Bankrupt wazungu: How Kenyans rob foreign tourists in the name of love

In their endeavor to find love among locals, some end up regretting ever setting foot in Kenya.

When you look the Kenyan coast, the place is full of foreign tourists. Some fall in love with the ambience, food and people, so much that they never return to their countries of origin. The few who do, remain regular visitors. But in their endeavor to find love among locals, some end up regretting ever setting foot in Kenya. They end up with experiences characterized by betrayal, court battles over property, nasty separations or divorce cases and in extreme cases murder. A perfect case in point is a certain Petre, a German national, who fell victim to the 'Mombasa raha' frenzy and ended up losing millions of shillings and now lives like a pauper.

He first visited Ukunda in 1996 for holiday and stayed in luxury hotels and cottages in Diani. Petre now lives in a single-roomed makuti shack. "I stayed at Neptune Beach Hotel for one month. I liked the place and the beaches. I fell in love with Mombasa and I decided to make it an annual visit," says Petre.