BEACH KOKO

A Story by THE SAD POET

A story of my childhood expeditions

Last night I travelled to Mombasa. As it is said, Mombasa is the capital city of hippie and life full of fun. I grew up in Mombasa but later moved but I have referred Mombasa as home because all my connections and attachments are in Mombasa.

Before, I left Mombasa a lot had not changed like I saw it recently when I visited. The interchange at Changamwe was not there but a roundabout which we had coined a name for it and it was common to hear people say they were enroute to Raundi as the place was called. Mombasa was not as I saw it when I visited last week. I loved the infrastructural development in the town but one place touched my heart. I could not find some places where I played in my childhood days.

It is not that I could not trace places because of the changes but it was because the places I sought no longer existed. One of those place I sought was beach koko. Any person who grew up in my childhood years or the adults who raised children around Changamwe and Migadini areas in Mombasa would tell you hordes of tales of beach Koko. Beach Koko was a beach which abandoned and it was forbidden to even think of going to Beach Koko.

As we grew up ,our greatest dream was to one day make an adventurous and risky expedition of visiting Beach Koko. The Beach was some place near Port Reitz area and it was said to be haunted and when ever children went to swim genies would pull little children to the deep ends and kill them. Stories were told of children who went to swim at Beach Koko never to return, stories were also told of children who had been attacked and killed by mermaids who were said to stay at Beach Koko. Other stories were also told of a mysterious floating ship that used to dock at Beach Koko at night and leave very early in the morning.

Our greatest wish was to see a mermaid and swim at the beach, carry some see shells souvenirs from beach Koko , souvenirs that we would keep to tell of the memories they brought.

One day in 2005 after we had gone to Likoni to see a visiting cruise ship known as MV Dulos which was said to cruise the world, Maganga one of the eldest boys in our group of children from Bambam neighbourhood informed us we should take up the dare and visit beach Koko. Our meet up place was Holy Cross Catholic Church at Chaani and we where we meet with a group from Hamisi Estate and headed to Migadini and met another group and we formed a battalion of thirty with only one mission. To explore Beach Koko.

We all went carry a ball with us just in case someone asked us what we were up to we would use a game of football as a coverup. We got at Beach Koko around three in the afternoon, the midnight sun was hot and scorching our heads but cooled off by the cool sea breeze that blew over heads. The place was all quiet and deserted all we could see were very distant fishermen who were on the daily activities and never rowed their boats any were near the beach in fact it was said only the mysterious ship that could dock at the beach. We knew they could also see us and we told each other at least there were people who could save us in case of any fatality.

We then started swimming and swam for hours until we heard a female voice from the sea and some distance from us. It called out the name of , Patroba, a boy from Migadini who was with us. Suddenly, Mkirema another boy from Changamwe screamed out,"Kitu nusu, kitu nusu kileee...."( A mermaid, a mermaid over there) On hearing this we could not wait or even check to confirm whethe it was true or not. We all ran getting dressed on whatever clothes and shoes one was able to find in the haste. Mkirema was the fastest of all and we all ran headed home.

In got home and went straight to the house some few minutes after I had wiped out my sweat and stopped panting. Zainabu, a neighbours girl spotted me and asked me where I had come from and where I had changed my clothes and slippers and it is then it dawned on me that I was not in the clothes I had left with. Now going to the house was another hard task since I had no explanation to give for my change of dressing and I dreaded my mother. I stayed outside until my father came in the evening and I took advantage and sneaked in unnoticed and changed to my clothes but the information our deadly expedition had already travelled faster than a bushfire. In fact, I always wonder how information used to travel that quick in our childhood days. The only remaining thing was preparing myself for my execution and so I said my last prayers.

The happenings of that night seemed like a planned thing and all you could hear after nine until hours to midnight was the wailing and crying of children as our parents beat the hell out of us. In fact I was beaten until I wished a mermaid had swallowed me.

We stayed in door for about three days with each of us afraid of going anywhere near the other with fear of been influenced to go back to Beach Koko. The good thing is that we all made it home safely but the clothe interchange was something we laughed out sick when we finally met.

Maganga made up a song we sang out loud through our childhood years, the song was short but it meant a lot to us. We sang;

Beach Koko, Beach Koko , sirudi tena

Beach Koko, Beach Koko, sirudi tena

Beach Koko, Beach Koko, kuna viboko

Beach Koko, Beach Koko, sirudi tena

Even to date, I sing this song whenever I reminiscence about this day. However, when I visited Mombasa recently, found the whole space that was Beach Koko now is inside the new Port and ships dock there. I have never known how they were able to convince the mermaids to let them build there and also if the mysterious ship still docks there or they conducted an exorcism or something but one of this days. I will get a permit to get in the port just to be around Beach Koko.