Mombasa, Kenya

I'm on my last day in Mombasa, and have really been enjoying the beach and multiple pools of my resort - bug, coral, and cloud free, unlike Zanzibar. The Whitesands is a really big resort, and does in fact have four pools (I spend my time in the "silent zone" adult pool...there are lots of families here) and several restaurants (but breakfast and dinner buffets are included, always with a heavy Indian representation. Still trying to figure out if Swahili food is very similar to Indian food, or if they are just catering to the large number of Indian tourists here. Either way I have discovered some new favorites.) The beach is 10 km long, and safe to walk on except for the annoying people selling things or trying to convert you to one religion or another. I'm getting a ton of reading done - working my way through Mandela's autobiography in preparation for the approaching South Africa leg of my trip. Not much other news to report....today's breakfast was Swahili themed and I tried a wrap made of rice flour and fried really thin like a crispy crepe and filled with potato masasla with coconut chutney on the side. I have been living as much as possible on tomatoes, mangos, papaya, and pineapple. The mangos especially are amazing. The people are really nice, but keep asking me if I'm okay when everything is totally fine. Beginning to think Frances Frei might have been onto something when she told me I had a bad resting state face the first day of class at HBS.

Oh also I saw my first man with his bellybutton pierced. Pretty sure he was straight. Europeans.

Tomorrow I spend the day traveling to Cape Town. Cross your fingers all my connections go okay. First it's to Nairobi, then Johannesburg and then into Cape Town after 11pm. Expecting it to be cold and rainy there - below zero at night. And so ends the hot, beachy part of Africa. Luckily I have maximized my tan...hopefully it lasts until I make it home in a month!