My worst memory of Mombassa was the day we hired a boat to take us to the reef. A respectable looking guy approached us on the beach and offered to take us on a tour of the reef. I was keen on doing some snorkelling so we arranged to go that afternoon. We had mistakenly thought he was the official hotel boat operator but when we eventually found him it was at a different booking office. No matter, he seemed a decent chap and the boat looked OK. The price was right, and he'd agreed to take us to a good snorkelling site first, then on to the reef. On arrival at our first destination he dropped anchor, sorry, I mean he threw over a piece of rope, just long enough to reach the bottom, with a rock tied to it. The snorkelling was great so we stayed there longer than the other boats to get a less crowded look.
When we arrived at the reef, most of the other boats were departing for shore. The boatman pulled alongside one of the few remaining boats and started chatting, we soon reallised that he was negotiating to buy fuel from him. Here we were, about half a mile from shore, with insufficient fuel to get us back. The guy couldn't afford to buy fuel until we had paid him, and so was banking on this deal. He did manage to buy some, so we continued with our reef walk without too much dismay. By the time we got back to the boat, we were the only ones there. It was about 5.30 pm and it doesn't get dark until about 6.30 in August, but we needed to return without too much delay. When the boat didn't start first time we were not too concerned. After twenty attempts, when he started removing the spark plug, we did start to worry. I watched his attempts at fault finding and became quite concerned at the state of the engine, particularly as the tide was now rising. He declared that he was going to swim to shore for assistance, but there was no way we were allowing that. There were two non-swimmers in the boat and no life jackets - if anyone was swimming for the shore it would be me - the safety of his passengers meant much more to me than they did to him. The light was fading and I knew that the situation could get even more serious in the time needed to go for help, so I decided to have one go at sorting his engine before swimming for it.
After carfully cleaning and drying the plug and lead I finally got the engine running with the occasional cough and splutter. The journey back to the beach was extremely tense, the engine got worse but we were reluctant to stop it. At one stage the waves were overtaking us, but at least we were still getting closer to land. As soon as we got into chest deep water, the four of us disembarked and left him to his own devices.
There were other incidents to bring concern, but we still returned from Mombassa with many pleasant memories. The one day safari to Tsavo East park was surprisingly good, it was a very long day but extremely rewarding. The trip to Malindi was also good, if not for Malindi itself, but for the intermediate destinations. The Mombassa Beach Hotel was pleasant and the food was out of this world. Five course breakfast, elevenses, five course lunch, afternoon tea, seven course dinner and late supper guarantees that the planes carry more weight on their return journeys. On that note, remember that even shells taken from the beach are likely to be seized by customs when you arrive home - they require an export license.
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