Day 30 (Sun, 6 Aug) - Mombasa and Lamu

Woke up to a torrential downpour!

Had an early breakfast and met our taxi driver Nicholas (on time).

Set off for Malindi airport. As we drove the damp weather slowly brightened.

Arrived at Malindi airport at 10am; quite early for a flight leaving at 12:40pm.

We sat in the small terminal building, sweating profusely, people watching. Sometimes we are embarrassed to be British!

Got on a small, twin engined plane (Saab 9540, for those of you that are interested) and zipped over to Lamu in a little over 35 minutes.

The airport at Lamu seemed very laid back. Baggage reclaim was simply a big concrete block, on which our bags where dumped having been transported from the plane by a hand cart.

We were a little unsure of how we were to get to our hotel from the airport but luckily we spotted a chap carrying a sign for our hotel, the New Palace Hotel.

We met David, from the hotel, who led us to our little boat that would take us to the hotel. We traveled for 20 mins across the still water to our hotel.

The hotel is right on the waterfront, it reminds us of the hotel we stayed in in Venice. It looks very old, has exposed beams and a distinct Arabian feel. The hotel forecourt is dominated by low divans covered in large comfortable cushions.

Our room is small but very comfortable. Most of the space is taken up by the large 4 poster bed.

We had a couple of drinks and a little nap.

After our power nap we went for a little walk along the busy harbour front. Seems an incredibly peaceful, laid back and friendly place.