DriFtiNg WooDs…day I

Whoever coined the name Mombasa Raha deserves an award…well, any award even if it has no monetary value! Ask any Fanatic and they will say an Amen to that!

Mombasa Sports Club was the destination of the final leg of the Western Union National 7’s circuit. The tournament had seen rugby travel all the way to Kisumu (Dala 7’s) through Nakuru (Prinsloo 7’s) and what a better way to crown the champions than take them down coast-o!

Having being in Malindi for almost a week (don’t say you want my job!), I head back to Mombasa and as they say, jogoo wa shamba hawiki mjini, I had to get the assistance of one Koko to guide me (okay, I admit, sijui Msa poa) and the guy was more than a host. Problem is that the guy has lotsa idle time in his hands and has been doing some audio-visual recordings from his house…anything that makes news he has to broadcast. I so hope CCK will one day grant him a valid license to operate for his neighbours (and the likes of Mutheu and Susam)

Joe Mugo and Koko take me to a dingy pub, that is playing rhumba music. I call it dingy for the people performing were just doing renditions and as routine, they was all dressed in glossy shirts (wakamba wa DRC wale) and those mwalimu-jini design of shoes…baffles me whether their feet are that way!

Kahamas is our next stop. We board a mathree that had this high school kid that tried dondokaaring…kid, you don’t dondoka with your right leg first…and then ati kimbia mbele…none of my business, told him to go revise for the KCSE and not steal (by the way, what’s with the NCIS ingiliaring exam cheating…they should sort our National matters like Gor Mahia trying to evolve to becoming a political party!)

Kahama’s is half empty and it’s almost midnight. Coasterians know how to keep time LITERALLY…if it were Nairobi and you check into a club past midnight, you’d be laughed at. They even have an incentive of Tusker Malt going for 95/= during their happy hours and after that, it shoots up to Kes. 190/=….quite an incentive there!

Teddy Joe is here for holiday, and what’s with you and taking photo’s next to camel ride operators? heheheehe

On the other hand, the Fanatics gang arrive at Msa at 5.00am…this is despite them leaving Nairobi at 9.00am. Word is that they made a stopover at Voi and met some odiero’s who got entertained by them for like 5 hours. There was free rum and Red Bull of course…Upon getting to Msa, there was of course no need to check into a room and pay for only 3 hours…so, led by Tonyango, they made Bob’s their residential!

Mombasa rained that morning, almost carried my top but was told it’s just a passing thing-y…if that happens in Nairobi, you know what happens…akina Oliver Mathenge and his blood relations parade and create traffic snarl up singing ‘ubrera mia, kubwa biri, dogo mia’…they then go ahead to hike the fares!

Saturday…

Day 1 of the Driftwood 7’s kicks off, Arigi is here…sober as usual.

Mike kwambo jumping here and there (pole kwa kuibiwa simu kwa bar…yaani after surviving the Nairobi thuggery unakuja kuibiwa pwani?). I meet Madi, a religious Fanatic that does an interesting blog worth reading (www.travellingFanatic.blogspot.com) ..people like Madi will (unfortunately) never settle down, if he keeps globe trotting in the name of rugby! I heard he even carries plates and vikombe’s in his bag…hehehe

Tonyango arrives first, ako makaratasi! Bloodshot red eyes, and then he goes loose with jokes and songs at our stand. Kat follows laters with Mwamburi, they look half-fresh, half gone! Millie, Steve and Fundi jet in later…poor Millie, word is that she delayed domestic flights to Msa…she knows how! Blame it on some Kariobangi Light Industries and exam fever! Fundi on the other hand capitalizes on the Msa heat, and takes a Tusker after every 3 hours…you know what the heat does to alcohol!

Puree arrives, and is representing Faith Diana…who was afraid of the Indian Ocean water and decided to stay back in Nairobi! Faith, sharks don’t exist at the shores. Puree was to arrive on Saturday morning but the pub at JKIA did something to her…akawachwa na ndege!

Katho…you really made our afternoon...you know what you was in!

In between the games, Mwamba RFC is doing things big time. This is despite their key players being at training camp next door. Quins are looking for a comeback, that’s after seeing manyota’s at last weekends

Kababeri 7’s. a total of 16 teams (Mwamba, Machine, Homeboyz, Oryx, Quins, Strathmore, Mombasa, Spartans, KCB, Nakuru, USIU, Daystar, Impala, Nondies, BlakBlad and KCA) are down here. Some win, some win more and some win the most-est!

Coast-erians start streaming in from 5.00pm…maybe from waking up after a raving Friday. Am sure they will be that last people to go to heaven if they keep u p with that speed! Imagine they even never supported their two teams from coast-o (Spartans and Mombasa) who played a dismally poor game.

“ati kuna rugby huku, saa ngapi…na akina nani wanacheza” ran a comment from a coast-erian when I put up an update about the games in Mombasa!

Miles away, a buddy was tying the knot. Congratulations Mutua Ndungi…I wonder what the rest of the guys are waiting for…am talking about youMusau, Mutinda, Sev and the rest of the Musau generations. And someone upgrade Mutinda Mwania, who swore to attend the wedding in jeans after her heard the price of the suits! Musau on the other hand (for once) arrived at the wedding early…we know why!

As darkness starts setting in, so does the alcohol level in the blood. I get to enjoy the company of Glady’s, Hawa, Susan and some other pretty friends of hers. Azula Shiro, wink* wink* back!

I bump on Aswani having kahawa tungu at a street! Such things don’t happen in Uganda and am sure if the guy has the chance to beba the whole of Mombasa town back to Kambara (Kampala), he would!

We decide to check out some joints, and there are so many places offering some un-official after-party bashes. Casa B is the first one. Nothing to see (and touch)…no rugby trace here. Bella Vista, and I had to fork something to enter. The last time I paid to enter a club was years back in F2, York House, Monte Carlo and Holly-mbao! Pia nyinyi mtakuja Nairobi! After few rounds, we decide to tembelea Bob’s in the hope that Bob atalipa bill! Sadly is that we never lasted, over 24 hours lack of sleep and makelele na pombe….kwani Mombasa inaenda wapi? We leave the residents at their own game, and we go sleep!