Lamu - sailing

Tuesday was our last day in Lamu. We hired a dhow, i.e. a sail boat, no engine, just wind power, for most of the day. It was the two of us and a crew of 4 (they need a few people moving around their weight and managing the sail, etc.) The whole idea of sailing in any direction when the wind blows only one way seems like magic to me, and it was very neat to see these guys maneuver the dhow. Wind is good around Lamu, so we were moving quite fast.
First we stopped to fish our lunch. After an hour we figured that we were not going to catch anything, so we headed to a beach in an island called Manda, just opposite to Lamu. The crew found a shade on the beach where they cooked lunch consisting of rice, vegetables, and a couple of small fish that they had bought in the market in case we didn't catch anything (thank God there was a plan B). After lunch, swimming, and just resting in the shade because it was hot, we headed back to Lamu. The beach was very nice, but the highlight of the experience was the sail boat.
That night we went to a restaurant to try swahili food, which has quite a bit of Indian influence, e.g., samosas, chapati, bismati, pilau.
On Thursday we took a 1pm bus, which we almost missed. This is what happened: the bus departs from the terminal on the mainland; to get there passengers take a 30-minute boat from Lamu. Somehow, the boat left without us and everybody was trying to convince us to take a speed boat, instead, that cost 10 times more. We didn't like that idea. Finally, we crammed ourselves on a slow boat with locals, and arrived at the mainland at 5' past 1pm. We barely reached the bus before it left, but we were scolded by the driver and received angry looks from the passengers for being late. Geeeh, 5' late! They don't give you such a hard time even in European trains. I guess everybody really wanted us to spend the money on the speed boat. Well, we dodged that bullet. The cost: we were seated at the back on a seat that jumped twice as much with every pothole, and our luggage was stored in the compartment that got all the dust from the road. When we took it out, we couldn't recognize it, it had a thick layer of dust. Yeah, the first couple of hours was a dusty road (outside and inside the bus). It was one of those rides where we didn't want to smile, to avoid ending up with black teeth. After 6 hours of heat and potholes we arrived to Mombasa. Dirty, but relieved.
I thought they were a Thai exclusivity, but I was wrong: Mombasa has tuk-tuks, the cheapest means of transportation. It's even called 'tuk-tuk'. We took one to our hotel, the New Palm Tree, near the city center. Best thing about the hotel: it has hot water, yeah! To finish the day, we had dinner in a nice Indian restaurant. We deserved a treat.
Unfortunately, I have to report that I have a cold. Can't understand where I caught it. I guess I'll take it easy today, I should feel better by tomorrow. Everything else is 'sawa'.
I've tried to attach a picture of Lamu's jetty, let's see if it gets uploaded. Mercedes