BEYONDTRAVEL

INSIDE THOUGHTS ON PARADISE

[francescarr]

Beach Boy Conspiracy

Preparing for your trip to Kenya and Diani in specific you will probably be warned about the infamous Beach Boy Criminals. No kidding, read the comments on trip TripAdvisor, Wikipedia and so on: Beach Boys are the worst. 

What is a Beach Boy you’re wondering? Well, it is mostly young local males who for the most part don’t have any other source of income than to sell cheap jewelry, coconuts or even small excursions….sometimes also themselves to wealthy tourists.

Everyone in town will agree that they are a nuisance which disturbs the nice image Diani Beach wants to project to the world. It doesn’t matter whether you believe this or whether you are trying to find a more complex explanation for their existence, however, some theories about them are ridiculous.

I have been told by concerned citizens in all seriousness that beach boys are basically crime cartels, organized by some mysterious mob boss and actually trained in selling cheap coconut ashtrays to innocent visitors. Biggest outrage of it all? Apparently Beach Boys are not even REALLY poor but basically pretending to be.

Now, anyone who has ever been in the situation of having to decline the offer of purchasing said items will know that Beach Boys don’t give up easily especially if you try to stay friendly because you are frantically trying to avoid any racist resemblance. But to go as far as accusing any of those individuals of having received any professional training in sales from some sort of organized crime boss whatsoever is simply hilarious.

Well yes, it can be annoying to be interrupted on your beach walk. But if you don’t want your precious vacation in an all-inclusive five-star resort interrupted by poor looking local people here is my advice: don’t travel into development countries! I can assure you that you will have none of this nonsense on a beach in Sweden or California (without knowing for sure). And I bet that organized crime in Europe trains their personal way more efficient.

[francescarr]

Roads

[francescarr]

#visual #textsupport #dianibeach #ukunda

[francescarr]

Diani Beach vs. Ukunda? On the power of names.

When websites, travel guides or your grandparents (yes, they love their elderly people here) talk about Diani Beach they are mostly referring to a maybe 4 km stretch of road with hotels, cottages, restaurant, supermarkets,  clubs and beach resorts to your left and right. It looks and is perceived as a small town on the Indian Ocean, clean, friendly, safe - a kind of African Disneyland for tourists. 

Most visitors and white residents are somehow aware that here is another village somewhere with the name Ukunda but rarely have a clear idea of what that means. People will actually request guided village walks through Ukunda - that is how far curiosity goes.

Well, Ukunda ACTUALLY is the town that includes the beach fantasy road stretch mentioned called Diani Beach.  Diani Beach is one part of a much longer beach with many parts and names like Tiwi Beach or Galu Beach. 

So far so good, Ukunda and the Beach Road are in maybe 1km proximity to each other - connected by many small roads and one big one which leads straight from Paradise up to the real world. Although being officially one and the same town Ukunda and Diani could as well be on different galaxies. 

Ukunda is a vibrant local town  - busy, loud, hectic. But it definitely doesn’t fit the picture of what guests want to see or smell while drinking Gin Tonic on a magnificent beach. So tourists and white residents (with exceptions) don’t venture into the unknown a lot. Though every morning busloads of  locals will be transported to Diani Beach (clearly not for recreational purposes) to work in the hotels, cottages and so on. 

In the evening they are sent back home to Ukunda because not many Kenyan locals can actually afford to live on the Beach Road and so as not to disturb visitors. One part of the town (the majority) works for the other half and is at the same time totally dependent on those tourists to come. The other half depends on cheap and dispensable labor (can be let go in low season) to maintain those majestic resorts.

I will leave conclusions about this phenomenon to the reader but I can say that somehow white residents have managed  to completely disconnect the beach part of Ukunda from actual Ukunda - so far so that now the name Diani Beach gives the impression of a separate town altogether.

[francescarr]

REINVENTION ON TRAVEL BLOGGING?

So talking to a very close friend recently and she tells me that some girl from work has been starting a travel blog about her experience in Ethiopia.  Well, my friend did not necessarily think it was very interesting read.

This got me thinking: Is there really anything new to tell about travelling?          What hasn’t been told by hands on practical guides like Lonely Planet has been filterised by thousands of Instagram Users.                                                     They have swarmed out into the most remote destinations and we envy them for their seemingly never ending adventures in suspended pools, luxury glamping in the jungle and so on. I came to the conclusion that there is no reinventing Travel Blogging. We have exhausted every possible advice on where to stay, eat, dive, party, shop and whatever else you like to do on a trip. Insider tips become public knowledge in a matter of weeks. Thanks to Social  Media. Travel became Democratic (if you have cash).

Now, what is this about then? This is going to be various observations from behind the scenes. Lifting some veils of the tropical paradise I currently live at. And it is paradise......