Did you know it is a Kenyan tradition to go to the beach on January 1? Now that is a tradition worth keeping around – dress up and come to the beach for a day. Forget your troubles, walk the shore, swim. Have a picnic. Camp.  Carloads of people came to Twiga from nearby Mombasa to do all that. And now one can take the Nairobi-to-Mombasa train, that’s a popular service, and drive the short distance to Diani or Tiwi beaches.  At the end of the first day of the new year, hundreds of Kenyans were walking up and down the shore dressed in fantastically colored robes and scarves and perfecting an already perfect scene.The color combinations were glorious – as bright and neon as the fish in the tide pools. It was a sight to behold. A full moon shone on us all on and now, today, nearly everyone is gone.

It is day twenty-two of our anchorage on this shoreline. We drove in and parked and haven’t moved camp since. Along with our neighbors, Gustav and Nancy, we are the only campers taking advantage of the unobstructed view camping on the sand affords. Gustav regularly camps at Twiga – he and Nancy have children. Imagine being a seven-year old boy and spending days on end at the beach. Yes. Some campers and picnickers we visited with have been coming to Twiga for years. One motorcycle group was ending a 37-year stint of basing at Twiga for the holidays; they drove away for the very last time a couple of days ago. Several big overland tours have come and gone. They park down the way from us, back in the trees and we wouldn’t even know they were there but for the visual. One of my favorite camp supporters is Abdul the fruit seller who comes by with his bicycle basket full of apple mangos, pineapple and whatnot. He has been doing this for 25+ years. Fish sellers offer the freshest catch and they will filet it for you right now. Coconuts carved into darling little monkeys are the curio rage – Gustav tells us the coconut animals change every year. If I could think of a place to hang it I would buy one. Or two. There are trees behind the beach that form a dark shady canopy for monkeys, birds and campers. There is a stupendous baobab tree smack in the middle of camp. Just down the shore is a little restaurant where if (when) you finally tire of lukewarm beer, you can get a cold one from the bar. The camp staff does a remarkable job keeping things clean considering there are people and monkeys to tidy up after.

Gustav and Nancy invited us to celebrate New Year’s Eve with them and their friends; Gustav procured a huge white snapper fish plus a local chef to prepare it. Those delectable apple mangos made a salad, Pauline made her famous calamari, cardamon sweet potatoes in coconut milk rounded out the menu and for dessert Jim and I baked a chocolate cake and a vanilla cake. There were no leftovers. Of anything. Happy New Year.