Mombasa - Under the Sea

- By Rashi

After traveling across the rest of Kenya, Mombasa was the much looked forward to destination. We had big plans of just unwinding by the sea, soaking in the sun and eating delicious seafood. While Mombasa turned out to be every bit the excitement we had anticipated, it wasn’t exactly as planned. For one, it was rainy and not sunny. But read on to find out how even the rain couldn’t put a damper on our holiday.

How to get there

By Air

Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya and is well connected to all other parts of Kenya and Africa by air. We traveled to Mombasa by air – we took a flight from Jomo Kenyata International Airport in Nairobi to Moi International airport in Mombasa. Flying time was a little over an hour and we flew Kenyan Airways. While the journey between Nairobi and Mombasa can also be traversed by train, the Kenyan railway network is less reliable than expected, which was the feedback given to us by an Indian family in Mombasa.

By Road

Most people expect to be traveling within a country on national highways and expressways, however this is not really the case in Kenya. The roads are not freely motorable at all points and so the drive between Nairobi and Mombasa can take up to 8 hours. It is not really advisable to travel by this route.

Climate

As is characteristic of any coastal region, climate in Mombasa is tropical – there are hardly any variations in day and night temperatures and for that matter hardly any variations in month on month temperatures either. Average temperature throughout the year is around 28 – 29 degrees. The monsoon season in Mombasa is in the months of April and May, while as we experienced, there can be rain showers in August as well.

Places of interest

We arrived in Mombasa around 4 in the afternoon and there at the Moi International Airport was a Minibus waiting to take us to our hotel. The airport, neatly lined with palm trees and statues of dolphins leaves no doubt that you have just landed in a coastal haven. Our stay had been booked at the Sarova White Sands. The Sarova group is owned and run by an Indian family and is hugely popular in all of Kenya. Enroute to our hotel (a one hour bus ride), we probably saw all of Mombasa. The airport is a fair distance away from the main city and the ride to the hotel almost felt like a mini tour.

The Sarova White Sands is in the Malindi area and is on the Bamburi beach. The Bamburi beach is one of the most popular beaches in Mombasa and believe you me, Mombasa has some of the best white sand beaches in the world. More on the beaches when we actually venture out into the sea.

As soon as we checked in, we decided to go for a swim and literally wash off the dust we had gathered in Masai Mara. The hotel had two pools – one with water slides, bar stools, floating beds, the works and another small simple pool located in a ‘quiet zone’ mainly for residents wishing to soak up some sun or read a book by the pool. Our rooms were right by the second pool but the fact that 8 of us occupied the 4 rooms surrounding the pool, it was almost like our private pool and we made all the noise we desired. Also located by our rooms was the ‘Tulips’ Spa. The Spa has a beautiful Jacuzzi overlooking the ocean. Since it was almost closing time (7 pm) by the time we decided to go take a dip, we were allowed to use the Jacuzzi without paying for it, otherwise use of the Jacuzzi is limited to spa guests only. This was quite exciting – you see there’s almost a rush us Indians get from free stuff.

The Grand Pool

The View from the Jacuzzi

The creeper we had to climb to get to our rooms. (Just kidding)

Flowers and creerpers adorn every structure at the White Sands

Dinner was a lavish spread, more of which I will cover in the ‘Food’ section. Since we’d had a pretty tiring day and spent long hours in water bodies, we were exhausted. Post dinner, we lay by the beach on recliners for a while, staring up at no, not the stars, but a cloudy sky. However, the sweet smell of the ocean has in it the power to make you forget about the impending rain. We basked in that feeling for a while and then called it an early night. The next morning was going to be our main day of sightseeing in Mombasa and we wanted to have every bit of energy for it.

The ornate dining halls

The next morning began once again with a scrumptious breakfast. The water sports centres at the beach open up by 8 am and since it was a bit of a walk from our rooms, we were done with breakfast by 8:15 and walking down the beach. This was the first time we’d stepped onto the beach. Now a very common phenomenon on the beaches of Mombasa, just like the beaches of Goa, are hawkers. Several of them roam around the beach trying to sell you anything from sarongs and caps to key chains and elephant tusk furniture. They surround you and the entire affair can be quite intimidating. However, one of my friends took to this episode quite well and started gathering touristy information from one of the guys. Accompanying the hawkers, are tour guides that offer you a whole city bus tour for 5000 Kenyan shillings. That’s around half in rupees – so 2500 rupees for 8 people to spend the whole day sight seeing seemed like a pretty good deal. We took one of the guys’ business cards and walked on. We were more interested in the water sports at this time. The similar sort of bargain offering was there for water sports as well but we had been informed by the staff at the hotel to only go with the official centres. And million dollar advice for our readers – When in Africa, follow the rules, do not wander off into dark alleys, for that matter, do not wander and keep a close watch on your belongings.

Doesn’t this remind you of Juhu beach, Mumbai?

On reaching the Water sports Centre, we found out that the snorkeling tour was to depart at 10 am and after wandering around on the beach and stopping to take a dozen pictures, we had made it there just in time to make the payment and get into the gear for the trip. You put on a life vest and a pair of reef shoes (to enable you to walk on the coral reef) and you’re set. Of course what we hadn’t taken into account were the snorkeling gear, all of which becomes quite heavy to carry a kilometer into the sea. Yes, that’s right, a kilometer. That’s how far into the sea the glass bottom boat was parked. The distinguishing factor about the Kenyan coast is that it is extremely shallow and the water is only knee deep for almost a mile into the sea.

Lugging along our equipment

Signboard on the Kenyan coastline

Glass Bottom Boats

On climbing into the boat, we set off. It was not a calm day, on the contrary the sea was rough and the rain was lashing down at us. We were freezing as the rain drenched us and the winds gave us a chill. Slowly the boat came to a spot where there were many other similar boats anchored. On looking closely, we saw tons of people snorkeling. We jumped right in. The water was warm and had me relaxed the minute I stepped in. Some of the people who had decided not to get into the water, sat atop the boat and watched the fish through the glass. Big Joe, the guy who was in charge of our safety, went under the boat with some bread slices so that all the people on the boat could get a close look at the fish feeding. We got to see the same thing from inside the water through our snorkeling gear. We were almost touching the fish, swimming with them – blue and yellow striped ones, males and their female counterparts which were green and yellow striped.

A friend and I, full on water babies, decided to head out and see what else was out there. This is definitely an experience every one should have. It is completely safe and yet the tranquility one feels when under water becoming one with the undersea kingdom is amazing. We saw clown fish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and many other colorful fish that I don’t remember the names of. The reef shoes had definitely been a good idea as there are points when the coral reef is too close to you and you have to use your feet to push yourself away from it to prevent yourself getting hurt.

After spending over an hour in the water, we climbed back onto the boat. We were now going to see the island created by dead coral reef. The Kenyan coast has abundance of coral reef. I was positive that from the beach I had seen waves building up and crashing in the middle of the sea. This usually happens only when there’s land. On reaching the reef island, I realized that that’s what I had seen from the shore. It was an amazing experience walking on the reef. It also had plenty of creatures to see.

The coolest starfish we had ever seen

Sea Cucumber

Sea Spider

A fellow tourist with Big Joe

It was almost lunchtime when we reached back. We decided to head into town to explore some of the local restaurants. We had already decided against any of those bus tours being sold on the beach so we hired a cab from the hotel desk and set out. To our pleasant surprise, the hotel rates were competitive with the beach peddlers. Within Mombasa, one of the most popular tourist sites is Fort Jesus. This is located in old Mombasa, known as Old Town. It was built on the coast by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Since then it has changed hands from the Portuguese to the Arab Muslims a few times. Personally, I liked the ancient look of the building with its muddy yellow color however most people just visit it because you’ve come all the way, you may as well see the most famous structure in the city.

Fort Jesus

The Old Town Lighthouse

The welcoming elephant tusk arches

The old town has a mix of Portuguese and Muslim influences but in a lot of ways reminded me of Goa. I guess most of these coastal towns have the influence of ‘Susegad’. It is however quite funny to see so much Arab architecture all around. In addition to this, the Old Town has narrow streets bustling with little curio shops where one can buy a myriad African souvenirs. Another sight you’re not likely to miss while here are the Mombasa Tusks. These ceremonial tusks shaped like an ‘M’ were built in 1952 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Mombasa.

Other than this there is a tour of Nyali. We did not go here as it was a little bit of a distance away but I believe the crocodile farm here is amazing and is a must-see. It is the largest in east Africa and apparently you can not only watch the crocodiles wrestle and feed, you can try the croc meat yourself.

By the time we returned to our hotel, it was almost dinnertime. We had a few hours the next morning which we decided to spend at the Spa and watching the ocean.

The perfect end to a perfect holiday.

Food

Mombasa being such a big and multi cultural city, there are various kinds of foods available here. The hotel of course served up lavish 3 course meals which consisted of Kenyan, Indian and Arabic dishes. So yes, there was goat liver, ox tongue, cows hooves and other animal organs that I am not usually drawn to. Given that there is a large Indian population in Mombasa, they even served Pav Bhaji for breakfast one day. Dal and Rice are easily available even in the city. In the city, there are many small street food sellers that sell Muslim style kababs. We didn’t try them but they looked delicious. A delicacy on the beaches are these fried chips made of tapioca which these little vendors sell. These are hugely popular among Indians and locals.

Shopping

As mentioned earlier, there are many curio shops in Old town Mombasa where you can buy beautiful items much cheaper than when hawkers sell them on the beach. Leather crafted bags are all over the markets and bargaining is possible to a certain extent. However, one warning, when they tell you its elephant tusk, its not, and when they tell you its ebony wood, it most likely isn’t, and when they tell you its pure leather, I wouldn’t be so sure of that either. So go ahead and buy whatever you like if you feel its worth the price you’re paying for it.

Lovely stand alone curio shop

Expenses

While an individual trip to Mombasa would work out quite expensive, there are package tours covering the whole of Kenya which would not cost more than Rs 1 lakh per person for a period of 10 days (inclusive of airfare, hotels, meals and transport). However, beautiful beach side hotels in Mombasa are quite affordable and those wanting to have a week long beach holiday could spend a few days in Mombasa and then take a boat trip to the Zanzibar island off the coast of Tanzania.

Tags: Mombasa White Sand Beaches Kenya Nairobi Africa Holidays Fort Jesus

Mombasa - Under the Sea

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