They're back in Kenya.
Oh my God, back to Kenya.
Let's say Malindi and Watamu.
Where else?
How many Italian tourists have they seen in the last two years at Turkana?
Is there anyone in Aberdare who can pronounce the phrase "Benvenuto amico, how are you?"
The fact is that they are back and there is no denying that we were waiting for them.
They were missed by those who eventually have numerous, even different if not diametrically opposed reasons to appreciate these places.
This is all in jest, let me be clear.
Like with a friend or relative you love and whose disappearance has been experienced by the tourist industry (which we represent) as a tragedy.
Because Malindi without Italians is undoubtedly a widow.
Sometimes maybe Franz Lehar's widow, but she's still a widow.
Here are our brave young men and women (average age 72-73, especially since some sons, daughters or grandchildren have come to look after the elderly) returning to regain the space they hold dear. With them, and it is something that makes us just as happy, there are many new faces, attracted by word of mouth and the nostalgia of regular visitors who have increased the desire of those who could not wait to get away a bit 'from Italy. We forgive them everything, even the lack of knowledge of the E band.

FIRST TO THE BAR AND THEN TO THE SEA!
The first thermometer of the Italians' return to Malindi is undoubtedly the bar.
An Italian in Kenya without an espresso coffee is like a Chinese man without his construction manager's hat.
And these days the bars are swarming with fellow countrymen who meet, chat, prepare to go to the bank, go shopping, to the tailor's and finally to the sea.
After the bars, inevitably, the restaurants by the sea fill up, which are a bit like bathing establishments, a bit like "rest beaches". But where one eats fresh fish and cannot miss the Italian specialties.
Certainly, those who return after two years of "lockout" have found a bit more international proposals and foreign or even Kenyan faces. For the first time, someone realizes that there are many well-dressed Africans who can afford the same, if not better, meals as them.
One restaurateur confessed to us that it is easier to see an African eating bucatini all'amatriciana and cotoletta alla milanese than an Italian ordering tuna carpaccio and grilled lobster.
But not all Italians have returned for the climate and the sea.

SOLIDARITY
There are those who are involved in solidarity and could not stay another year away from their schoolchildren, from the children of the small village of mud huts that they have seen grow up and whose family they support.
In Italy, in two years, many of them didn't have the slightest chance to visit the Caritas soup kitchen or an association that deals with refugees. Especially in times of restrictions, they would have found something to satisfy their instinct to do good.
But some experts say this instinct comes out more easily where it's warm and the eruption of generosity isn't blocked by wearing too much clothing. It seems that even sweat secretions can trigger reactions that lead to pure altruism.
The truth is that how you can do "do-it-yourself" charity in Kenya, including selfies with smiling children and mothers genuflected in endless thanks, happens nowhere else in the world. And it's sacrosanct that their invitation letters say "Volunteer". Indeed, it is not clear why the Kenyan authorities do not issue them a special visa with the words "Saviors of Humanity in Kenya".

HOME SWEET HOME
Those who live in Malindi and Watamu had almost forgotten how many non-resident Italians own a villa, a small house or an apartment in these parts.
Maybe it's because we had become accustomed to seeing their sleepy but happy employees enter and leave those dwellings, if not their families with numerous relatives or even other tourists to whom they had secretly rented rooms. But also not so secretly: some compatriot in these two years has found his beautiful mansion on offer on Air Bnb! Which, on closer inspection, is almost good news. It means that in the meantime no one has sold it....
We're talking about borderline cases, of course. Most of the staff are trustworthy people who have kept the property (almost) perfect. In any case, it was time to go back and check that everything was in order. The vacation in this sense turns into a pleasant coming and going of plumbers, makuti roof repairmen, carpenters, electricians and internet experts to get the villa off Air Bnb. And once out of the house, appointments with accountants, lawyers, upholsterers and other professionals you couldn't wait to meet again. And in the evening, dinner at a friend's house with whom to talk about all the hardships and how tiring life in Kenya has become.
Luckily, despite the mishaps and troubles, the love for these places, the smell of squid on the barbecue, the staff who cook and wash dishes, make up the rooms and clean the floor, iron and do laundry while you are in the pool with a caipirinha in hand, who knows why ... eventually prevail.

LOVE (THE REAL ONE)
If it is difficult to stay away for two years from a platonic love, made of colors, smells, tastes, flowers and sweats, imagine when the passion invests also the physical. A good percentage of fellow countrymen and women (and probably compatriots or compatriots#) couldn't wait to re-embrace the soul mate who had now become a creature of whatsapp. For many (or many, or even many#) of them it was still okay to hug even a new partner, or even to hug two or three at the same time. This kind of hugging tourism also generates profits, especially in the education sector, since in many cases the recipients of the effusions are students (or even students or student#, but in this case watch out for public effusions, in Kenya for the hashtag you still risk jail).

COUNTDOWN FOR THE HONEST
The honest are unhappy creatures. In Italy they have been for a long time, but lately they are exaggerating. Their fearless, swaggering, risk-taking friends (which, as a percentage, is less than dying from the after-effects of an operation for gallstones) have left for Kenya and they still have to wait, basically because they're afraid. Don't tell me you are doing this because you are upright and respectful of institutions! You simply wouldn't sleep at night for filling out a fake invitation letter or asking a friend in Kenya to produce a rental agreement. Those who have arrived in these days assure that at the airport they don't even ask for self-certification anymore. It's almost time for you to go back to Kenya too, at least there is no risk that someone will think you are No Vax!

"SONO TORNATO IN KENYA" (I'M BACK IN KENYA) IS DEDICATED TO ALL OF YOU!