TDY Gouge - Kenya

Mombasa, Kenya - Travellers Beach Hotel was nice. Stayed in Mombasa for two nights, awesome place, definitely a recommend. The primary place you will get set up by the Embassy Rep there is the White Sands Resort, which is even better. We drank there and went to take pictures, but they were full so we stayed at the next hotel over (Travellers Beach Hotel), which was great. $85/night which included breakfast and dinner. A good place to hang out is about a 400 shilling($5) cab ride away is Pemba Disco. Safe for Americans, but watch yourselves around some of the clientele. For shopping, go to the Akamba Wood Factory. Only about 10 mins from the airport, and it is where all the beach vendors buy their stuff wholesale, and you can walk around all the huts and take pictures of the workers doing all the carving. There are two stores in the compound. One is for tourists, and one is for wholesale, which they will not let everyone into, and definitely won't tell you about unless you ask. If you tell them you work with the American Embassy that should help get you in. Either way, the prices are 1/3 of the tourist store, but are sold by different vendors, and prices aren't negotiable.

Nairobi, Kenya - Nairobi Serena hotel was a Palace! (254-2-)725111 The hotel is very nice with internet access in every room. It has 24 hour room service and the resturant is open most of the day. Breakfast is free if you include it in the price of the room. For other places to eat they have the Carnivour which has really good food. Numerous cafes all over Nairobi. They have plenty of bars around. One place called Florida 2000 is all hookers and maybe a place to avoid. The best place we found was the Pavement. Awesome place filled with peace corp and embassy people. We rented two vans with drivers and they took us around 24 hours a day. Crime is very bad here, recommend geting a taxi or a van on the outings. The drivers hooked us up with places to go and see and places to avoid. The vans were about $100 a day but worth it. They have open markets every Tues and Fri to get your African trinkets. A lot of haggling but good price. Great place to visit for a few days