#mvuvi

[u2ncb]

Tell Me by Wonder Girls

[instantwonderer-blog]

Watamu in bites, n.10: do not book more than a couple of nights, you have never been to that place, how could you know whether you like it or not.

This post is more for myself. I met so many travellers, and every time I asked them, they said they stayed a couple of days, one or two. They never book more than some nights. And they are right. Do not worry about finding a place! Today, there are not anymore overbooked places, there is always a better and/or cheaper option. Book some nights and if you decide to stay longer, after 2 days you already know the place so much better, made connections and friends to find another place.  

At day 4, after my “amazing” boat trip, I was just sick and tired of Watamu. I could not afford any more park entrance fees to go snorkeling alone (now that I understood how it worked). I could not take anymore the Watamu tourism style and beachboyz. I could not spend a single night more in Mvuvi chatting with the owner everyday who repeats: “I wish I could help you more”. So, I decided to change my last 50 usd to pay my room, check out and go to Malindi. By the time I got back to Mvuvi it was 4 pm, the owner kindly agreed to let me go but he told me that I still have to pay that night since it was after check-out time. As understanding as usual. He really cares about only his money, unbelievable (or not, and I am living on a rainbow). Well, no luck, I could not afford to pay my room in Watamu and going to Malindi paying another room there for the same night… so, I stayed that night and left next morning.

Finally, it was such a relief.

[instantwonderer-blog]

Watamu in bites, n. 6: Am I living in an Utopia (side note)?

Probably, I am asking too much from a service provider but if someone comes to you in clear difficulty with a limited budget and your place is beyond  his/hers financial means, would it be an utopia to expect the owner to say: “Hey, you can leave your backpack here, there are cheaper options in town. Btw, one of them is just behind the corner. Go and check it out.” Would it be so much to ask people making a living of tourism to make sure that visitors have the best possible time according to their means and interest? Having just a tiny bit wider vision about long term tourism or local economy? If I do not spend all my money in your hotel, I will spend it on park fees, renting snorkelling gear and food enjoying my time instead of counting every dollar for a week just to pay my room.

Well, this was not the approach at Mvuvi. The owner was very happy about the idiot tourist falling from the sky without any booking in a damned season by the ebola panic.

[instantwonderer-blog]

Watamu in bites, Bite n.5: Mvuvi

Mvuvi is just in one parallel behind the beach (behind Oceans Sports), frangi-pangi trees in the street (I just love them) and a nice gate. The garden looked awesome. Not bad. It could be even a better idea than the tent thing – I thought.

I explained the owner my tiny difficulty: planned to stay in a tent, I did not bring much cash with me or a credit card. It was true: I left with 350 usd for one week: Mon-Sun travelling included. After the cab I had:  330 usd in my pocket.

Indeed, the place was way too expensive for me: 3000 KES (34 usd) per night without breakfast (with breakfast 3500).  I made a rough calculation: after having paid my room, I still had 18 usd for food. Fancy restaurants ruled out but not impossible.

The next GREAT news was coming: snorkelling is only possible in the marine park for some limited hours because of the tide and you HAVE TO PAY 20 USD park fee per day. Sigh!

I remade my calculation. If I want to snorkel at least twice, I need to save 40 usd… excellent: 12 usd for food! Yeah!  Call it a relaxing holiday! I immediately ruled out any restaurant or seafood. Volevi la bicicletta, ora pedala!

I asked if there was a market somewhere, negotiated a limited access to the kitchen to prepare my breakfast and I was pretty happy about the small pack of biscuits left from the plane. Two morning’s breakfast.

Plus, walking to reach Mvuvi, I did not see anything else than expensive resorts and a small rural Kenyan town with relative poverty… On the net, this was the second cheapest option… So, I settled. Not with ease, but I did. The room was nice.

Big mistake!

Don’t panic! Breath and take your time!

That’s what I did, I mean the panicking. I had no idea where I was, I had no guidebook or 3G on my phone. I was tired, it was hot… just wanted to get rid off my backpack and settle. So, I told the owner I would stay 6 nights and stay with 12 usd in my pocket per day.

Do not do this! Ever again!

Take your backpack, go to a restaurant with wifi, it will be expensive, but you can always afford a coffee and look for a cheaper place to stay. You can save much more money on 6 nights.

If it’s late, stay max. one night. Take a shower, rest and believe me you will see the world differently. Start looking for a new place. No need to put yourself into difficulty with a too expensive room and ruin your holidays. I was telling to myself: I do not want to loose valuable time of my short 5 complete day holidays by looking for accommodation. I was wrong; 5 days can become even too long if you commit somewhere you do not like. Or at least for me, I could get a stroke in such a situation.