by Shyam Gokarn

Created on: January 11, 2010

Travel experiences: Adventures into the unknown.

Niki and myself got married after our two years of wildlife adventures.

We had a new feeling and the idea of finding some way to escape from our daily grinding to some remote place. Normally, December is the month of celebrations of various kinds and hues. And nestled in this gorgeous season, is a treat of a musical performance by some virtuous performers. The obvious place we could find was Mombasa.

Mombasa, the second largest city in Kenya, is the centre of the coastal tourism industry. By the side of the Indian Ocean, this hot steamy fascinating coast line, is at a distance of about 600 km from Nairobi.

The original Arabic name is Manbasa. In Swahili language, it is called Kisiwa Cha Mvita or Mvita in short, which means "Island of War." There have been many changes in its ownership. It is separated from the mainland by two creeks; Tudor Creek and Kilindini Harbor.

One late evening, we were having dinner in a Mombasa Resort, watching locals dancing on the Taarab music, which originates from Zanzibar, has a prominent local presence. It followed by hip hop, reggae played in succession. Suddenly, we got a phone call from Nairobi informing that Niki’s cousin is unwell and has been hospitalized.

We had no choice but to take road route to Nairobi as there was no flight after 7.30 p.m. My friend Harish, who was in our group, with his brother, kindly agreed to take us in his car as he had to meet some important foreign delegates back in Nairobi next day morning.

We all understand that, in life, we have to be careful with respect to our health and security. We normally put the best foot forward to avoid expected dangers. We care for our safety together with the security of the people around us.

However, Harry was different. He preferred to invite dangers with strangers and rejoiced playing with it, and took innumerable pleasure in coming out of it. He was casual in accepting and playing with dangers while staying as cool as cucumber.

Once, in a restaurant, while having dinner with four of his friends, he tossed one fried chicken piece in the direction of the adjoining table, where three boys and three girls were having dinner. The piece went flying and landed right in the middle of their table. Harry got up and said to one girl in that group, ‘Try this one from me, much better than what you guys are having.’

A fight was about to start if not for the waiter who saw the commotion and came to their risk.

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