Excursions from Mombasa
Tamarind Dhow Dinner Cruise
The evening cruise is the most renown of all the coastal trips. An enchanting evening of exotic seafood blended with a romantic cruise aboard an authentic Arab Dhow around the old port of Mombasa Town. The dhow, Nawalilkher, was built in 1977 for trading. At 23 meters, she is the largest dhow on the coast. Purchased in 1986, she was converted for restaurant use by her original builder Fundi Bini on Lamu Island, under the watchful eye of Mohammed Shalle, who is still her captain today. Your evening begins with a transfer from your hotel to the Tamarind creek where you board a dhow for your dinner dance cruise around Mombasa Island. As soon as you set in, traditionally dressed waiters will show you to your tables and immediately serve you with “Dawa”– the house cocktail made from Vodka, lime, honey, sugar and crashed ice. As the dhow slips gently away from the jetty the band begins to play and your romantic candle-lit dinner begins.
After a cruise round Tudor Creek with clear views of Mombasa's Old Town and Fort Jesus, your dhow moors in a sheltered bay at the head of the creek. Here the fine aroma of grilled lobster and prawns starts to fill the air as the chefs pull out the charcoal grills and prepare a four-course gourmet meal.
Dinner is grilled Seafood and for those not so inclined the chefs will be delighted to grill a steak or chicken. With attentive service to match the cuisine, your meal draws to a close as the waiters serve coffee from traditional Arab brass coffee service. By now the band is in full swing, playing a variety of popular rhythms, which soon have the majority of the guests dancing on the main deck. After coffee you will dock at the jetty and be transferred back to your hotel.
Full Day Wasini Dhow Island Dhow.
The very first of its kind on the Kenya Coast, this tour helped establish Kisite as a Marine national Park. Your trip begins with a transfer from your hotel to Shimoni. On the way you will have the opportunity to see rural villages, tall palm trees, lush greenery, and the smell of the ocean close by. Upon arrival tea, coffee and chilled fruit juices are served at the departure dock as the dive team is introduced. This is followed by an orientation of the tour. You then depart on a traditional dhow to Kisite Marine Park, the best and most accessible Marine Park in Kenya for snorkelling and diving. Once out on the Indian ocean, there are regular sightings of dolphins, often accompanied by their rollicking offspring. Within the Wasini Channel, the rare hump-backed dolphins are also often sighted. Scuba diving and fun-diving guests often meet turtles underwater, too. Kisite also has a fantastic variety of fishes and coral. Snorkelling is done off the fringing reef of a large rocky islet and a wonderful sand bar, which appears out of the blue ocean at low tide. On top of the islet, is a large colony, in season, of noisy, nesting sooty terns. Guests are provided with masks and snorkels and are first timers are assisted. At midday lunch is served at Wasini Island Restaurant. The restaurant, built in traditional architecture, overlooks the Indian Ocean towards the distant mountains of Tanzania. Lunch is followed by guided walks in the Muslim village of Wasini. Transfer back to your hotel.
Full Day Pilli –Pipa Dhow Safari.
A Pilli Pipa diving and dhow safari is an all-inclusive adventure that offers you an unbeatable marine life experience. The owners of Pilli-Pipa, Selina and Harm, are both qualified PADI MSDT Dive Instructors and Medic first aid instructors with numerous specialties. Diving is offered on a number of excellent sites and you will spend a magical day in Kenya's beautiful underwater world at the Marine national park. Pilli Pipa will take you to a living coral reef and show you how to enjoy this spectacular environment without damaging it. So if you have never snorkelled before, this is your chance to learn with the guidance of a fully trained crew member. The abundance of fish in the Kenyan coastal waters is astounding and includes among other variety, blue striped snapper, ehrenburg snapper and sweet lips with their prominent yellow colouring and parrotfish, mainly blue in colour, can be seen passing through shallow waters feeding on the coral with loud crunching noises. Beginner divers will enjoy the supervision of an experienced dive instructor whilst professional divers will be astonished by the wealth and diversity of marine life. Lunch is included.
Full Day Mombasa City Tour.
Mombasa is the second largest city of Kenya and is an island on the Indian ocean, connected to the mainland by ferry on the south side, a causeway on the northern side and a bridge on the north-eastern side. Mombasa is a city full of history and is easily the most diverse in all of Kenya where Kenyans of all ethnic backgrounds and religions can be found - native Africans, Asians and Arabs who are Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists. Most of the time visitors to Mombasa have a difficult time grasping the fact that Asians and Arabs, who are all Africans, but not black, have been living on the East African coast for over 500 years. The history on the tour helps put into perspective how all this came about. On the tour, you visit fort Jesus, Mwembe Tayari open-air market, the local bazaars, handicraft carvers den and walk through the famous curvy alley-roads, and the business district. The walk also provides ample shopping opportunity. This tour can be done in the morning or in the afternoon and includes lunch on the Tamarind dhow.
One Night Shimba Hills.
Only 50 km from the hustle and bustle of Mombasa, and the heat of the tropical coast lies the environmental friendly Shimba Hills Lodge, buried deep in the cool and green tropical rainforest. You will be collected from your respective hotel early afternoon for a drive up to Shimba hills national reserve and enjoy a first game drive in this home of the rare Sable antelope, Elephant and Buffalo. Pre-dinner cocktails can be enjoyed in the viewing bar at the raised walkway. Dinner is served on a terrace overlooking the floodlit water hole regularly visited by elephants. An early morning game drive will give you the opportunity to enjoy the Reserve from a different angle, before returning to the lodge for a hearty breakfast. After breakfast you are transferred back to your beach hotel.
One Night Tsavo East National Park
Depart from Mombasa by sunrise, on a drive of about 115km in a north-westerly direction to 'Bachuma gate' where you enter the East section of the Tsavo National Park- Kenya's Largest game sanctuary, famed for it's huge herds of Elephants and the famous ‘man eaters of Tsavo’. It is also home to rhinos, giraffe, zebra and a variety of other game. Water birds are always seen at the Aruba dam on the way to the Lodge where lunch is served. After Lunch continue with another game drive through the park en-route to the gate and return to Mombasa later on.
Full Day Malindi Tour
Malindi is one of Kenya's coastal towns north of Mombasa. Just like Mombasa, Malindi holds a lot of history. Its scenic beauty and clean white beaches makes it one of the most visited towns. The Swahili people are the predominant culture found in Malindi. The tour of Malindi area will encompass a visit to the lost city of Gedi, the town of Malindi and a ride out to sea in a glass bottom boat. Malindi was made famous after Vasco da Gama's stopover in 1498. In Malindi, you will see narrow alleys in the old part of the town where the old houses have been lived in for centuries. One of the oldest East African churches, the Church of St. Francis Xavier still stands strong across from Vasco da Gama's pillar where he carved a cross. Also extant is Juma's mosque, which was used as a haven for slave trading until mid 1870's. 12 miles from Malindi is the town of Gedi. Despite Gedi's close proximity to Malindi, it was never a focus of any European activity. In fact, Gedi was allegedly an invisible town never mentioned in any manuscripts or writing. Swahili Muslims established a mosque, homes and ran the town. The local museum curator approximates the town population to have been over 2000 people in the early 16th Century but yet by 18th Century it was deserted. The area is now a historical museum and is popularly known as Gedi Ruins. At Gedi, you will be able to see the king's palace, tombs of important local personalities, a sunken court and the artefacts that are displayed at the museum. The glass boat ride in the marine park takes you out to sea, where you will be able to see some sensational fishes. If you wish, you can snorkel too. The beautiful coral rocks are out of this world experience. Lunch is served at a local restaurant.
The evening cruise is the most renown of all the coastal trips. An enchanting evening of exotic seafood blended with a romantic cruise aboard an authentic Arab Dhow around the old port of Mombasa Town. The dhow, Nawalilkher, was built in 1977 for trading. At 23 meters, she is the largest dhow on the coast. Purchased in 1986, she was converted for restaurant use by her original builder Fundi Bini on Lamu Island, under the watchful eye of Mohammed Shalle, who is still her captain today. Your evening begins with a transfer from your hotel to the Tamarind creek where you board a dhow for your dinner dance cruise around Mombasa Island. As soon as you set in, traditionally dressed waiters will show you to your tables and immediately serve you with “Dawa”– the house cocktail made from Vodka, lime, honey, sugar and crashed ice. As the dhow slips gently away from the jetty the band begins to play and your romantic candle-lit dinner begins.
After a cruise round Tudor Creek with clear views of Mombasa's Old Town and Fort Jesus, your dhow moors in a sheltered bay at the head of the creek. Here the fine aroma of grilled lobster and prawns starts to fill the air as the chefs pull out the charcoal grills and prepare a four-course gourmet meal.
Dinner is grilled Seafood and for those not so inclined the chefs will be delighted to grill a steak or chicken. With attentive service to match the cuisine, your meal draws to a close as the waiters serve coffee from traditional Arab brass coffee service. By now the band is in full swing, playing a variety of popular rhythms, which soon have the majority of the guests dancing on the main deck. After coffee you will dock at the jetty and be transferred back to your hotel.
Full Day Wasini Dhow Island Dhow.
The very first of its kind on the Kenya Coast, this tour helped establish Kisite as a Marine national Park. Your trip begins with a transfer from your hotel to Shimoni. On the way you will have the opportunity to see rural villages, tall palm trees, lush greenery, and the smell of the ocean close by. Upon arrival tea, coffee and chilled fruit juices are served at the departure dock as the dive team is introduced. This is followed by an orientation of the tour. You then depart on a traditional dhow to Kisite Marine Park, the best and most accessible Marine Park in Kenya for snorkelling and diving. Once out on the Indian ocean, there are regular sightings of dolphins, often accompanied by their rollicking offspring. Within the Wasini Channel, the rare hump-backed dolphins are also often sighted. Scuba diving and fun-diving guests often meet turtles underwater, too. Kisite also has a fantastic variety of fishes and coral. Snorkelling is done off the fringing reef of a large rocky islet and a wonderful sand bar, which appears out of the blue ocean at low tide. On top of the islet, is a large colony, in season, of noisy, nesting sooty terns. Guests are provided with masks and snorkels and are first timers are assisted. At midday lunch is served at Wasini Island Restaurant. The restaurant, built in traditional architecture, overlooks the Indian Ocean towards the distant mountains of Tanzania. Lunch is followed by guided walks in the Muslim village of Wasini. Transfer back to your hotel.
Full Day Pilli –Pipa Dhow Safari.
A Pilli Pipa diving and dhow safari is an all-inclusive adventure that offers you an unbeatable marine life experience. The owners of Pilli-Pipa, Selina and Harm, are both qualified PADI MSDT Dive Instructors and Medic first aid instructors with numerous specialties. Diving is offered on a number of excellent sites and you will spend a magical day in Kenya's beautiful underwater world at the Marine national park. Pilli Pipa will take you to a living coral reef and show you how to enjoy this spectacular environment without damaging it. So if you have never snorkelled before, this is your chance to learn with the guidance of a fully trained crew member. The abundance of fish in the Kenyan coastal waters is astounding and includes among other variety, blue striped snapper, ehrenburg snapper and sweet lips with their prominent yellow colouring and parrotfish, mainly blue in colour, can be seen passing through shallow waters feeding on the coral with loud crunching noises. Beginner divers will enjoy the supervision of an experienced dive instructor whilst professional divers will be astonished by the wealth and diversity of marine life. Lunch is included.
Full Day Mombasa City Tour.
Mombasa is the second largest city of Kenya and is an island on the Indian ocean, connected to the mainland by ferry on the south side, a causeway on the northern side and a bridge on the north-eastern side. Mombasa is a city full of history and is easily the most diverse in all of Kenya where Kenyans of all ethnic backgrounds and religions can be found - native Africans, Asians and Arabs who are Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists. Most of the time visitors to Mombasa have a difficult time grasping the fact that Asians and Arabs, who are all Africans, but not black, have been living on the East African coast for over 500 years. The history on the tour helps put into perspective how all this came about. On the tour, you visit fort Jesus, Mwembe Tayari open-air market, the local bazaars, handicraft carvers den and walk through the famous curvy alley-roads, and the business district. The walk also provides ample shopping opportunity. This tour can be done in the morning or in the afternoon and includes lunch on the Tamarind dhow.
One Night Shimba Hills.
Only 50 km from the hustle and bustle of Mombasa, and the heat of the tropical coast lies the environmental friendly Shimba Hills Lodge, buried deep in the cool and green tropical rainforest. You will be collected from your respective hotel early afternoon for a drive up to Shimba hills national reserve and enjoy a first game drive in this home of the rare Sable antelope, Elephant and Buffalo. Pre-dinner cocktails can be enjoyed in the viewing bar at the raised walkway. Dinner is served on a terrace overlooking the floodlit water hole regularly visited by elephants. An early morning game drive will give you the opportunity to enjoy the Reserve from a different angle, before returning to the lodge for a hearty breakfast. After breakfast you are transferred back to your beach hotel.
One Night Tsavo East National Park
Depart from Mombasa by sunrise, on a drive of about 115km in a north-westerly direction to 'Bachuma gate' where you enter the East section of the Tsavo National Park- Kenya's Largest game sanctuary, famed for it's huge herds of Elephants and the famous ‘man eaters of Tsavo’. It is also home to rhinos, giraffe, zebra and a variety of other game. Water birds are always seen at the Aruba dam on the way to the Lodge where lunch is served. After Lunch continue with another game drive through the park en-route to the gate and return to Mombasa later on.
Full Day Malindi Tour
Malindi is one of Kenya's coastal towns north of Mombasa. Just like Mombasa, Malindi holds a lot of history. Its scenic beauty and clean white beaches makes it one of the most visited towns. The Swahili people are the predominant culture found in Malindi. The tour of Malindi area will encompass a visit to the lost city of Gedi, the town of Malindi and a ride out to sea in a glass bottom boat. Malindi was made famous after Vasco da Gama's stopover in 1498. In Malindi, you will see narrow alleys in the old part of the town where the old houses have been lived in for centuries. One of the oldest East African churches, the Church of St. Francis Xavier still stands strong across from Vasco da Gama's pillar where he carved a cross. Also extant is Juma's mosque, which was used as a haven for slave trading until mid 1870's. 12 miles from Malindi is the town of Gedi. Despite Gedi's close proximity to Malindi, it was never a focus of any European activity. In fact, Gedi was allegedly an invisible town never mentioned in any manuscripts or writing. Swahili Muslims established a mosque, homes and ran the town. The local museum curator approximates the town population to have been over 2000 people in the early 16th Century but yet by 18th Century it was deserted. The area is now a historical museum and is popularly known as Gedi Ruins. At Gedi, you will be able to see the king's palace, tombs of important local personalities, a sunken court and the artefacts that are displayed at the museum. The glass boat ride in the marine park takes you out to sea, where you will be able to see some sensational fishes. If you wish, you can snorkel too. The beautiful coral rocks are out of this world experience. Lunch is served at a local restaurant.
