From Arusha to Watamu

2 April was Good Friday and 5 April was Easter. So we had a long weekend but we did not know where to go.

On 31 March, our dear friend called us and invited us to follow them to go to Mombasa, Kenya. Mombasa is the main port of Kenya and at the same time is a tourist destination because of its beautiful beach (especially Nyali Beach).

We never been to Mombasa before. So why not.

The route that we took is Arusha - Moshi - Holili (Border town - Tanzania side) - Taveta (Border Town - Kenya side) - Voi - Mombasa. We departed at around 6am. When I started the car, my friend had already left Arusha. He said he wanted to pray Jumaat in Mombasa.

So we had to chase them as we did not want to get lost. My friend is a fast driver. If I drive 150km per hour he will do 170km per hour!! So they had to stop few times just to wait for us.

We arrived at Holili before 10am. To get into Kenya, you have to pass through 6 checkpoints. First, I have to register myself at the Tanzania police station stating that we are going to Kenya. Then to the Tanzanian immigration. Thereafter to Tanzanian Revenue Authority to get the permit to 'export' my car temporarily to Kenya. All that took us around 30 minutes. When we reached Taveta, we had to pass the last 3 checkpoints - Police, Immigration and Kenya Revenue Authority. That took us another 30 good minutes.

The area from Holili to Taveta was a no man's land. The road was really bad. But to go to Voi was even worst. It took us about 2 hours to reach there. Thank God for 4wd.

Then from Voi all the way to Mombasa was a breeze until we reached the hotel. Somehow we thought the hotel was a 'luxury' hotel but it turned out to be a rundown hotel. It was really nice if you look from outside. But once you are inside the rooms, it was like a YMCA hostel!! So we had to change hotel. We found a really nice hotel in Mombasa.

I told my friend that we wanted to go Watamu, a small beach town about 1-2 hour drive from Mombasa the next day. They said no but boy, we did not regret our decision! Watamu is great! The white sand beach is clean and the resort we chose was really good especially for families with small kids. My kids really had fun. Me and my wife had fun too. We also made some new friends there. We stayed there until Monday. We went back to Mombasa and stayed there for another night. We departed to Arusha on Tuesday.