Forever Unforgettable - Kenya Watamu + Lamu

After only 3 months since last time we decide to return to that unique country that is Kenya and embrace our great friend Thomas again. We book only a KLM flight via Amsterdam and Nairobi, but travelling at night it doesn't weigh on us, landing in Mombasa early in the morning. Next time we'll go via Nairobi and from there a low-cost Fly540 flight that arrives directly in Malindi; from Malindi to Watamu the journey is much shorter! We rent a room at the Beach View Apartments, in the heart of Watamu. The sea is about 200 m away, in the direction of Isola dell'Amore (Lovers' Island); we like walking the streets of the town so it's perfect. The room (the structure also has apartments that are rented out for long periods) is modest, with a large bed with a mosquito net and a bathroom, but for us it's fine; we're never there during the day, we come back at the end of the day to sleep.

Outside the room there's a nice terrace where we relax, read, enjoy the Kenyan breeze. Plus a pool, barbecue and kind, helpful staff. All at a very low price! At breakfast lots of fresh fruit, delicious! Our friend Thomas isn't there for the first few days; he's away on a 7-day safari organised departing from Nairobi, for some Italian young people who turned out to be very nice and who, they too, are won over by his friendliness and total reliability. This year we're not doing a safari and, seizing the opportunity of our freedom, we decide to go to LAMU. Our other very dear Kenyan friend Filippo, friend and business partner of Thomas, organises everything perfectly for us: Fly540 flight (the alternative is overland but we don't fancy taking about 5 h to get there), 20 minutes and we arrive at Manda airport (calling it an airport makes me smile!).

On arrival Juma is waiting for us, a very nice lad who was at our disposal for all 3 days that we stayed. With a 5-minute speedboat ride we reach the island of Lamu; how hot it is! Lamu is a total hive of people, goods being unloaded and loaded from the boats that pile up along the seafront, and it's beautiful and fascinating to watch all those scenes of real life. Our house takes our breath away, it's so beautiful; it's called 'Baytulkher', in Italian 'house of blessings'. It's a house with 4 rooms each lovelier than the last, Arab style, with the central part open to the sky, and the rooftop room is something spectacular! All completed by a jacuzzi and bright common areas, where you breathe a fascinating Arab atmosphere.

With Juma we visit Lamu, very beautiful; it's very hot but you can't help being fascinated by this place where time seems to have stopped, where there are no cars, only donkeys, which are the only means of transport for people and goods. In the evening we go to eat, on Juma's recommendation, at the 'restaurant' Olympic, where Sahid is immediately friendly and pleasant. On the 2nd day we go to Manda island, a paradise you reach with a 10-minute speedboat ride and where we seem to be the owners of the beach, gigantic, of a very particular reddish colour, and there too the local people we meet leave an indelible memory in us. We have something to eat and drink at the Diamond Beach Village, an eco resort where the treehouse catches our attention.

Here Combo, who works at the eco resort, wins us over with little and asks us not to forget him when we go back home! Juma and the captain come to pick us up at the end of the day; for dinner we return to the Olympic, where we savour 2 fabulous Lamu crabs accompanied by lots of other delicious things! Unfortunately our days in Lamu are over, and a bit sad but extremely satisfied with our experience we return to Watamu. We arrive in the afternoon and relax on our terrace. Suddenly a mega surprise: Thomas is back from the safari and has come to say hello. What a joy to see him! During the day Massy and I stroll around Watamu, meeting all our friends, who can hardly believe that after such a short time since October we're still there. Mr Blu, Salvatore, Pantani, Isaac, Calamaro, Shaggy, Diecimila and many other lads keep us company.

Mr Blu with his kindness, his very curly hair, with whom we went on the blue safari in October; Salvatore, a special person, of an almost embarrassing professionalism, with perfect Italian, very tall; Pantani, with his wonderful smile; Isaac, extremely polite, the author of our ebony plaque that we hung outside our front door at home in Rome; Calamaro, a real discovery of friendliness and affection; Shaggy, the dancer, always with his little black cap, who dances always on the wonderful beach where you always find him (in front of the Aquarius hotel); Diecimila, a somewhat particular acquaintance, who also does social work (so he tells us). But one above all, Thomas, who took us to see his 3 splendid grandchildren again, Bella, Sienna and Anthony, who go to school in the morning and play outside their house in the afternoon.

Their wonder at seeing us again is indescribable; they throw themselves on us, filling our hearts with immense joy, seeing that, despite the enormous difficulties, they're doing well, they smile and ask us a thousand questions. They've grown, they're beautiful, and we make with them the unbreakable promise that we'll do everything we can to help them grow up well, to study, to build a future for themselves. We have dinner all together at the Ascot Residence, Italian-owned, where we eat well but which we declare to be a place where, at least Massy and I, we would never stay: too much luxury, comfort, too much Italian atmosphere. But the children, together with their little friend Patrick, are happy and for us that's what matters. The next day we meet Rita and Alberto, who were with Thomas on the safari.

They tell us about the wonders they saw and experienced: all the animals, the many photos taken and the places where they slept. Always with Thomas, they went deep-sea fishing, managing to catch some fabulous fish, eaten in the evening in an African restaurant near Blue Bay. After dinner Massy and I meet Mr Blu and Calamaro who want to say goodbye because tomorrow is our last day in Watamu. We exchange emails, the promise to stay in touch and not to forget one another, waiting to see each other again in a few months. On the last day it's 38°, there's no wind, it's suffocatingly hot. Thomas takes us to the coral reef of 'our' beach thanks to the low tide, and there too so many emotions: starfish, rocks shaped by the wind and the sea, moray eels, sea urchins, fish of every colour! We arrange to meet Thomas in the evening, when he'll take us to Mombasa airport for departure.

In the evening we have dinner with an excellent 'choma' at the little places along the road in Watamu, where, there too, we make friends with lots of very nice people and eat very well for very few shillings. And then, as every evening, we have an excellent coffee in a 'bar' along the road where a young man from Watamu always welcomes us with a fantastic smile. Thomas comes to pick us up at 23:00 and suddenly we realise that our stay in Kenya is over this time too. We say goodbye to Thomas with tears in our eyes (this time in the true sense of the word); our friendship is great, real, authentic, without any reservation, and we're sure it will be forever.

Kwaheri Kenya, tutaonana tena, asante sana; once again we return with so much melancholy inside us but with so much happiness at having deepened and enlarged even more our love for a land with many past, present and probably future difficulties, but which each time doesn't hold back in giving you so much, in welcoming you with open arms, in making you fall in love.

+254****4392