We’re in Galu Beach, Kenya for the holidays. We’re in a quiet part of town. The beach feels so low key. Endless white powder sand and twinkly water. An occasional guy dressed sort of like a Maasai (I think) trying to sell bracelets from a stick. It’s a short walk to the beach from our place. We walk past a row of corrugated metal stores (clearly not targeting tourists) and a dirt road with gorgeous cascading flowering plants from all directions. Mostly bougainvillea.
It feels like real Kenya versus a resort town, despite all the resorts in the area ;) Some are actually abandoned and overgrown, right on the beach. It’s a vibe. Monkey lords take over when humans check out.
We have a pool at our place and the “yes, swim” policy is in place. That is, if Hazel asks me to swim the answer is “yes”. This was inspired by my brother Bruce’s approach to lake life on Vancouver Island. After swimming a million times the first two days I have to refine the policy to “yes, swim, and one yes after 6pm” :) This modified policy was quickly broken the next day when Hazel convinced me to swim twice after 6pm. We have invented so many games and stunts with our two mighty pool toys. A beach ball and a toddler frog which is now a frog ring since we cut out the toddler leg holes. These were Hazel’s Christmas presents. Imported from China. The writing on the package was in Mandarin :) so all I knew was I was buying an inflatable frog. I had no idea it was sized for four year olds.
It is HOT. We are adjusting to it. And adapting. Our place has AC so our chilled sanctuary is always waiting. We’ve had some long slow lunches at beachside restaurants which are a bit few and far between at our sleepy end of the beach. Always an ocean breeze. Love it.
The kitchen has all the gear for Justin to do magic. He has been cooking up a storm with his two kitchen helpers. OK, three. I’ll count myself since I’m the Chief Dishwasher (even though there is an actual dishwasher). The beds are the most comfortable since we left home. Hazel talks about them with reverence and awe. The living room couch is also the best since we left home. It is all lending itself to some great family time. We had a very low key Christmas.
I thought we’d get a jump on homeschool here. After all, we’re here for a while in this chill, comfortable place. So far it is not the case. We haven’t even logged into Fourth Grade anything since we got here. Culture, Beach and Swim class are in full session and crowding out Math and Language Arts ;) We are doing a good job at Beach. Ken (i.e. Barbie’s Ken) would be proud.
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