Tamarind Dhow Cruise

 March 21, 2025

"Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven't done a thing. You are just talking." ~ Wangari Maathai, Kenyan author

On our last day in Kenya, we boarded a small craft for a leisurely river cruise around the island where Mombasa is located. While we sailed around, we were serenaded by the Twinstar Band, a very tasty ensemble with a talented stylist for their lead vocalist, a good guitarist and "dirty bone" saxophone player. I thoroughly enjoyed them while we ate lunch on board with our friends Jerry and Heidi, and our new friend, Jean. We had a choice of either steak or seafood. (Since the seafood came with eyes intact, I was glad to have asked for beef!) 

It was an altogether refreshing and decadently pleasurable time.

We saw Ft. Jesus, which we had toured, from the water. Even though it's more than 500 years old, it's still an imposing edifice. We also saw how the wealthy in Mombasa live. Their homes and resorts are stretched along lovely beaches. 

Of course, often there will be a miserable shantie squatting nearby along the water's edge. You'll see photos of some of them in the DH's montage. The contrast between have's and have not's is stark. One of our guides told us 80% of the residents of Mombasa must choose between a home/apartment with water or with electricity. They likely can't afford both. 

And some can afford neither. 

Before we left for this trip, I watched an informative talk by Thomas Sowell about why Africa has been slow in development compared to the rest of the world. It has huge mineral wealth and amazing biodiversity. Africa is second to Asia in population, so they are blessed with a young average workforce. Our guides have all been articulate and clearly blessed with bright and thoughtful minds. I'm sure they are not in the minority. 

So why has Africa lagged behind every other continent on the planet?

Sowell blames geography. Africa has 16,000 miles of coastline, but very few natural harbors because the whole continent is on a higher shelf than the others. So they didn't benefit from trade that flourished earlier elsewhere. It has no year round navigable rivers other than the Nile, and even that is subject to low and high season. This minimized the ability of trade to take place from one side of the continent to the other. And therefore, it limited communication from one tribe to another. If you have no shared language, you can't work together. 

One of our lecturers onboard is an engineer. He prides himself on his ability to solve problems. However, after living and working in Nairobi, he confesses he has no idea how to fix the problems facing Kenya right now. 

I'm both painfully and gratefully aware that we are blessed beyond measure. This excursion on the Tamarind Dhow was both restful to my body, and a cause of unrest to my spirit. And I'm not satisfied to shake my head and say, oh what a shame when I think of the conditions I saw during my short visit to Kenya, things I couldn't bring myself to photograph but can't expunge from my mind's eye.

But when we get home, I plan to look into ways to do something.  "S", our favorite guide in Mombasa, mentioned the tangible good things done by Oxfam in his country. 

That may be a good place to start.