Diani Beach Music Festival

A few weeks ago my friend Josh half-seriously suggested we jump on a bus and head to the Diani Beach Music Festival, a chance to listen to some of Kenya’s greatest music on one of Kenya’s nicest beaches. I half jokingly agreed.

So on Friday Oct 23 Nicky, Josh and I got on a bus headed to the coast, concert tickets in hand, and that’s about it. It wasn’t until we arrived in Mombasa at 6:00 am that I began to seriously think about our plan. Because of the festival, hotels jacked up their housing prices, and because we were all poor college students/recent grads, we decided to skip on the whole accommodation thing. The plan seemed flawless until I started falling asleep before the weekend even began, and all I wanted was a bed.

Things changed though when we finished the voyage from Mombasa to Diani. Getting out of the taxi and walking onto the sand made me realize who needs a mattress when nature provides the world’s softest elements?

The day was spent lazing by the waterside listening to great music and sipping on cocktails (home-made with ingredients from the super market across the street and not the beach bar). Over twenty young expats had come up from Nairobi, and throughout the day I made many new friends when not tossing the Frisbee or swimming in the Indian Ocean.

Nicky, Josh and I literally danced the night away, and were surprisingly not the last ones on the dance floor. During the closing act, Jam Sandwich- a British cover band, I would estimate there was close to 1,000 people singing/shouting along to the music. And come 4:00 am, 500 of those souls were still partying hard. I was impressed. Personally I made it until 5:00, and slept the final hour while we waited for our taxi to come pick us and take us back to Mombasa, put us on a bus, and head home.

Stupid and naïve way to travel? Probably. Worth it? Definitely.