A break away to the coast... and up in the sky

Efterårsferie er en god ting. Især når man er blandt de, som kan holde sådan en og mest af alt, når man er så heldig at få besøg fra den nordlige halvkugle. Anna Katrine og Allan tog for andet år i træk turen til Kenya og denne gang skulle vi en tur til kysten, hvor vi må indrømme det blev til en rigtig badeferie. Vi boede rigtig dejligt og hyggeligt i en lejlighed 100 meter fra stranden. På vores eneste ikke-stranddag var vi inde i Mombasa og se byens store seværdighed, Fort Jesus, som datere sig helt tilbage til 1589, hvor tyrkerne byggede et mindre fort. Dette blev i 1593 indtaget og udbygget af portugiserne, som var nervøse for at skulle forbi fortet på den lange vej hjem til Portugal. Portugiserne anså dem selv for repræsentanter for kristendommen og valgte derfor at kalde fortet Fort Jesus. I slutningen af 1600-tallet indtages fortet af arabere fra Oman og i 1800-tallet er det briterne, som residerer på fortet. I 1958 erklæres Fort Jesus et nationalt monument.

Autumn holiday is a good thing. Especially when you are among those who actually has it and most of all it's nice, when you are so lucky that you get a visit from the northern hemisphere. Anna Katrine and Allan took for the second consecutive year the trip to Kenya and this time we had a trip to the coast, where we must admit, it turned into a real beach holiday. We stayed really nice and cozy in an apartment 100 yards from the beach. On our only non-beach day, we went to Mombasa to see the city's major attraction, Fort Jesus which dates back to 1589 when the Turks built a small fort. This was conquered in 1593 and expanded by the Portuguese, who were nervous about having to pass the fort on the long trip home to Portugal. The Portuguese considered themselves representatives of Christianity and therefore chose to call the Fort, Fort Jesus. At the end of the 1700 century the fort was seized by Arabs from Oman and in the 1800s, the British, resided at the fort. In 1958, Fort Jesus was declared a national monument.

Vi var også så heldige at komme afsted på ikke mindre end tre seljture. Først var vi med en katamaran, som er et hurtigt meget manøvredygtigt skib og senere var vi på tur med et traditionelt træskib, hvor vi sejlede ind i en vig, grillede lækker fisk ombord og nød solnedgangen. Det var fem dejlige dasedage, hvor jeg kun fik lidt for meget sol...

We were also lucky enough to go on no less than three boat trips. First we went on trips with a Catamaran, a fast highly maneuverable ship, and later we were on tour with a traditional wooden boat where we sailed into a creek, grilled delicious fish on board and enjoyed the sunset. It was five lovely lazy days in which I only got a little too much sun ...

Vi havde valgt at tage toget fra Nairobi til Mombasa, hvilket på alle måder var en stor oplevelse. Det var lidt som at gå tilbage i tiden og træde direkte ind i kolonitiden. Jeg ville ikke være blevet overrasket, hvis Karen Blixen havde siddet ved nabobordet i spisevognen og bestilt en gin og tonic. Den 16 timers togtur var dog også nok til, at vi var godt tilfredse med at flyve tilbage til hovedstaden i en Dash 8 på en time og ti minutter.

We had chosen to take the train from Nairobi to Mombasa, which in every way was a great experience. It was a bit like stepping back in time and enter directly into the colonial era. I would not have been surprised if Karen Blixen had sat at the next table in the dining car and ordered a gin and tonic. However, the 16-hour train ride was enough to make us happy that we would fly back to the capital in a Dash 8 in an hour and ten minutes.

Dagen efter kørte vi til Amboseli hvor højdepunktet – både i overført såvel som bogstavelig forstand – var en safaritur i varmluftballon. Det er en helt speciel flyveoplevelse, som ikke minder om andre måder at flyve på. Det skulle da lige være svævefly. Vi fik set en del dyr på turen, som på grund af de rolige vindforhold omkring solopgang, udelukkende foregår meget, meget tidligt på morgenen.

The following day we drove to Amboseli where the highlight - both figuratively as well as literally - was a safari on a hot-air balloon. It is a very special flight experience that is reminiscent of other ways to fly. Perhaps it's a bit similar to fly a glider. We got to see some animals on the trip, which, because of the calm wind conditions around sunrise, only takes place very, very early in the morning.