View By The Shaw Mapped Out in a larger map

Mombasa, Kenya

We flew from Nairobi to Mombasa which was extremely cheap – only $50 USD pp return flight. The train, which is apparently ‘an experience’ in itself costs $10 less and takes 8-12 hours (most likely 12 hrs apparently), and only leaves on certain days so it was a no-brainer to fly.

Just because not many airlines allow photos to be taken of their aircraft...

Just because not many airlines allow photos to be taken of their aircraft...

Our trip here was primarily to volunteer at an orphanage and school for a week, which was a truly incredible experience but we will provide more details of that in our next post…

With a little bit of time we were able to check out this busy sea-side city and wandered through:

:: Numerous fruit, fish, fabric/clothing and bric-a-brac markets. It was here that our huge love and desire for Mangos started. They sell for about 20 cents each and are amazing.

Market stalls in Mombasa

Market stalls in Mombasa

:: Old Town – a good place to check out the Fort and shop for souveniers. We also stopped here for fabulous fruit smoothies and samosas, and sat on the floor (restaurant design) to drink them.

This fort stands at the entrance to Old Town

This fort stands at the entrance to Old Town

The closest good beach is a 30 minute Matatu ride (30 shillings pp which ~35cents) north of Mombasa city centre. We wouldn’t say the water is refreshing, more like a warm bath but its a pretty place to spend an afternoon and get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Camel rides are on offer on the beaches in Mombasa

Camel rides are on offer on the beaches in Mombasa

There are a number of tours that you can also do from Mombasa – some of the other volunteers were spending several weeks at the project and therefore had weekends to take up some of the safari offers, visit other beach locations and spend afternoons at nearby wildlife parks.

After our volunteering week in Mombasa (which is in next post) we treated ourselves to a weekend on the beach before we safari in tents for a few weeks. We went to a beautiful place called Diani Beach, which is about an hour from Mombasa in a taxi. We couldn’t find an available place that wasn’t $200+pp per night, on the actual beach because we didn’t book ahead (there’s a note, if you ever go there) so we stayed a short walk from the beach. It was really OK.

Our hotel in Diani Beach

Our hotel in Diani Beach. It was a little better than we expected. Very inexpensive too.

Enjoying a drink at Forty Thieves on Diani Beach.

Enjoying a drink at Forty Thieves on Diani Beach.

The magnificent Diani Beach. If it wasn't so windy it would have been even better...

The magnificent Diani Beach. If it wasn't so windy it would have been even better...

Diani Beach is a great tropical beach with a lot of very nice resorts and a few good places to eat. We were blessed with sunny (although too windy) weather and we enjoyed dinner at Forty Thieves. We recommend a visit there if you find yourself in the area. The trip here served its purpose of some RnR before we travel Overland through Eastern Africa…

Check out our gallery for more photos of Mombasa and Diani Beach:

Hot Air Ballooning, Cappadocia

Tigers in India
MADAGASCAR VOLUNTEERING
GORILLA TREKKING
Ace Way to See Photos:Click
  • MediaRSS Icon
Categories
http://www.bytheshaw.com.au/feed/" class="art-rss-tag-icon" title="RSS">