TAN: Msasani Slipway

I am up at 7 a.m. to grab a quick shower and get a little work in before Gabriel gets up. We finally get going from the house around 9 a.m toward the Msasani Slipway. Alex and I went there in July. We had gone on a weekday and were very disappointed. Supposedly there is a craft fair on the weekends so I am a little optimistic. We head out on foot and are happy to get a lift from Hanif as he comes upon us some 45 minutes later. He gets us a little further along the road and then we are on foot again.

A nicely designed billboard I wanted a snap of from July.

We walk on and on up, passed Oyster Bay, Msasani, and Masaki. I begin to have the feeling we have gone to far and head over toward the bay to find that we are just shy of our destination. We hike the last little ways with a local gentleman who turns out to be a 23 year old medical student. He and Gabriel exchange email addresses.
The Slipway is decidedly more hapening on the weekends. The central courtyard is littered with table after table of handicrafts. It seems to be the same things over and over again. I find a couple wire sculptures that I can’t leave behind. Gabriel decides to purchase a soapstone chess set. I think he is a little crazy for getting it. Later, he expresses similar sentiment.
Before heading back to town we decide to have a look at the waterfront. There are quite a few people extracting various creatures from the tidal mud flats. It seems as though anything with even the vaguest hint of nutritional value is collected for the supper table.

The specimen collectors in the tidal flats…and in the water.

We catch a taxi back to the office and have a bite to eat with Maina and Mwanga. They head off to look at some houses while Gabriel and I head back to the office for some internet time. Maina arrives back a bit after 4 p.m. and we head off to the Village Museum to catch the end of a live music performance. We arrive with a half an hour to go to find out that the entrance fee is $2 plus another $5 for the music. We talk the entrance clerk down to $2 due to the lateness in the day only to have him explain that there is an additional $10 fee for digital still photography and a $100 fee for videography. Needless to say, we politely ask for our entrance fee back and head on our way.
The next segment of the journey is by Dala Dala (minibus) to Mwenge, where there is a large woodcarver’s collective. Gabriel is looking for some small pieces to take back as gifts. He doesn’t come up with much as we are a little late here as well. I find some more wire sculptures. It is getting on towards dusk so we head back to Micocheni by taxi.
I am starting to nod off so decide to tuck in around 8 p.m. Gabriel and Maina head off for supper and some bar crawling.