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I found this while looking through old files. This is how I used to write.
Bon Journal
Lamu, 29 March 2000
Lamu Island. Kenya.
First impressions - just what I've been looking for -- one car and one truck. No other vehicles. So how do people get around?
Donkeys are the main mode of transport. There's even a donkey hospital! I can already feel my pace of life slowing down. I sense that 4 days and 3 nights will not be enough for this island.
I feel hot. It's 1 pm. Hope it cools down.
I am sitting in the rooftop restaurant waiting for my lunch. From this position I can see many top houses with no walls --- thatched roofs everywhere. The floor is matted.
My guide who fetched me from the airport told me there are no mosquitoes due to the wind. The streets are narrow between the stone houses. There are no street lamps to light the dark nights.
The hotel I'm staying at, below this rooftop restaurant, is next to the cat clinic. The cats howl all night long. So much for a peaceful night!
The crescent moon rose some time in the starry night. But two flies got trapped inside my mosquito net and kept me awake, alert, and very irritated. The sunrise came in full force at 6:30 am or earlier. By 7 am it was morning. I could feel the town waking up first by a call to prayer. There are 23 mosques on this tiny island in the east coast of Africa.
The donkey ride is a real treat. SSSSSSH to stop and HSSSSSS to go. Pull the rope to indicate slow down. I'm on a two yearl old male donkey. His owner (my guide) said that he hasn't been near a female for 38 days. If let loose, he would f**k as often as 5 times a day with any female donkey. These beasts of burden just accept their fate, even tempered slaves. But they could be as stubborn as anything.
This place is so out of this world. Yet there are island towns further north with even more bizarre characteristics --- no power, no running water. Imagine that in this day and age!
21 August 2004 Saturday
Related links:
analyticalQ travel stories
The Diary of Anne Ku - inspired by a safari in Kenya
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