I really wanted to show my Dad how awesome Kenya is, especially Mombasa. This was my Dad's 3rd trip to Kenya and, if I am being honest, he needed a redeeming trip. His first two trips were ok…but he needed a trip to be wow'd by Mombasa leaving him wanting more. After his two weeks here, I think we managed to convince him how wonderful this place is. I also found myself falling in love with Mombasa all over again.
The kids were in school every morning leaving us to find different ways to keep ourselves busy. On day 1, Dad said to me, "lets go have a great breastfast while the girls are at school." This kicked off our Mombasa breakfast date escapades for the next two weeks. We went to some of the best places in town for the best coffee and breakfast foods. We did Java House, Cafesserie, Vipingo Ridge, Voi Wildlife Lodge, SGR, 10th Street, MNKafe, Cafe Arabika, and our favourite local joint, Jaka's place.
Dad's favourite, hands down, was 10th Street. Honestly, this place surprised me. It was delicious! Dad had a scrumptious Moroccan egg dish and he thought the cappuccino was the best in Mombasa. Kelvin likes most places and refuses to choose a favourite. Although, he's a sucker for a good Swahili breakfast so he would choose Jaka's place over and over again. I am a lover of Caffesserie. Everything is such.good.quality and you can taste it. However, I am a die heart Java House fan. Any place that has a play ground for my kid's gets an automatic win from me.
Dad loves golf so he loved our breakfast date at Vipingo ridge. The food was simply delicious, a little pricey and small, but still wonderful.
Dad thoroughly enjoyed his breakfast at 10th street. The waitress in the background wasn't the happiest of people that morning. The restaurant is open 24 hours so maybe she was coming off night shift.
Dad braving the local joint for some Swahili delicacies. We are pretty loyal to our mahamri and mbaazi.
Besides our breakfast dates, we did lots of fun things, touring around the coast. We visited some of our favourite spots on the ocean like Yul's and English Point.
One of the biggest highlights for me was bringing Dad to Word of Life in Ukunda where Kelvin and I met almost 9 years ago. One aspect of living overseas is that you tend to have almost two separate lives. We have a whole world here in Kenya filled with community, memories, life, and more that our friends and family in Canada don't know about. That's why it is SO special when our two worlds collide.
Dad loved getting to see where Kelvin and I lived and worked and met. We showed him the rooms we lived in and where we ate and the people we worked with. Then we toured up and down the beach a while before heading to Nomad's for lunch.
This is where our story began….
We did a one-day train adventure to Voi. We got the morning train to Voi, got off for 3 hours and hopped back on the one heading back to Mombasa. It was quite the adventure. We went to Voi Wildlife Lodge while in Voi and we were amazed! They have a watering hole right there and we watched animals come and go as we ate breakfast. It was probably our worst and most over priced breakfast, but I would go back there in a heart beat and spend a night or two.
Waaaaaay to excited for getting up waaaay to early to catch the train.
Grandpa and his grand babies watching the animals.
I showed Dad a bit around Old Town. I have to admit that I don't love being in Old town anymore. I don't feel entirely safe or comfortable. It was a quick tour around fort Jesus and through some streets then we went for coffee, hehe.
Dad treated us to a day at our favourite resort, Pride Inn Paradise! This is the place to be if you have kids. I was disappointed they up'd their rates from last year. It will have to be a really special occasion for us to go again. But it is totally worth it! Best resort for kids in Mombasa, hands down.
Amina couldn't handle all the fun and passed out on her chair. Sweet girl.
Mercy's best friend from school happened to be sitting in the chairs next to us so they went down the slides together for about 4 hours. Too much fun for this 3 year old.
Warning, this handsomeness might blind you. So happy he belongs to me!
We also did a day at Haller Park feeding giraffes, chasing monkeys, watching crocodiles, and hearing hippos fart. You know, the usual.
However, with everything we did and saw and ate, the best part of the two weeks was simply having grandpa around all day. We swam in our pool, read bedtime stories, coloured, watched movies, snuggled, and played.
We love you Grandpa! We are waiting for you and Grandma to come back soon!