You didn't think they would, but they come.
They weren't supposed to, but they come anyway.
These days Malindi and Watamu, in addition to the many local tourists from Nairobi and the surrounding area, a few guests from other African countries and scattered groups of Eastern Europeans, are also welcoming a decidedly unexpected number of Italian repeaters.
Until a few weeks ago, the majority of our compatriots who have long since planted some roots in Kenya were inclined to stay at home, held back by objective difficulties (from economic ones to help from relatives, from the bureaucracy of swabs, self-certifications and quarantine on return, to the healthy fear of an African health system without parachutes and with huge costs).
Something has certainly changed after the government's stranglehold on the holidays: no skiing in the mountains, no moving between regions, no parties at home or even in hotels and restaurants.
For many Italians, the nightmare of Christmas boredom seems worse than bilateral pneumonia.
So suddenly the requests for a flight to Mombasa (practically the prerogative of Ethiopian Airways alone) have increased and on Friday evening at Fiumicino the queue to get on the Rome-Addis Ababa-Mombasa was very long and made up not only of Ethiopians returning home for the holidays, before the fateful 21st December.
It must be said that, as we have already noted, the ventilated reinforcement of control measures to avoid, as per decree, tourism beyond Europe, has not yet been seen and could just come into operation in a less bland manner after the 21st. For now, once you have passed through the airline's baggage check-in, there seem to be no more barriers on the type of journey. You get on the plane and that's it, especially as Kenya accepts tourists from all over the world.
In any case, it is worth remembering that many of the Italian arrivals in recent days are of non-resident citizens who have a property in Kenya, villa or flat, and have filled in the self-certification communicating the temporary change of residence (even though they are often not asked or, if produced, are not even given a glance). Others have a more or less regular tenancy agreement and accompany their change of domicile with it.
Beware: there are only a few who fail to leave because of a cross-check, a finicky employee or one word too many. They are few, but they are there.
Just as there are still many people who, while dreaming of Kenya every night, have decided to respect the rules and above all not to "run away" to Malindi and Watamu just because here you can have a dinner at home with 99 guests.
It would be nice to see these last-minute arrivals finally experiencing a certain Kenya for its natural social distances, choosing a New Year's Eve in the savannah, or relying only on restaurants that have spent so much to adapt to the strictest rules and be the first to respect them.