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FAZA |
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Siyu to FAZA is a shorter walk than from Pate to Siyu and more
interesting, through waist-high grass, fertile shambas and sections of
bush. It takes about two hours, but you'll need guidance, at least as
far as the airstrip inherited from a 1980s oil-prospecting venture. From
there it's straightforward. An hour or so out of Siyu, you reach the
first shambas . There are usually people on the path; if you catch up
with someone from behind, announce your presence before trying to pass.
Strangers are rare and you could give someone quite a fright.
On a coast of islands, it's not surprising that Faza itself is almost an
island, surrounded by tidal flats and mangroves. A secondary school,
health centre, police station (with nothing to do) and even a post
office and telephone exchange have made Faza the most important
settlement on Pate island. There's even a Land Rover ambulance donated
by Saudi Arabia, the only vehicle on the island. Every few years a
lodging house opens, but the lack of visitors forces them to close
sooner or later. There's a very unprepossessing council guest house
which is available in theory. Private accommodation , though, is easy to
find. Fishing is the commonest occupation, with much of the catch going
to a cold room at Kisingitini, from where it's shipped to Mombasa. Faza
suffered a serious fire in 1990, which razed many houses to the ground
and caused devastation. Today, you would hardly know.
As a contemporary Kenyan rural centre, Faza makes an interesting place
to walk around and you're almost certain to have plenty of time to fill
before the boat leaves. One part of the village is devoted exclusively
to cattle stalls, but goats run everywhere, ruining the efforts of the
primary school headmaster to prevent soil erosion on the badly rutted
and sloping football field. A fine evening stroll takes you across the
mud on a new concrete causeway to the thickets on the "mainland", where
the island's expanding secondary school is located. From Faza you could,
if you wanted, walk on to the other villages on the island, all fairly
modern and bunched together within forty minutes of Faza: Kisingitini,
Bajumwali, Tundwa (Chundwa), and the closest, Nyambogi.
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