Our most dramatic journey - Kenya during the 2007 elections

Today, Kenya has voted in favour of a new constitution, and according to DN, the election went smoothly. Things were different in 2007/2008, when 1,300 people were killed in violence between different ethnic groups. We were going on holiday and had bought a plane ticket to Nairobi.

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Flight ticket to Nairobi

We had bought plane tickets to Nairobi, but nothing else, no hotels or anything. We knew there would be an election... but it can't be that bad, right? We spent a few days in Nairobi, then took the train to Mombasa to avoid the capital during election days.

We meet a Dutch couple

On the train we met Linda and Marlon from Amsterdam. Linda worked for an organisation in Narobi and they had booked a few days' holiday in Mombasa. But Linda was a bit worried even then, feeling that it could end badly ... In any case, they knew of a cosy guesthouse in Mombasa, "Petit Paris", and wondered if we wanted to join them. Of course!

Electoral fraud

There was an air of excitement as Kenyans waited for Mr Odinga, who had steadily gained the most votes, to win. But then the TV went silent, and when it came back on, Kibaki was declared the winner. Election fraud!

The Kenyans went crazy and started attacking the Kibaki tribe of Kikuyu, the most powerful tribe in Kenya. Kikuyus across the country were chased, burned, shot and stabbed. Everything stopped and closed: the ferry, the taxis, the planes, the shops. We got stuck with Linda and Marlon and another couple at the Petit Paris while food ran out in the pantries. And then came New Year's Eve.

We decide to escape

Sometimes we thought things would settle down. But then we received new reports, directly on Linda's mobile phone. A mob had trapped about 40 kikuyus, women and children, in a barricaded church and set a fire. If you can do that, what can you not do?

We decided that we MUST leave and discussed various options: fishing boat across the border to Tanzania or maybe a taxi? We paid the taxi driver Stevie the equivalent of a month's salary to drive us. He cruised with locked doors between burning cars in the slums of Mombasa and was VERY nervous.

Suddenly in Tanzania

When the driver left us at the border, he asked us to pray for him to make it home. (He texted us when he was home so we know it went well.) And so we ended up in Tanga, in Tanzania, in a tent... And then we ended up in Zanzibar, completely unplanned. Tanzania was beautiful, and we wish the Kenyans all the best with their new constitution!

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