E’s siku ya kuzaliwa (birthday)!

Sunday was E’s birthday! We celebrated, Kenyan-style, of course.



Saturday night was a full moon. We’ve heard that it is the brightest full moon in 20 years. Not sure why, but we’re calling this one E’s Birthday moon. See below:



Later that night I took her to one of the nicer restaurants in Diani: Ali Barbour’s Cave Restaurant. That's right, folks, this restaurant is in a coral cave that’s about 100,000ish years old. While most caves elicit thoughts of dankness, this cave is actually open air; it was awesome to look up and see the starry sky. The food was great, and it was topped off by the waiters bringing a cake with basically a roman candle shooting fire out of the top. Like all cake in Kenya, it was super dry, but we ordered some banana and mango flambé which more than made up for it.

Enjoying a Tusker like a lady Sultan:



The cave bar:



The view of the sky from our table:




Sunday morning was pancakes, omelets, and fresh fruit. A few weeks ago we met a local artist and E had her eye on a particular painting, so I covertly bought it for her as a gift. I wanted it to be a surprise, but quickly realized that we’re basically together all of the time, so last week when we got home from work one day, I just said rather awkwardly “I have to go out for a while”. She gave me a crooked look, and being the bright girl that she is, I’m sure knew what was going on, so let me go without further questions.



We topped off the birthday weekend with a mango birthday cake. And by cake I mean mango with a candle in it. We’ve gotta get in the mangos while we still have the chance!