Tamarind

Megan and I left Takaungu yesterday afternoon. Her flight left this morning from Mombasa and we had arranged to stay with a friend from school who happens to be in a flat in Mombasa during the school break.  Seeing Marta and having a chance to tell her all about our adventures - and hear what she's been doing - alleviated some of the sadness Megan and I both felt as we drove away from TK.  We also had plans to go to the Tamarind Restaurant, reputed to have the best seafood in all of Africa.

 

We set off for the restaurant early as we've all become accustomed to an early bedtime.  It was a short walk from Marta's flat and we were seated outside the bar, looking across the river to the island of Mombasa.  The setting was absolutely beautiful and we felt like cosmopolitan women of the world as we watched the sun set and sipped our surprisingly good house wine.  The waiter brought us 'snacks' with our wine - fried plantain and taro chips and roasted peanuts.  We ordered the food and then enjoyed the complimentary "small bites" - fried prawns, baked oysters with cheese and a lovely cheese tapanade on toasts.  I'd love to recount each of our dishes in great detail - we all shared bites and tasted appetizers and entress - but I couldn't possibly do it justice.

 

As dinner progressed the restaurant began to fill up and a band, consisting of a guy on a keyboard and another on guitar, serenaded us with terrible songs from the 80's.  A second bottle of wine, dessert and coffee later we left the restaurant and discovered the meal had taken almost four hours.

 

It was a wonderful experience, the food topped only by the conversation about Kenya and our lives here and at home.  I almost wished that I was leaving with Megan so that it could be my last meal in Africa as well.  But...I have one more adventure before I board my plane.