Malindi

In September I went back to Durban for another conference, and in October to Johannesburg for a similar reason (though I also popped in to our fairly new office complex which is almost as green as Shenzhen HQ with lakes and waterfalls). It does make a nice change to travel occasionally and it is nice that it is not too often.

During October school half-term my Dad came out and we went to Malindi and rented a place by the beach, just to the north of the town, where the beach stretches for kilometers and is empty all the time. It is great for running, though of course fairly primitive. Just by the town itself the beach has a small pier, which is occasionally packed. We did go to some places to the south of the town where there are a few more hotels and beach bars, but still quite basic and not very busy (December should be peak period). The kids were a bit put-off by the 10 minute walk to the beach and spent most of the time in the pool, making the most of their mermaid costumes (at least Hannah was, since she can swim) with mermaid tails which enable swimming butterfly-style. In fact it was hard to get them out of the pool and we were worried they would get sunburnt!

Airbnb has really broadened up the opportunities for tourists along the whole coastal areas as many holiday homes are available. With fairly low demand, and more and more supply through airbnb, prices are good and there are a lot of options (though many of the nice hotels are still expensive) which tend to come with cooks and cleaners.

Malindi has historically been the center of Italian life in Kenya and still many properties are owned by Italians, and there are some good restaurants in town. Though the town itself does not have too much to see, transport by tuk-tuk is fairly easy, its a short flight from Nairobi, and its not expensive.

Nearby (heading south towards Watamu) is one of the major historical sights of Kenya, called Gede Ruins, which are the remains of a town from 500+ years ago which was quickly abandoned and of which the remains are fairly good quality. It is well worth a visit, though the guide struggled to keep the kids entertained with the history of the place and the buildings. There are several complexes available for viewing and many still have walls as well as foundations. It reminded me of visiting Roman ruins in Barcelona or the UK. 

Next door was a butterfly center which has a short tour and talk about butterflies whilst walking in the butterfly house, but is primarily a social enterprise. This means it helps create work for locals, it does this by helping locals breed butterflies which it then sells to butterfly centers across the world. With butterflies only living a couple of weeks, there is a steady stream of revenue (the larvae are flown overseas) though butterflies don't sell for a lot of money.It was certainly not something that I would have ever thought of but was interesting!

Also near Gede is a little-known tourist attraction next to Mida Creek. The Creek itself is great for exploring by boat and seeing the birds, mangroves and small islands. Beautiful water for swimming in too. The attraction that was built is a boardwalk, that stretches for a few hundred meters about 2 meters above the mangrove forests. The fact that about a third of the wooden planks are missing makes it quite an adventure, especially with kids! I'd highly recommend spending a day there with a walking tour around the creek, another tour of some local villages, and a meal at the ecocamp making for a packed day. The local village tour included the rice-wine that I'd sampled in Lamu before (made from coconuts), coconuts, and a visit to some of the locals' houses and even the local cinema (i.e. a hut with a TV). The whole host of activities has been set-up by some entrepreneurial locals.

Next time we might head to a different beach, but Malindi is definitely worth visiting. Though I returned early back to work, the rest of the family also found a place to visit with owls and eagles and the like (which like the butterfly center rarely gets any tourists), so there are a few things to do beyond just the pool and the beach.