Our next destination is Lamu Island, more about that in the next blog.

Kenya, Nairobi to Nakuru

Annie’s rucksack made a much longed for appearance 38 hours after we landed in Kenya. It was fortunate that we were staying with our friends Sarah and Nick Barnes in Nairobi because Sarah very kindly lent Annie some clothes while we waited a little anxiously to see if it would turn up at all.

Wednesday 2^nd January to Friday 5^th January were spent in the Westlands area of Nairobi at Sarah and Nick’s home and enjoying their very generous hospitality and catching up with Sarah and her daughter Millie whom we hadn’t seen for over 20 years.

On the first day Sarah took us to the Karen Blixen house and museum which was a fascinating glimpse into life in Kenya at the turn of the 20^th Century. The house is set in stunning gardens in the Karen area of Nairobi and it is clear that the legacy of Karen Blixen is something the Kenyans are very proud of. We followed this by a delicious lunch at the nearby Talisman Restaurant also set in gorgeous lush gardens.

The next day we had a walk in Karura Forest on the outskirts of the city. We took one of the marked walking trails that led to a small and somewhat disappointing waterfall but we did discover that this is one of the largest forests in the world within city limits. It was lovely to spend time together with Sarah during the day and Nick when he returned from work each late afternoon as it was the first time we had met Nick and he made us more than welcome.

We had booked a very cheap hire car for a week so that we could travel up the Great Rift Valley and explore, so on Friday 5^th January and we caught an Uber to the Central Business District to go and collect it. We had also arranged to meet up with Pastor Sammy Mwendwa whom we have been helping support in his work upskilling churches in East Africa in areas of ministry but especially in their children and youth work. We spent some time over lunch with Sammy and his sister Nancy (who had arranged our car hire) and mid afternoon we clambered into the somewhat dated motor and with some trepidation about Nairobi’s city centre traffic set off to spend our first night on the road in Limuru.

Five minutes into our journey we heard a strange sound but thought it must be the other cars on the busy highway and as we pulled into a fuel station to fill up the car a man came running over to tell us we had a flat tyre! Our guardian angel was once more watching over us because not only was this a petrol filling station but a tyre repair shop! 45 minutes later we were on our way with a second hand replacement tyre. Google maps navigated us very efficiently to our planned stop in Limuru and Thayu Farm Cottages where we spent the night in a very basic 2 bedroom cottage before journeying on the following day.  The cottages were set in a beautiful garden with views of the nearby tea plantations which surround Limuru. Around sunset we had a knock at the door and Stephen the gardener lit a fire for us in the cottage lounge which kept us warm and cosy all evening, and yes, we felt we needed it even here in Africa! Incidentally Limuru is the town 35 kms outside Nairobi where Annie’s sisters Helen and Mary went to boarding school in the 1960s!

Our destination on Saturday 6^th January was a 3 ½ hour drive away in the countryside past the city of Nakuru. There are two routes out of Nairobi into The Great Rift Valley and we took the ‘top’ road as google maps reported it as being quicker. Richard had been so looking forward to this drive as he remembered being awestruck 8½ years ago when he got his first view of the incredible geological phenomena that according to Wikipedia runs for 7,000 kms from Lebanon to Mozambique.   Sadly on this day it was very overcast and hazy and the view didn’t deliver all he had anticipated.

The roads in Kenya are very busy and the traffic rather chaotic at times but we arrived at Kembu Cottages without mishap and for the next three days enjoyed the utter peace and quiet offered here. We had booked their most basic room which we now realise they had double booked so were upgraded to a two bedroom self-catering cottage set in its own lush gardens.

We felt very spoilt and spent a lot of time watching the weaver birds and other colourful African birds flying in and out of their nests in the garden. Whilst here we also managed to log onto the WiFi and join our church in Cheltenham for their Sunday service which was lovely and to see the back of the heads of some of our friends in the congregation.

On our first day here we followed one of the many walking routes marked out in the countryside around the ‘resort’ and happened to meet up with Derek and Penny (keen birdwatchers, they had binoculars) who had booked the same room as us. Chatting away we discovered they live in Kisumu and have started and run a Christian organisation that works with at risk young people who are in the Kenyan juvenile justice system. www.route61.net.

It was a lovely encounter and by complete co-incidence found that years ago they had attended The Tabernacle Baptist Church in Wolverhampton where Annie’s brother-in law, Richard is now the pastor!

On one of our days here we ventured out to see the Menengai Crater, the largest intact volcano in the world which last erupted 10,000 years ago. After some shenanigans with google maps trying to send us up a path only fit for walking or donkeys we found a view point and took some photos of the spectacular scenery. Despite our best efforts we were not able to locate the main entrance and official viewpoint but we still got a sense of the immense crater.

We then battled our way through heavy traffic and some decidedly dodgy roads in Nakuru city to Lord Egerton’s castle and on arrival took a couple of photos but declined to pay the exorbitant entrance fee to see inside what wasn’t actually a castle but a big country house.

We have been really surprised to discover the vast difference in entry fees to the main sights depending upon a. whether you are Kenyan or in some cases East African, b. a Kenyan resident or c. a foreign tourist.  Lord Edgerton’s Castle for example ranges from 75p to £2.25 to £10 and at Nakuru National Park the three category charges range from £1 to £2.55 to £48!  They clearly believe every foreign tourist is loaded!  It has certainly put us off a few of our planned excursions, but not spoilt the experiences.

A Nile Cruise

December 27^th was heralded in with a 04.30 alarm for a drive to the Airport and an 08.30 flight to Aswan. Annie was somewhat disappointed as had been expecting to travel to Aswan on an overnight train which she was looking forward to.

A quick transfer through the Aswan streets saw us arrive at our boat late morning and we settled into our Cabin for the next three nights. The boat was very tired and in need of some serious renovation and updating but we and Sam and Samira (two of our 3 travelling companions, a lovely Iranian couple who now live in Australia) were given the two best cabins right at the front, each with a small deck area. We felt very spoilt as the ship was full and this must have been arranged for us by the Tour company as Sam had complained about the changes that were being made to the itinerary against the one we had all booked.

The afternoon was spent visiting Philae Temple, an island based temple complex dating back to the 4^th century BC and situated in the reservoir area above the Aswan Dam. A short boat trip took us across the water and Anas our guide for the next three days took us around explaining all the hieroglyphics and different rooms in this temple dedicated to the Egyptian Goddess Isis.

Aswan is a much smaller city than Cairo, just over 1 million population as opposed to Cairo’s 22 million, and therefore easy to explore on foot and for Annie to enjoy some short runs beside the Nile River. We enjoyed walking around the city and spent some time absorbing the atmosphere in the Souk and seeing the wonderful spice stalls, bread shops and interesting butchers!

In the afternoon of 28^th December we set sail, cruising downriver to Kom Ombo Temple complex which we visited in the dark and with thousands of other tourists.  It was then back on board for more cruising to Edfu arriving sometime during the night.

The 29^th December started with another early call at 04.30 with a visit to Edfu Temple and yet again hoards of other visitors.  We were back on the boat by 07.15 for breakfast and a planned sailing at 07.30am which didn’t happen until after 9 am as a group of passengers decided not to obey the strict instructions to return by 07.15!

This delay put our whole day’s itinerary out as we then had to queue for over 4 hours to go through the massive Nile lock and arrived in Luxor too late to visit the temple there that evening as planned. However an upside to the day meant we had longer cruising down the river in the sunshine watching the passing scenery and life for people living by the river which was really special and memorable.

However a word of warning to any of you who may have romantic images or be harbouring a wish to cruise the Nile, we were in a Convoy of at least 20 cruise boats of all shapes and sizes and levels of comfort all heading the same way. Our guide Anas explained how disappointed he was that the Egyptian Office of Tourism dictates which temples the cruise passengers can visit as he said there are many other temples en-route which are just as interesting.  This means that every boat borne tourist visits every temple all at the same time after which they are virtually deserted!

The final day of our tour was very full on with visits to five temples; The Colossi of Memnon, Medinat Habu (our favourite), Hatshepsut and Karnack temples.

The highlight of the day was the Valley of the Kings which we had been so looking forward to and it didn’t disappoint. Set on the West bank of the Nile, and in the shadow of the nearby mountains, it has a spectacular setting. We were able to visit four of the 63 Royal tombs (dating back to 1500 BC) and hope some of the photos give a flavour of the ornate decorations of the passages built deep into the hillsides.

We were also taken to a family run alabaster workshop and late afternoon checked into our hotel before a sunset visit to Luxor Temple a short walk away.  

Our last day in Luxor was a free day as Sam, Samira and Shandanna (our third companion, born in Afghanistan, raised in the USA and working in Germany!) took a day trip as an optional extra to Dendara temple, we chilled out in our room, caught up with some admin, did our first blog and explored the lovely city of Luxor on foot and watched the preparations for New Year celebrations. We counted 55 Nile Cruise boats docked in Luxor which we were told was unusual but probably due to tourists wanting to visit over New Year.  Needless to say, we were in bed long before 2024 arrived.

New Years Day dawned and at 6am we were in the move again this time for our 8am flight from Luxor back to Cairo.

Having done some google research on how we were going to fill the 13 hours before our flight to Nairobi we knew that the Meridian hotel was linked by a bridge to our departure terminal and so wandered over and managed to negotiate an hourly rate to use one of the rooms to relax and nap before checking into the daily Egypt Air flight and landing in Kenya at 03.45 with only one of our rucksacks on the luggage belt in arrivals. Annie’s bag clearly hadn’t been put on the plane by Egypt Air and now we are in no doubt that they are the worst airline we have ever flown with!

Cairo

To ensure we arrived at Heathrow in enough time to check into our flight to Cairo we had a 04.30 alarm call to catch a National Express Bus to the airport which was the start to a very long day.

Our flight was delayed and so even though the flight time to Cairo is only 4 hours we eventually arrived at our hotel, which was an hours drive from the airport on the other side of the city at just after 23.00hrs feeling very shabby! The flight was interesting/entertaining in that there was a very large party of travellers on their way to Umrah (a pilgrimage that can be taken any time of the year and is one to be undertaken before Hajj) in Saudi Arabia. Many in the group of mixed ages had never flown before and weren’t aware that you needed to sit in the seat allocated to you on your boarding pass. Added to that Egypt Air is possibly one of the worst airlines we have ever flown with – ideally not to be repeated SO we are bracing ourselves as we are also flying with them to Nairobi on New Year’s Day!

We arrived in Cairo three days before the start of our tour so we could do some of the sights not included in the tour itinerary such as the Coptic Christian Churches and a day trip to Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast.

Our first day however was a little disappointing as we had booked ourselves into the hotel the tour uses and found ourselves well outside of Cairo city centre with no public transport infrastructure and in a semi-built ‘up and coming’ residential area, it was also alcohol free. We decided to explore the neighbourhood on foot and headed out for an Orthodox Church and a shopping Mall. Sadly the church seems to have disappeared and is probably now a potential block of flats and the shopping mall seems never to have found any tenants. It all felt very sad as many of the buildings are unfinished and have squatters in situ, often with satellite dishes and cars parked outside, and there were countless stray dogs roaming the empty streets. One upside that won’t surprise many of you is that on exploring the very run down mall next to our hotel we managed to sniff out a ‘hole in the wall’ shop that sold cans of beer! So our late afternoon was spent on the tiny balcony drinking Heineken in the sunshine!

Our day tour to Alexandria on Christmas Eve was another long one, starting at 6am and getting back to our hotel at 9pm having had a very full on day in this sprawling city by the Mediterranean Sea. We were with a small group and although we hadn’t booked a tour with a guide we were met by one in Alexandria! Our itinerary after a 3 hour drive was pretty relentless with most of our stops being along the 10 mile seafront Corniche, we were taken from place to place darting in and out of the crazy traffic and dodging the drizzling rain.

Highlights of the day for us were the Montaza Gardens and the imposing Royal Palace which is now used by the incumbent president Abdul Fattah El-Sisi and the fascinating underground Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa which in the 2^nd Century housed the tombs of royalty and privileged others.

Christmas Day dawned and we were on the road again by 8am, this time we had arranged to visit the area in Cairo city called Coptic Cairo. This completely pedestrianised area in the old city houses many orthodox churches and was a stronghold for Christianity in Egypt before and during the Islamic era, as most of its churches were built after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century.  The churches (in varying states of repair) were located down narrow alleyways and at many corners of the street were locals selling books and souvenirs but eager to point visitors to the nearest church or attraction. Everyone we spoke to was keen to tell us with some pride that The Holy Family (Joseph, Mary and Jesus) came to Egypt.  We visited the five main churches and each was very different inside, the main event being the 7^th Century Hanging Church which is the most famous church in the area. We also visited the beautiful Ben Ezra Synagogue and an orthodox cemetery covering a very large area of Coptic Cairo with some very impressive tombs. 

Heading for our next stop St Simon Monastery also known as The Cave Church we were driven through a neighbourhood called Zabbaleen City meaning literally ‘Garbage City’ which in Cairo has the largest population of garbage collectors and recyclers (many of whom are Coptic Christians). It is so hard to describe what this area was like, it consisted of many narrow streets and lanes, apartments blocks and shops and everywhere you looked were piles of trash, some bagged up in hessian sacks and some being sorted, nearly every vehicle was loaded with trash of some sort and being transported somewhere.

Our driver locked the car and shut the windows as he didn’t want us to experience the smell or the flies but after some tricky negotiations through the crowded streets we drove up a hill and there was St Simon Monastery. It is one of the largest churches in the Middle East and completely carved out of rock hence ‘The Cave Church’, which has seating for over 2000 worshippers. It was awesome in every sense of the word.  Also on the same site some smaller nearby caves have been built into church spaces, all of the churches were impressive and it felt like such a treat to see such unusual and amazing places of worship and something very special to visit a massive Christian complex on Christmas Day.  Surprisingly however there were no Christmas Day services.

The final day in Cairo was the first day of our tour so we joined 3 others, Sam and Samira an Iranian couple from Australia and Shabana from Germany and our tour guide for the day Nuhr.  Our first stop and for us the main event of the day was the Pyramids of Giza which are actually even more spectacular when you get close to them. There are three main Pyramids and three smaller ones on this site with the largest being 147m high and taking 20 years to build in 2500 years BC. Not far from the pyramids is the Great Sphinx and Temple complex similarly dating back 2400 years BC. We took countless photos in both areas but are aware that our photos may not do them justice due to the haze in the atmosphere apparently caused by desert sand and pollution.

We were then taken to a Papyrus workshop / showroom where had a demonstration of how Papyrus is made by hand and after the visit there went to a restaurant for a local food called Koshari which was delicious. The afternoon was spent in the Egyptian Museum and those of you who know us well will smile to realise that as we had Noor our guide explaining in detail many of the exhibits we were somehow there for 2 ½ hours instead of our usual 45 minutes. It was actually very interesting but we probably haven’t retained as much information as we would have liked and a bonus was we got to see the Tutankhamun exhibition.

Before we leave Cairo we just wanted to share with you our impressions, it is a huge sprawling city that never sleeps with a population of 22 million, it is actually made up of two cities, Cairo and Giza being on either side of the Nile. The air pollution is awful obscuring almost every city centre view.

The traffic and driving is totally chaotic, nobody takes any notice of keeping in the lanes, there is overtaking and undertaking and lots of horns beeping, not in anger though but as a warning the other vehicle that you are coming through! Everything seems to work and flow if sometimes very slowly while we have sat pale faced in back seats waiting for what seems an inevitable collision. It reminded us of traffic in the cities in India and the Far East but with far fewer motorbikes. The Egyptians are so friendly and helpful and everyone we have met is welcoming us to Egypt and trying to help in any way they can.

Cash is king here though and we are told the economy is struggling so they are keen for any cash – US dollars, Euros and Sterling. As you walk around it won’t be long before someone stops to talk, sometimes this is just friendly and at other times it is a prelude to asking for money under one pretext or another.

Over 90% of the country’s population of nearly 107 million live along the Nile River and we have been struck by the ‘overmanning’ in most of the low paid jobs where at least 3 people appear to be employed for a job that could be completed by one.  For information, a can of beer from the ‘grog shop’ cost about £1.70 and a litre of petrol or diesel is between 20 and 25 pence!

To Normandy and Home

Sincere apologies for the late posting of this last blog of our summer travels. We have been home for a week and time seems to have run away with us but finally here is a record of our last week in France……..

Well, we definitely left the warm sunshine behind at La Tranche Sur Mer when we set off from there on Sunday 27^th August heading for the municipal campsite in Oudon a small village on the Loire. Yet again we had a lovely surprise to find a charming spacious campsite with fabulous facilities right on the banks for the river all for €13 a night. Oudon itself is a pretty village by the river with several restaurants and bars, shops and an imposing tower in the centre.

It was busy with visitors and we wondered why until we spotted a Vide-Grenier (car boot sale) in a large field on the edge of the village selling genuine rubbish!  From here we crossed the Loire to Champtoceaux where we walked up a steep hill to the village which had spectacular views along the river, and is best known for its medieval fortress, however the reality was that it is really just an area of falling down stony walls! A lovely end to the day was spent enjoying a couple of libations at a pop-up bar on the riverside which had a live band playing. All in all what we thought was just an overnight stop to break the journey heading north turned out to be very memorable.

The next day we checked into a surprisingly fancy municipal campsite in Rennes which was situated on the outskirts of the city in a huge forested recreation area with lakes, walking and cycling trails, zip lines and all sorts of other fun activities.

Having never been to Rennes we caught the bus and explored the city and its cobbled streets and half-timbered houses; however it was something of a disappointment as it felt rather uncared for and run down with a lot of ugly graffiti and decaying buildings.

The highlight of the day was an absolutely fabulous lunch which we decided to have on the spur of the moment in a randomly chosen fish restaurant in the old town.  Our meal was a real delight and we voted it the second best meal off this trip.

Our next destination was to be Fourgères where the municipal campsite was getting rave reviews on google and we were intrigued, sadly we arrived before midday and were told we couldn’t check into a pitch until 2.30pm. A quick rethink and we were back on the road heading for St Malo and yet another municipal campsite that came up trumps for us. We pitched the motorhome, downed a quick lunch and walked the 3 kms around the bay into the ancient walled city.

Here we had a happy couple of hours exploring the many streets and walking the ramparts where we had fabulous views of the islands and the various bays that surround St Malo. The return walk was disrupted by the road suddenly being closed and then actually retracting (tarmac and all) to allow several vessels to pass from the harbour basin to the open sea.  It was fascinating to stand and watch everything from fishing boats, ocean racing yachts and commercial ships passing one way or another for a full 25 minutes! 

Our campsite was ‘complet’ by the time we returned and there was an almost festival atmosphere in the outdoor campsite bar on the headland so we joined in!

Moving on the following day we didn’t go far as we stopped for the night in Pontorson not far from Mont St Michel, the town was a little disappointing and so we used the afternoon to do some chores, catch up with emails, washing, banking and cleaning in preparation for our trip home in a few days.

Our next overnight stop was another lovely surprise as we only looked at campsite reviews rather than the town itself and landed up in Carentan, a pretty river port situated between Utah and Omaha beaches on the Normandy Coast and famous for the Battle of Carentan during WW2.

Whilst here Annie walked along the canal as she wanted to see the very moving memorial to ‘The Filthy Thirteen.’ These brave United States Parachute Infantry Soldiers were the inspiration for the film ‘The Dirty Dozen’ and their mission was to parachute behind German lines on June 6^th 1944 ahead of the Normandy Landings with the goal of destroying Nazi supply lines and escape routes.

24 hours of heavy rain during our stay in Carentan resulted in us being unable to leave our grassy pitch that faced the local horse racing track, when we attempted to reverse out the wheels just spun round and sank deeper due to the mud and soft ground. We were eventually towed off by a small tractor pulled by the very kind owner of the campsite. A first for us!

A 90 minute journey east took us to Deauville and Trouville-sur-Mer where we had a happy two days catching up with our friends Helen and Serge who, before moving to live in Deauville used to be our next door neighbours.

During coffee on our first afternoon together we had a surprise when former French President Nicolas Sarkozy strolled past on his way to a book signing stopping of course for several ‘selfies’ with interested French. 

We enjoyed walks around the lovely towns which are either side of the River Touques, a delicious lunch in Deauville with Helen and Serge who then took us to Les Franciscaines Cultural Centre, a former convent which has been beautifully converted into a cultural community centre for the residents of Deauville to use.

Our campsite had a spectacular setting on the cliffs above the beach in Trouville with fantastic sunsets.

Our final night in France was spent on a camping car Park in Leon-sur-Mer just 15 minutes from the ferry port at Ouistreham. The sun was shining and beach and beach bars were busy and buzzing which created a lovely holiday atmosphere for our last day before our ferry back to the UK on Monday 4^th September.

A calm crossing brought us to Portsmouth early afternoon but before heading home we had one final night in the motorhome

on a campsite near Lymington where we had an evening with our very old (as in we have known them since 1984) friends Rosemary and Kevin who now live in the New Forest. It was great to spend our last evening together eating in a restaurant with views across to the needles and the Isle of Wight.  The campsite however reminded us on every level why we don’t enjoy touring in the UK.

Eventually it was time to leave our motorhome in its storage parking having never let us down during a fabulous 85 days away.

By the Seaside!

Leaving our ‘Little Netherlands’ campsite on Wednesday 16^th August we planned on a one night stop at the municipal campsite in Bergerac, however once again we arrived to find it ‘complet’. Undeterred and with a wish to see the town we found parking on the banks of the Dordogne and spent a happy time exploring (along with the tourist hordes) the old part of town with its medieval pedestrianised cobbled streets, pretty squares and half-timbered houses along with various statues and paintings of Cyrano de Bergerac. We have since read that he had nothing to do with Bergerac the town and probably never visited!

So without a definite plan for where to stop that evening we decided to set the Sat Nav for Confolens, a small town near Limoges and off we went thinking we might find somewhere nice to stop enroute. It’s probably no surprise, but a few hours later having not stopped we rolled into the campsite in Confolens late afternoon and booked in for 3 nights. We first visited this campsite when it had just opened 7 years ago and had such a memorable time that we decided we should do a return visit. The campsite has grown and developed by introducing some camping pods and permanent tents but has retained a lovely calm atmosphere beside the Vienne River.

Confolens town is close by and not on the typical tourist route so is relatively quiet except in early August when it hosts its annual International Folk Festival.  This had ended the day before we arrived so we watched the town being put back together as marques and outdoor venues were dismantled and roads reopened to traffic.  It was a relaxing couple of days pottering around town, reading our books and enjoying some walks in the surrounding countryside and villages.

With our 90 day maximum Schengen stay allowance (a by-product of Brexit) coming to an end in early September we had a longing to see the sea which we haven’t done since we left Calais in June, so we continued our journey by heading west towards the Atlantic Ocean.  However, before hitting the coast we spent a night at a very nice camping car park in the river port of Tonnay-Charente. This lovely old town used to be a big commercial port during medieval times carrying various goods but its close proximity to the town of Cognac probably helped its previous prosperity!

It is now a sleepy village but has an impressive 700 metre suspension bridge spanning the Charente and giving wonderful views over the surrounding countryside, a chateau and some lovely old merchant houses along the quay side.

The following day we had a 30 minute drive to a campsite by the seaside in Fouras-les-Bains which is situated on a long thin peninsular at the mouth of the Charente River. With it being Sunday (20^th August) we wanted to get on our pitch early so we could join the service from our church at home before then watching the Football World Cup final and this we achieved even if the football was coming from German TV in our motorhome.

Our time in Fouras was very enjoyable, it is a lively seaside town with some huge beaches, a sea water fed swimming area, a couple of forts and lots of walking routes and cycle paths in the surrounding marshy countryside. One day we walked to the tip of the peninsular where there are a number of beachside stalls and restaurants selling Moules and Huites (Oysters) and a ferry to the nearby Ile d’Aix and trips to sail around the nearby Fort Boyard.

Moving on and not yet done with the seaside we stopped at La Tranche-sur-Mer for another four of days of lazy life by the sea.  Here we found the almost perfect campsite, large pitches, clean shower and toilet block, lovely pool and best of all a short walk to the beach and the town.

This was the first time on this trip that we have been so close to several British vans on the same campsite, everyone was so friendly and chatty and we found out that most of them are ‘returners’ enjoying their love of this campsite year after year. We chuckled as we realised that all the chatting to our neighbours was the most we had talked to anyone other than ourselves in weeks and we were somewhat out of practice!  There really isn’t much to report as we settled into seaside life, continued our walks / runs in the locality, potters into town, drinks in the beach bar locally, enjoying the pool and reading our books.

From here we have just over a week to travel in a northerly direction towards Caen where we have a ferry booked to return to the UK on Monday 4^th September.

South West France

Leaving Provence we decided to spend a few days in South West France visiting places we hadn’t seen before.  We stopped en-route for a night in Colombiers just to the west of Beziers, right on the Canal du Midi. 

After which we went to Mirepoix, a delightful small town that dates back to the middle ages with many central areas remaining largely unchanged.  For virtually the whole of our 2 hour drive we travelled through vineyards, initially (for 60kms) we were on the Route de vins Minervois and then from Carcassonne, the Malepére, which are predominantly table wines of lesser quality.  None the less we were staggered at the extent of the wine making in this region of France.

Despite our best intentions, we had actually been to Mirepoix before but only for one night several years ago when the campsite wasn’t much more than a field, it has developed a lot since then and now has a pool and a great team running it.   During our two day stay we found the town was hosting a pottery market and it was lovely to see the variety of crafts being offered for sale (at remarkably high prices we have to say) and the large number of visitors the market attracted. 

Mirepoix is a beautiful medieval fortified town surrounded by ramparts, the main attraction of the town revolves around the central square, surrounded by superb galleries supported by oak pillars, called “covers” and surmounted by houses with exposed beams and coloured facades.

Our next destination was what read like a great campsite in Montrejeau some 2½ hours’ drive to the west.  What we hadn’t realised was that by pressing the “non toll” route on our Sat Nav we would be taken through the ‘Grotte du Mas d’Azil’ which is not only situated on a very narrow back road but the road actually goes through the grotto.  It isn’t until you reach the entry to the grotto that you are presented with warning signs saying there is a maximum headroom of 3m.  Our motorhome was 2.8m high when it left the factory but we have added solar panels and a TV satellite aerial on the roof taking us to about… yes, 3m! 

Undeterred, or rather more deterred by the thought of turning around for a huge detour, we pressed on with a little trepidation and in the event emerged unscathed.

The campsite at Montrejeau was just what we hoped for, with a beautiful infinity pool and views across to the Pyrénées.  The town itself was however a bit of a let down!  We spent a happy couple of nights here, enjoying the views, some walks, evening drinks in the bar and watching some of the evening entertainment from a very safe distance.

Our next journey was somewhat circuitous in that our destination changed several time en-route.  We started off heading for a small Aire in a village called Maubourguet north of Tarbes, but when we arrived there we wondered what we’d do with half a day in such a small quiet town.  So, we then headed for Mirande but really didn’t like the look of the rather run down municipal campsite so set off again for Samata. However once we reached Auch decided instead to change direction and head further west to La Romieu just outside Condom. La Romieu is one of the many Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and is a really pretty village with its huge 14^th Century Collégiale Church of St Piere and a lively village square which on a Sunday lunchtime was busy with visitors and hikers stopping for a snack and beverage.

The campsite in the village turned out to be very busy, rather swanky, and probably not one we would return to but it was a very hot late afternoon when we arrived and we were keen to see the beaux village so checked in none the less.

Heading slowly north our next stop was decided entirely on the fact the campsite advertised good a WiFi connection across the whole site and so on Tuesday 15^th August we logged on remotely to the funeral of Mari Fotherby, a dear friend of Annie’s who very sadly died on 23^rd July. Ironically we couldn’t get the WiFi to work for the remote connection so each of us watched it on our phones. Thank goodness for data and good signals and we were moved by the beautiful service celebrating her life.

Back to the campsite which we found intriguing as more than 90% of the campers here were Dutch so it felt as if we had intruded on a little bit of The Netherlands. What is intriguing is this isn’t the first time we have come across campsites almost exclusively occupied by the Dutch and they are often in the middle of countryside not within walking distance of any towns or villages. They seem to love just being in the sunshine in the company of their fellow countrymen and women.

Having said that the campsite was lovely, set in the vineyards close to the Lot River, with a good sized pool and some good walking and running routes through vineyards on the very quiet nearby roads.

We continue a slow meander in a northwards direction.