A Kenyan Road Trip - Nairobi to Watamu

After a few days of jet lag recovery, tent-living adjustment, introductions to friends, and trying to get my bearings, it was agreed that the Kenyan branch of the Fusco family tree would stage the largest family vacation since 1983 in Acapulco, Mexico. Discussions between Sue, Liz, and Kaila concluded with a decision that a visit to the small coastal town of Watamu was in order.


As if 60 days and nearly 15,000 miles of driving around North America weren't enough, getting to Watamu would involve a road trip like no other. We started out at a very dark and early 5:30 AM, collected Kaila and headed Southeast from Nairobi, along the Mombassa road. As the morning light began to expose the landscape, we noticed the fog had yet to burn off, wrapping the lowlands like a blanket.


Our route took us past the Chuylu Hills where, in the distance, we were able to catch a glimpse of Mt. Kilamanjaro's snow capped peak. Along the way, we also saw zebra by the roadside, camels roaming the flats, and even elephant at the edge of Tsavo East National Park! It would appear as though my luck is good as it is very rare to spot elephant this close to the road.



Along the way, Sue elected to impart her current tree studies on Kaila and me. Fortunately for us both, we generally ignored her random outbursts of latin and frantic pointing out the truck window. One tree that did stand out was the Baobab, as local lore has it that God planted them upside down:


After about 6 hrs on the fairly good (all things relative) Mombassa Road, we turned off onto a rutted rust red clay road that would represent both a shortcut and the off-road trial stage of our trip. This would be no place for the Audi TT. But Sue's Land Cruiser handled it with ease despite her best efforts to run us and others off the goat trail generously referred to as a road. After nearly 2 hours of bumpy turns, climbs, and dips we found pavement once again for the final run into Watamu and the warm welcome of our rented home on the Indian Ocean coast.