Today, Saturday 29 May, the virtual festival of malindikenya.net and one of our Youtube channels, Tele Esule, kicks off. It will take place every Saturday until 31 July.
A parade of funny parodies of famous songs arranged and sung by Freddie and Sbringo for those who are nostalgic for Kenya and have shown in the last ten years to appreciate the irony of the duo that in the shows staged in Malindi, Watamu and Mambrui (with a couple of "touch and go" in Nairobi) told in a funny and surreal way the epic of our compatriots in Kenya and the approach of many tourists in the holiday places of this country. No live shows in the last year and a half, but creativity cannot be stopped, as well as the desire to smile at our faults and take life lightly, especially for those who have to deal with a reality where the problems are many and almost always do not concern those who live it as privileged.
We begin today with a topic that has been plaguing residents and holidaymakers for years, not only on the Kenyan coast: the endemic lack of water that periodically appears.
It is a problem that has always affected Africa, and certainly for the local populations it is much more than a disservice: it is often a real threat to the survival of entire families and communities.
There is little to laugh about, but precisely because of this, the complaints of those who feel rationing in tourist destinations (due to a convergence of different reasons) as an adversity to bark at in the Kenyan sun sometimes seem excessive.
"I've just come back from the sea and I have to keep salt on my skin" or "I'm on holiday and I can't even have a bidet". These are phrases that we have been hearing for years from people who may have bought a villa thinking they were in the province of Ibiza.
Did you really think you could come to Kenya and be totally exempt from the problems of an entire continent? Let's say that in places like Malindi and Watamu, it's all very well. In industrialised and in many ways avant-garde cities like Cape Town, rationing is fundamental so as not to leave the inhabitants without the slightest necessary supply, just as in other places the only possibility of having humanity's most precious commodity is given by processions of kilometres and kilometres every day. Here it often happens that every month there is no water or the pressure necessary to transmit it to the aqueduct is missing for 4-5 days. But for many it is a catastrophe.
Who knows if the pandemic, the long period of deprivation and hardship of all kinds, has made us realise once again that happiness comes mainly from other things, and that sometimes building a well for ourselves and the people around us is more important than building an Olympic-size swimming pool and then not having enough to fill it...
With these premises, but above all with the will to smile at the small and big adversities of life, the "Festival di Sardegna 2" starts with "L'acqua non c'è", a parody of Nek's "Laura non c'è". What would the Emilian singer have written if, instead of his ex-girlfriend, he had found himself on holiday on the beaches of Kenya without being able to take a holy shower? Whom would he have missed the most and how would he have let off steam?
And as they would say at Sanremo: by Nek, Sbrink and Freakie...L'ACQUA NON C'E'. Sung by Mau and Vasco.
Have a good listen and...vote by leaving your comment under the Youtube video, and subscribe to the Tele Esule channel! So as well as appreciating the irony of Freddie and Sbringo, you'll take part in the competition to which 10 activities in Malindi and Watamu have signed up and you could win one of these prizes:

BABY MARROW: Lunch or dinner for two with Tricolore ravioli, passion fruit parfait and house liqueur (drinks not included)
BAR BAR: Pizza of your choice for two people (excluding drinks)
KAREN BLIXEN: Aperitif for two people with tasting plate
KARIBUNI ONLUS: Guided tour of Langobaya's farms and social projects with lunch based on farm produce (chicken, eggs, vegetables, fruit).
LA MALINDINA: 2 days and 1 night at half-board in the boutique hotel (drinks not included).
L'ORO DI LORENZO: Lunch or dinner for two with sushi, sashimi and seafood (drinks not included).
MIRADI BOUTIQUE: A made-to-measure suit for men or women
OLIMPIA CLUB: A day in Kilifi with boat trip in the creek and lunch for two people
OSTERIA TOWN: A special handmade custard cake.
TASTE ITALY: A pack of imported Italian products  

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PARTICIPATE!
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AND ABOVE ALL... LET'S HAVE A LAUGH!