adventures in kenya part one..

Back in May, I had the pleasure of accompanying my father on his business trip to Mombasa, Kenya. Now, I actually grew up in Mombasa, literally a stone's throw (or a short walk through the bushes) from the ocean. I moved to England when I was a teenager. It's strange, growing up somewhere so idyllic and so far removed from my present environment that sometimes I'd feel as though I'd made it all up and that none of it had ever happened. It had been approximately 10 years since I left and I had an incredible time rediscovering the scents and sounds of my childhood, visiting new places and my favourite bit, reconnecting with old friends all of whom welcomed me back with big smiles, warm open arms, stories and new adventures! I didn't take many pictures (considering what I'm usually like!) there were just some occasions where I felt unsafe to be using the big camera.. I don't like getting unwanted attention and it just wasn't worth it. Call me overcautious ;)

Anyway this is part 1 of 2 and it's just my way of sharing a fraction of my experiences.. 

*warning.. it's photo heavy and there's a lot of sunsets! (come on.. african sunsets are amazing.. I couldn't help myself !!)

Walking along the beach on the first morning.. after that I tried to take a walk on the beach every day.. :)

While watching these kids, I could see my brother and I as children playing away on the beach after school as we often did..

Ran into an old friend on the plane. Not gonna lie.. it was a very childish, overexcited, squealing moment ! ^_^

 

Candy coloured clouds during one very pink sunset! 

  

Camels spending their day lounging in the sun..

 

My view from where I used to sit reading during the mornings .. speaking of which I read Haruki Murakami's, Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which if you haven't read I'd thoroughly recommend! I think it's my favourite of his (so far :p) 

 Driving through town.. 

Random lime green building!

Advertising everywhere! Still, I loved all the colour :)

!!!

Lighthouse, where people go to enjoy the view, make out, enjoy fresh cassava crisps, mangos and coconut juice.

View across town. It's here where you see a noticeable Portuguese architectural influence. There's a temple and a mosque amongst all the buildings. Mombasa is very multicultural. Different religions and cultures coexist happily and it's really an aspect of this town that I most admire. 

Road trip under a big sky..

 We arrived at a golf course - in the middle of nowhere - ! It's really at this point where my pictures fail to convey the sheer scale of the place, the suspense I felt when we were driving up along a lone road, going higher and higher into the hills with the land falling away on one side showcasing views of more hills and an untamed nature..miles and miles and not a building in sight. On the other ride of the road we were passing huge, beautiful houses.. homes of Kenya's most affluent. At some point we passed an airstrip catering for private planes for those coming to play golf and escape for the weekend.

A family friend's home complete with infinity pool and one hell of a view! Needless to say I did not want to leave!

  Vipingo Ridge golf course and the clubhouse (of course) is all man made.. an island in the middle of wild nothingness. 

The clubhouse designed with decidedly Moroccan influences.

View from the rooftop..

 

Dad and I :)

 

The spectacular sunset from the rooftop lounge area..

Heading out to safari! And it's another beautiful day.. 

 

 

Phewww.. sorry for the long post! Well done on making it this far though! Part 2 coming soon :)

♥

Field Day 2012

Music: Beirut - Nantes

 

Field Day was exactly one week ago today. A day full of music, laughter, friends and a whole lot of randomness. It was the first music festival that I'd ever been to and as I lay there on the grass completely immersed in music and beautiful bass I couldn't for the life of me understand why I had never been to one before. 

The day started early. Bleary-eyed I got myself to London for 11am to meet my friend, H. We caught up on lots of little stories as it had been a while and soon we were on our way to Victoria Park, giggling to ourselves that we didn't need a map. We just had to follow all the hipsters. Which we did :)

When we got in music greeted us and like children we excitedly danced from one  amusingly named tent to another (Bugged Out! Eat Your Own Ears.. to name a couple), enjoying music, watching games, teasing each other to join in the playfulness. There was room to stand and dance and also room to just sit or lay back losing yourself completely. At some point I remember just smiling with the realisation that I was surrounded by people who loved music as much as me and in this space and time all of our little lives and stories were overlapping. 

H making little garlands for our heads :)

Koreless playing his set..

Short person's view :p

In the afternoon everything got a lot busier. The music got louder, the energy was palpable and all inhibitions were lost. There was impromptu dancing, girls with flowers on their heads singing without a care and there I was with a camera in my hand just taking it all in. All of a sudden I realised I was drifting in a sea of people. If H wasn't wearing her bright green jeans I would have lost her completely. Friends turned up and we frantically texted each other trying to find each other among the crowd of people.

The best thing is when you run into more friends that you had no idea were attending! And this exactly what happened! It was as though we were all exactly where we were supposed to be. 

The sun joined us for little while and the rain held off til the last moment. The last set I watched was Beirut (link above) and it had just begun to drizzle. We didn't care. We just sang along and danced in the twilight rain. 

I reached home at 1am achingly tired, with sore feet and music still playing in my head. 

All in all, a pretty awesome day.

<3

Metronomy - The Bay