A few days in Mombasa

A Few Days in Mombasa

Secretly I have always liked a quick turnaround, disruption of the status quo makes life more interesting I always find. That said I had two weeks notice to go do a shoot in Migori, Western Kenya, which also meant running around sorting all my jabs and tablets too as I had never been to Africa before. It was all hands on deck, I am still not sure if I pulled it off, waiting for the dust to settle! It felt time passed even quicker once I arrived in Nairobi, overnight from Heathrow, then into a car for a 7-hour drive to the very bottom of West Kenya, near Lake Victoria and just shy of Tanzania. Then faster than I know, I am heading back up to Nairobi to catch a flight to Mombasa. Driving in Kenya is not for the faint hearted; drivers here go pretty much flat out the entire way. Dodging anything from lorries and many Matatus (a loud and proud local taxi) to one man on his overloaded bicycle, slowing only to negotiate the aggressive traffic management system in the form of almost vertical speed-humps that should be ignored at your peril (I’m speaking from experience here). The cries of ‘mzungu, mzungu’ start to fade the closer you get to Mombasa, which is distinctly more commercial than where I had just been however evidently still a developing country. It was the middle of the night when I got to Mombasa and was immediately hit by overwhelming humidity as soon as I got off the plane. West Kenya was extremely hot but it was also at a higher altitude and a lot further from the coast than Mombasa, which felt like I was wading around in treacle.

I booked my room through Hostel bookers in order to save a bit of cash, I am always willing to compromise a little bit on my bed for the night so that the budget goes further where it counts, visiting the place. I found a nice looking hostel on the site called the Bamburi Beach Resort located in the Northern part of Mombasa right on the coast although it wasn’t entirely clear of its exact whereabouts. It was close to 1am as the taxi pulled up outside the reception, very impressive I thought, it was really nice like walking into a double page spread. Until that is, I found out it was the wrong hotel. Disaster, turns out there was more than one hotel that began with the name Bamburi Beach and this one was the Bamburi Beach Hotel not the resort! For a split second I thought it was going to be an all-nighter trying to locate the correct place and I was also imagining that Bamburi Beach Resort would be a terrible dingy hostel now that we had mistakenly gone to this plush hotel. As it happened the two are sisters and only around 100 yards apart from each other. It was pretty nice too, directly on the beach with a stunning view of the Indian Ocean over brilliant white sand, from the bar by the pool. I kept having to remind myself that I booked this on a hostel website.

Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya after the capital Nairobi. Situated in the east it is a hive of tourism and historically a major port city with origins that go back to medieval times, changing hands many times over the centuries; from Arab to Portuguese and then the British until it became part of an independent Kenya in 1963. Modern Mombasa is a vast bustling metropolis with a great deal going on all around and has a population of nearly a million people. Matatus, Tuk-Tuks, and taxis all run constantly in and out of the centre or pretty much anywhere you want to go. Be prepared to negotiate a good deal with the drivers however as they are used to a lot of gullible tourists throughout the season and don’t mind taking your money, stick to your guns and don’t be afraid to walk away, chances are they’ll call you back with a better offer. I personally suggest taking a Matatu, which is favoured by the locals, pretty cheap and a true African way to travel.

You will need to have a similar attitude to negotiating transport when it comes to a day on the beach. From the first foot stepped onto the sand we were set upon by numerous ‘beach boys’ offering boat trips, camel rides, tours and safaris. Every one of them has the best deal around and they are extremely hard to get rid of even when you have said ‘no’ for the umpteenth time. I read once that a good way to avoid such advances was to pretend to be German by saying “nein”, however here that wouldn’t work as German and Afrikaans speakers represent one of the biggest groups of tourists that come to Mombasa with many locals able to converse in both languages as well as their native Swahili and English. As a Brit the experience can be very intimidating at first, defaulting to politeness marks you out as an easy target. It doesn’t take long for a thick skin to develop as I observed from the hotel terrace, an English couple firmly replying with the words ‘We’ve been here a while now!’  as they continued their walk along the beach. All the banter does make for an interesting experience if you engage it the right way, especially when approaching one of the many nik-nak stalls that line the sand. Negotiations are fun, there is something quite satisfying from getting a good ‘bargain‘ even though you probably have still been ripped off, if only a little.

Sunglasses are a must for walking along the bright white sand, top this off with a dip in the warmest water, heated all year long by the equatorial sun. It felt much more like a sauna than a refreshing dip however utterly stunning, and after finally going out on a boat trip with a bit of snorkeling and swimming through an amazing coral reef with many tropical fish, finishing the day in the beach bar with the sunset and a cold local tusker beer, I could not recommend the place any more to you.

A Few Days in Mombasa gallery