Mkanda Channel

Onwards to the Kenyan coast, I took a flight to Lamu in a tiny plane, almost missing it because I didn't check which airport we were departing from! Lamu is a small island off the northeast coast of Kenya that must be accessed by air as the road is too dangerous. Lamu Town was established in 1370 and is thought to be one of the original Swahili settlements. With relatively little tourism, the town has been well preserved and mostly retains its original functions. The buildings are made of coral stone and mangrove rood, with narrow alleys that can only be passed on foot or by donkey. Donkeys are still a major form of transporting goods and people, and there are countless numbers of them just freely roaming the island, some looking a bit more healthy than others.
We flew out of Lamu and onto Kilifi, a town further south along the coast that is famous for a creek with bioluminescent algae. Unfortunately the moon was too bright to see the bioluminescence, where's the bad weather when you need it! So instead we just enjoyed the ecolodge which had a really cool swimming pool and bar area, unfortunately I was recovering from another bout of food poisoning from Lamu (beautiful place but not the most hygienic! I also met some other travellers that got sick while they were there) so I just had to enjoy the relaxed pace instead. At least I didn't have to put up with a compost toilet at this ecolodge while ill!
So giving up on the bioluminescence we headed to Diani Beach, a stunning white sand beach with bright turquoise water. We spent a few days enjoying the beach, the cocktails, the good coffee, and the good vibes. If you're ever in Kenya make sure you have a Dawa, the national cocktail made of vodka, honey, and lime. It's very delicious and very strong! Finally we went on a boat trip to do some dolphin spotting, snorkeling, and swimming at a sandbar in a marine park in the Indian Ocean.
Next we moved onto our final stop on the coast, Mombasa. Mombasa is the oldest city in Kenya, founded in around 900, and was a major port city by the 12th century. It had been controlled by various powers over the centuries and as such has a really interesting mix of Swahili, Arab, British and Portuguese influences. We didn't have long in Mombasa so we wandered around the narrow alleys of the old town, visiting the historic buildings and trying the street food. We also did a tuk tuk tour of the rest of the city, visiting the local market, the coastline where you can stroll the promenade and eat freshly fried crisps, and the giant elephant tusks, a monument to commemorate a visit from The Queen in the 1950s. Mombasa was a great city and I would have happily spent another couple of days there, but alas I had train tickets booked!
Leaving Mombasa and the beautiful Indian Ocean behind, we got the Madaraka Express back to Nairobi, by far the nicest train that I'd gotten so far on this trip. Back in Nairobi I finally said goodbye to Michelle, who was off to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro for her 50th birthday! I know that I said I was done with safari, but I managed to squeeze one more in before leaving Africa...
I wanted one more chance of seeing Mount Kilimanjaro so I headed to Amboseli National Park, which is just north of the mountain. The mountain is covered in cloud most of the time so you're never guaranteed to see it, but if you do you might get iconic views of elephants grazing with the mountain in the background. The safari in the national park was as always great, I saw elephants, lions, hyenas, all of my usual favourites. But no Kili... until about an hour before sunset on the 2nd night when the clouds cleared behind our lodge and had a perfect view in the twilight sky. So I didn't get the shot with the elephants, but I was still pretty happy! It was the perfect end to a great time in Africa, but now I was looking forward to the next chapter of the trip...Read more