Takawiri Fights Back

The last week Josh and I had been feeling the stress of our upcoming move.  Orders, the car, sorting through things, etc.  We really just needed to get away and enjoy one last weekend in Kenya.  Two years ago we spent new years eve on Takawiri Island.  Its a small island out in Lake Victoria.  One of our friends owns a deserted resort out there that sits on a beautiful white sand beach.

We decided to head out that way, do some camping and just relax.  It can take a bit to get out there so Friday night we headed out to Mbita and stayed at the ICIPE guest house.  The next morning we got a private boat to take us over to the island.  The public ferry doesn't leave Mbita till early afternoon and we wanted to enjoy the entire day on Takawiri.  

Fishing village on Takawiri

Upon landing on the white sand beach, we realized that the resort was quickly deteriorating.  In just two years the thatched roofs were falling apart and the island birds had seemingly taken over the trees.  A little sad to say the least but we weren't too concerned as we hadn't planned on using the facilities there.  

On our way

After pitching our tents, we got down to the business of relaxing.  Josh and Lacey (our friend who also went with us) swam while I enjoyed reading up on the beach.  We were also able to connect with Josh's friend Jack, the curator of the Mfangano Peace Museum, who he had done some photography work in the past for.  We napped, chatted and just soaked in our little slice of Africa.  

The beautiful white sand beach

It wasn't till after dinner that Takawiri started to become somewhat of an adventure.  The ants had come out in full force and got into everything that wasn't completely enclosed including our food, tents, chairs, etc.  They were on the beach and in the grass.  There wasn't really a place that you could stand (besides in the lake) without them crawling on your feet. 

Josh in front of Lake Victoria

Realizing that at least they weren't biting we decided to get a fire going on the beach and enjoy the lightening show on the lake.  The fire was perfect until we started to feel some drops from the sky.  Nope not rain folks....Those birds that had infested the island?  Yep we were getting used as target practice.  Somehow I managed to get up just before they hit every time.  Josh and Lacey weren't so lucky as they got hit on the shorts and face respectively.  

We moved out of range and enjoyed the last bit of our fire before hitting the sack.  Thinking that the rain was over for the night we opened our rain flaps wide and took advantage of the island breeze.  Unfortunately that breeze started to pick up in the middle of the night.  I rolled over and prodded Josh asking, "Hey babe do you think we should close the flaps?"

Literally seconds later the storm was upon us. It was all I could do to hold onto the tent as Josh struggled with the zippers.  The high profile of our tent made it an easy target for the flattening island winds.  Realizing that it was a loosing battle we collapsed the tent just praying that the rain cover would hold long enough to out live the storm. 

We squeezed into Lacey's two person tent and road out the rain.  As the storm let off Josh and I decided that we might actually get some sleep if we went inside one of the cabins.  We were soaked and a little cold but we managed to get in a few hours of rest.  In the morning, we went out and accessed the damage.  

Most of our things were drenched.  The most devastating of all was Josh's camera and kindle sitting in a pool of water.  The camera's LCD screen  had water sloshing behind it and the kindle charger port seems to be corroded.  Thankfully though both devices have seemingly come back to life (only time will tell). We were also grateful that our clothes for the next day were also dry.  I'm so glad I packed those in a water proof bag!

We spent most of the morning laying things out to dry and packing up to head back.  Again we fought the ants who for some reason just really wanted to come home with us.  When the boat arrived on the beach, I honestly felt a bit of relief.  Even though it was a relaxing and much needed trip, it had also been an adventure.  Ants, birds, and the storm just made our trip a little more interesting...

Of course there would be two cows on the ferry back.  I mean this is Kenya!