Diani beach is my next stop, about 90 miles south of Watamu, a place that came highly recommended.
The route took me along more straight roads which were not the most exciting to ride especially with the number of speed humps at every village, town and just for the sake of it.
Thankfully they do manage to slow the trucks down.
Riding through the outskirts of Mombasa was a challenge as the traffic built up, which meant once again no rules apply to the road. I would overtake one of the smaller buses at a snails pace and before I knew it the same bus was trying to undertake me...what was the point of that!. Being stuck in slow traffic also meant that I would become of particular interest to the roadside sellers, so at every opportunity I would find a gap in the traffic to get away, obviously avoiding a repeat of yesterday when I clipped my pannier which toppled me over in the petrol station.
The journey from Watamu to Mombasa town took about 2 hrs, at which point I headed to the Ferry terminal so that I could continue south along the coast to Diani beach. Unfortunately on arrival I was greated by an extremely long queue. The thought of waiting ages in this sweltering heat did not fill me with excitement but fortunately the queue started to move quite quickly. The crossing fare was a mere 50 shillings but to pay, you had to ride up an elevated ramp with a steep drop the other side before rejoining the queue in a very small area which caused caos and a free for all getting onto the ferry for the 10min crossing.
For some reason there were signs on the ferry saying no filming or pictures.Needless to say whilst on the boat I thought it would be a great photo opportunity and within seconds of producing my camera from my rucksack I was reprimanded by the ferry security....whoops!
After leaving the ferry the route to Diani only took 20 mins but looking at the outside temperature it was reading 35 degrees. I was now looking at the locals on their motorbikes riding in T shirts and shorts with no helmet and feeling envious, so arriving at my destination, Diani Backpacker that had a pool with a bar, couldn’t have come any sooner.
I entered the complex through tight security and was shown to my accommodation...a wooden hut and with in 5 mins I had changed into my buggy smugglers and was in the pool with a beer.
And then a 5 min walk down to Diani beach....
Bliss!! .....Time to relax for a couple of days.
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