An astonishingly poor meal today from a very expensive restaurant. One of the only times (perhaps the only time ever?) I sent a dish back. This was at one of the expensive beach resorts so I didn’t have very high expectations of the food, but I was surprised when my fish tacos turned out to […]
Hunt for a beach
After a bit of work, we took a rickshaw south to a fishing collective we’d been recommended, there to have lunch. I do like this way of travelling around: just amble out and in less than a minute a rickshaw will arrive and take you off. We undoubtedly get overcharged, but it’s worth it for […]
Joining the 21st century
The GF and I decided to join the 21st century today by opening an MPesa account. We also got our mobile phone SIMs, of course. But the MPesa is what is exciting. We went to a mobile phone shop where I remarked to the GF what a pleasure it is sometimes to see a really […]
Change of fortune
We’re in Kenya, much to our surprise. Our taxi driver arrived, our airline existed, our various COVID tests and documents were correct, our visas went for a full three months, and there was a guy waiting outside the Mombasa airport to whisk us to Diani, where we are for the next couple of weeks. It […]
Chaat soup
Today we tried urojo, which is a mango coconut soup with vadas and crispy chatpatta stuff, drizzled with chilli and tamarind, and topped with a skewer or two of grilled beef. It was the first food we had which was tasty, distinctive and local, a trifecta that has largely eluded us (getting even one has […]
Both negative
We went for a careful excursion yesterday, to a cafe which had genuinely good filter coffees. We both had their light roast, I in a kalita wave (in memory of our Cholula cafe, Bartolo – possibly my favourite cafe anywhere) and the GF in a V60. Very pleasant, and it was a nice part of […]
Stand on Zanzibar
Which is where I am, and it’s been a very long time indeed since I posted anything other than a frontpagefury and even those, I must admit, were stored up and posted in a couple of highly delayed batches. So here we are on the island of Zanzibar, with its dhows and fierce white light […]
Vertiginous
The currency’s plummeting is vertiginous, and there is an air of fear, of not knowing what comes, of dread and powerlessness all around. It’s hard to see how it will end, but no one seems to think the end will be anything other than a generation cast into poverty. It’s remarkable how prices have changed. […]
Bits and pieces
A few bits and pieces, some more satisfying than others. First, and most satisfying, the items we bought over the weekend arrived today. The lamp in particular is very beautiful, the towel rack is useful and the little coffee table is discreet. All three are welcome additions to what is starting to feel like an […]
Shadows
A shadow fell as we learned of a long-awaited death – the Doyenne, whom we stayed with in Wellington, and of whom I had grown very fond. What’s more she had died the previous morning our time, and due to the time differences and everyone being careful of each other’s sleep, we didn’t find out […]