One day while in Mombasa we took a day to visit the town to see the places Mom grew up in. We had to take a ferry to get off Mombasa Island and to the main town. As we were waiting to drive on Anjum Masi was telling us how at times the engine would break down and the ferry would float for hours before getting fixed. A few minutes after we boarded, the engine stopped! What a coincidence! About a half hour later another ferry came next to us and literally pushed us towards shore! A few minutes before we reached the engine magically turned on again. It was hilarious.
Our first stop was the Aga Khan Academy, which had been built after Mom had left but was worth a tour. The campus had a primary and secondary school. It was the nicest school I had ever seen – so nice even I would go back to high school! They had everything – an outside auditorium, a huge field for sports, a gym, etc. etc.
The next stop was Mom’s primary school – the Aga Khan primary school. Which was exactly the same as when she attended it. We got to see the very same classroom that she sat in. We then went to see her secondary school – the Aga Khan secondary school. Both Anjum Masi and her attended this school and it was really nice to see how happy they were to visit it again together. We also saw the nursery school which was next door to it where they all attended, including Sameer and Kamal.
The next stop was one of the homes that Mom lived in which was converted in to a nursery school so we were lucky enough to go inside. Although it was renovated, Mom still remembers which room was hers and what it had looked like before. We even saw the famous mango tree that she used to climb – which was now much taller than when she played on it over 40 years ago!
We then headed to the Manji Villa, which was built in 1958 by Mom’s father and his brothers. It still looked exactly the same, except 50 years older! Mom told us she always believed the house was built for her since it was made in the year she was born (sorry Mom, gave your age away!). We weren’t able to go inside but it was still really cool to be able to see where Mom was born and lived for many years of her childhood.
Then we walked through Old Town Mombasa. It looked like a small European city with narrow pathways in which you couldn’t drive and cute little buildings and shops everywhere. We saw the port, which had been used for over a thousand years! We also saw Fort Jesus.
We met the rest of the family for dinner at a place called Mubin’s. It was a hole in the wall and you could only sit outside, but it had the most delicious mishkaki, kebabs, and fries. Then we were off to a restaurant called Yul’s (back on the island) to have their famous homemade ice cream. Delicious.
Then, randomly, I bumped in to my friend Nadim! What a small world.
The rest of the trip consisted mostly of us relaxing by the pool or on the beach. One night we ate at a beautiful restaurant on the beach called Nomad’s.
On the way back we dropped Masi’s parents off at their home in Makupa flats – where is an all-Ismaili complex. We laughed while we looked through all her old albums and saw pictures of Mom, Dad, the Masi’s, and our cousins when they were little.
Our first stop was the Aga Khan Academy, which had been built after Mom had left but was worth a tour. The campus had a primary and secondary school. It was the nicest school I had ever seen – so nice even I would go back to high school! They had everything – an outside auditorium, a huge field for sports, a gym, etc. etc.
The next stop was Mom’s primary school – the Aga Khan primary school. Which was exactly the same as when she attended it. We got to see the very same classroom that she sat in. We then went to see her secondary school – the Aga Khan secondary school. Both Anjum Masi and her attended this school and it was really nice to see how happy they were to visit it again together. We also saw the nursery school which was next door to it where they all attended, including Sameer and Kamal.
The next stop was one of the homes that Mom lived in which was converted in to a nursery school so we were lucky enough to go inside. Although it was renovated, Mom still remembers which room was hers and what it had looked like before. We even saw the famous mango tree that she used to climb – which was now much taller than when she played on it over 40 years ago!
We then headed to the Manji Villa, which was built in 1958 by Mom’s father and his brothers. It still looked exactly the same, except 50 years older! Mom told us she always believed the house was built for her since it was made in the year she was born (sorry Mom, gave your age away!). We weren’t able to go inside but it was still really cool to be able to see where Mom was born and lived for many years of her childhood.
Then we walked through Old Town Mombasa. It looked like a small European city with narrow pathways in which you couldn’t drive and cute little buildings and shops everywhere. We saw the port, which had been used for over a thousand years! We also saw Fort Jesus.
We met the rest of the family for dinner at a place called Mubin’s. It was a hole in the wall and you could only sit outside, but it had the most delicious mishkaki, kebabs, and fries. Then we were off to a restaurant called Yul’s (back on the island) to have their famous homemade ice cream. Delicious.
Then, randomly, I bumped in to my friend Nadim! What a small world.
The rest of the trip consisted mostly of us relaxing by the pool or on the beach. One night we ate at a beautiful restaurant on the beach called Nomad’s.
On the way back we dropped Masi’s parents off at their home in Makupa flats – where is an all-Ismaili complex. We laughed while we looked through all her old albums and saw pictures of Mom, Dad, the Masi’s, and our cousins when they were little.
No comments:
Post a Comment