Oct. 9

We flew from Nairobi to the town of Malindi, on the Kenyan coast, where we would be staying in our home exchange, "Ruby Hall" . This unusual home was built by Tom Savage and his architect friend, Tim, who live in the UK, and is named after Tom's grandmother, Ruby.  Tom had arranged for his driver, Boas, to meet us at the airport and drive us to Ruby Hall situated about 45 minutes from Malindi in the small village of Dabaso.

After driving on a rough gravel road for about ten minutes, we turned onto a dirt road, drove through the village and then arrived at Ruby Hall. The home, situated on a 1 acre plot, is surrounded by palm trees and fronted by mangroves, which fringe the huge tidal lagoon of Mida Creek. Tom and Tim’s aim in building Ruby Hall was to create a sustainable paradise, and to develop and inhabit the land in a way to try to create a positive impact, both socially and environmentally. They certainly were successful in their endeavors.

We were met by Joseph, the housekeeper and cook, and Morris, the handyman, gardener and the person who would lovingly wash, dry and fold our laundry during our stay . The home was elegant in its simplicity, the main portion housing a huge open dining and sitting area, a compact kitchen and one of the three bedrooms.   The other two bedrooms, each with a full bathroom, were located in a separate tower accessed by a spiral staircase. We chose the bedroom on the top with a spectacular view of the lagoon as well as a rooftop deck where we could watch the dramatic sunsets and the villagers coming and going and playing soccer in the fields below.

After settling in and indulging in a wonderful lunch, prepared and served to us by Joseph, we took a stroll through the small village, filled with crude huts, chickens, goats, cats and dogs, running free, and adorable little children singing out greetings to us. Towards the end of the village, we walked over a rickety wooden bridge through a forest of mangroves and arrived at the only little restaurant in the area….the Crab Shack. The setting of this small outdoor restaurant was intimate and charming. We felt like we were sitting in a tree house enjoying the serene view of the lagoon and the locals bringing in their picturesque little boats onto the shore . The menu looked very good but, since Joseph was preparing our dinner that evening, we only ordered a little snack of delicious samosas and a beer.  It was almost dark by the time we left and, when we got to the end of the bridge, Richard, the night guard for Ruby Hall, was patiently waiting to accompany us safely back to the house where dinner was waiting.

We had a delicious meal of curried Red Snapper, coconut rice, salad and chapatti bread. When Joseph served us our meal, he brought us each a little wash cloth on a plate that had been in the refrigerator so the coolness on our hands was really refreshing. This was the ritual at every meal...breakfast, lunch and dinner, and we found it to be such a lovely touch. With our stomachs full, we retired to our wonderful room and crawled into our comfortable bed, content that, with the exotic netting, we wouldn’t have to be concerned about getting bitten by any critters.