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Wildlife Safaris South Coast,Ukunda,Kenya
South of Mombasa, a continuous strip of beach runs between Likoni and Msambweni, backed by palms and broken once or twice by small rivers. Along the whole coast south from Mombasa to the Tanzanian border,theres just one highly developed resort area, Diani Beach. South of Diani, the coast is little known and, in most tour operators minds at least, nobody stops again until they reach Shimoni. This is great news if you have the time to go searching out untrodden beaches. With your own vehicle, or on an organized trip, you can also visit the Shimba Hills National Park and the neighbouring Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary, either overnight or on an easy day-trip excursion.
The fact that you have to take the Likoni ferry emphasizes the south coasts separation from Mombasa, and the queues and usual delays have tended to deter hotel developers alitle. LIKONI itself is a busy suburb of Mombasa, straggling down the southbound road for nearly 5km. A coast road, served by infrequent matatus, runs around the creek mouth to the east, to Shelly Beach, facing the ocean. Named for its shells and once a popular local resort area, the beach is narrow and the sea here only feasible for swimming at high tide. With the closure of the big Shelly Beach Hotel, all the local alternatives have also closed.
Shimba Hills National Park
Kenya’s most underrated wildlife refuge,Shimba Hills National Park is less than an hours drive from Mombasa, even less from Likoni and, at 400m above sea level, wonderfully refreshing after the humidity on the coast down below(take some warm clothes).The hilly park of scattered jungle and grassland is comparatively little visited, which is all to the good. It has a wonderful game-viewing lodge and one of the best-situated camping and banda sites anywhere.
The most straightforward option for visiting Shimba is on a Safari from Mombasa or from the coast. Trips from most coast hotels and travel agents have tour packages for day-trip and overnight by road safari on full board, half board and B&B basis.
Kwale & The Park Gate
There are fairly frequent matatus to Kwale from the Likoni ferry dock, but no obvious way of visiting the park from there unless you’re lucky with a lift. The parks main gate is 3km beyond Kwale, along the elephant-dunged murram road to Kigango. If you’re driving, it’s best to have a high-clearance 4WD to enter the park itself. You should get away with an ordinary car in dry weather, but some park roads may be too rough for it: the rangers at the gate will tell you.
The small district capital of KWALE doesn’t have a lot to offer, but there are two lodgings, of which Golden Guesthouse is the best, offering fairly clean, self-contained rooms, with nets.
Around The Park
Although the park is famous for its thick forest, one of the easiest places to experience the forest is at Shimba Lodge itself, rather than on a game drive. You can see most of the primates from the lodge, too-colobus, Sykes’ and vervet monkeys, as well as bush babies and greater galagos-and leopards range in the same area. Other predators are rare in Shimba Hills: the lions have gone, but you might see a serval.
You are likely to see elephants, especially from the vantage of Elephant Hill or at the nearby Sheldrick Falls, particularly if you go early in the day. There are armed guards at Elephant Hill who will escort you to the falls. It’s a very pretty walk down a steep hillside, and then partly wooded to the falls themselves, but quite along hike back up again. Take drinking water, and swimming gear if you want to splash in the pool. Allow about three hours for the excursion. There were around six hundred elephants in Shimba until the translocation of half of them to Tsavo East in 2005.The remaining three hundred are still arguably more than Shimba can support: fortunately the creation of the Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary has been a great success.
Buffalo are fairly common, as are bushbuck and several species of duiker. Look out also for the parks small herd of Masai giraffe, the product of a tentative experiment. Although Shimba had never had giraffe naturally, a few individuals were introduced in the 1990s, though the jury is still out on whether they can thrive here. Ostriches have also been introduced.
Shimba is best known for its indigenous herds of sable antelope, magnificent animals as big as horses, with great, sweeping horns. The park is their only habitat in Kenya. You may well see groups of chestnut-coloured females but the territorial, jet-black males, for which the species is named, are more solitary and harder to find. If you have a guide hell know where to look, but they’re most commonly seen in the area overlooking the ocean, between the public campsite and Giriama Point.
Hotel Accommodation & Booking Shimba Hills National Park
One of the best things about the Shimba Hills is Shimba Lodge no children under 7; Full Board Meal Plan. Like Treetops, it’s a “tree-hotel, “though superior in all respects to the original .Check-in is normally from 3pm, but if you’re driving up yourself and give advance notice, you can arrive for lunch. Although the standard rooms, with nets, and shared showers, and toilets, are very basic for a lodge, when there are bush babies on the branch outside, a fish eagle in the trees opposite ,and monitor lizards hunting by the lake below, you don’t spare too much thought for luxuries. The best feature is the tree-level walkway, which runs for 100m to a platform high above a small clearing where elephants often visit. After dark, spotlights illuminate bushbabies, hundreds of bats and a whirling hailstorm of jungle insects. It’s a memorable evening-and the food is always good.
You can also camp at two sites in the park .The main public campsite is located at one of the best vantage points in the park, about 3km from the main gate. The four, twin-bedded bandas here, Sable Bandas, are adequate, though the bedding, lamps, shower and nearby toilet are unreliable, and you need to treat the water. The setting, however, is sublime: a thickly forested bluff hundreds of metres above the coconut-crowded coastal plain. It’s well worth spending the night up here just for the sunrise.
Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary
To the northwest of Shimba Hills National park lies the Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary .Situated on the slopes of the privately owned Goloni Escarpment, it’s a remarkable success story of community ecotourism, created in 1995 to defuse conflict between the local Duruma farmers and the districts elephants, which had made a habit of thrashing crops and killing farmers. After consultation between the local people,KWS and the Eden Wildlife Trust,240 square kilometers were set aside for the sactuary,separated along a third of its boundary from farmland with electric fencing, but with a corridor left open to Shimba Hills to keep the elephants ‘ migration route open.
The low –lying areas around the Manolo River are dominated by baobab, while thick brachystegia forest covers the escarpments flanks, and harbours one of the densest concentrations of elephants in Africa. You’re guaranteed to see elephants and, in time, it’s hoped that threatened species can be relocated here from other parts of Kenya. Other mammals are thin on the ground, but there’s profilic birdlife.
The main gate is beyond the Shimba Hills park entrance, 14km west of Kwale, then 2km along a signposted track to the right. The only accommodation in the sactuary is Travelers Mwaluganje Elephant Camp. Set along the shoulder of a low hill, facing a well-established elephant trail and waterhole, there are twenty twin-bedded tents under thatched roofs, each with bathrooms and electricity .Its not fancy, but the experience is fun.
Outside the sanctuary, on the Goloni ridge north of Kwale,theres a stunning place to stay in the shape of Kutazama on the Goloni ridge north of Kwale.Its a beautiful designed house, blending with the landscape ,and full of tribal artefacts.It has just two, very luxurious and secluded ,but quite different, guest suites, each with a deck and spa pool. Stunning views, walks in the area and an infinity pool overlooking a great loop of the Cha Shimba River make this a perfect honeymoon hideaway. A more affordable but still highly attractive place to stay in the Shimba Hills is Sable Vally Tree houses on the southeastern slopes below the park. For what you get-a very private, elevated room (one of just two among the trees) ,with your own staff,in a superb location-this is great value.
Tiwi Beach
On the coast of Mombasa, the first real magnet is Tiwi Beach, which lies a couple of kilometers to the east of the main road. Popular among budget travelers having a bit of a splurge, Tiwi rates as genuine tropical paradise material and attracts lots of Anglo-Kenyan families down from Nairobi. The reef lies just offshore, and there are good snorkeling opportunities at high tide, especially at the northern end. With the exception of the large Tiwi Beach Resort at its southern end, Tiwi is still cottage territory, with a handful of plots vying for business. The main drawbacks (though) you might think they’re advantages) are the relative isolation of the beach from Mombasa and Diani, and the lack of restaurants and bars outside the cottages and guesthouses. The clear advantages are fewer tourists and fewer beach boys. In the dry season, you can walk to the end of Tiwi Beach and wade across the Mwachema River to Diani Beach and the strange Kongo Mosque, right next to the Indian Ocean Beach Resort.
There are two access roads down to Tiwi Beach from the main South Coast highway. The northern road (signposted for Sand Island,Capricho and Maweni) is a narrowed sandy track some 17km from the Likoni ferry; the second, about 1.5km further south, has a bigger clump of signboards and is much wider. Using either road, youre strongly advised not to walk, especially if you have luggage with you: these roads through the cashew woods have seen a number of robberies over the years. Waiting for a ride won’t be a huge problem, certainly on the southern access road, where there’s a fairly frequent taxi service, and most of the beach properties will happily pick you up for free from the main road if you contact them in advance. Taxis to Tiwi Beach from Mombasa airport are available for hire.
Hotel Accommodation At Tiwi Beach
Seasons on Tiwi tend to reflect the school holidays of their regular clients, and at Christmas and Easter, and in July and August, advance booking is a very good idea. There isn’t much in the real budget range, but the extra expense is well worth it if you choose carefully.
Amani Tiwi Beach Resort Tiwi Beach. The beachs only large, tourist hotel establishment with one of the longest pools in Kenya. It burned down early in 2009 and rebuilding was continuing at time of writing.
Coral Cove Cottages Tiwi Beach.Large, stand-alone cottages with good bathrooms and an attractive, palm-shaded beach, all bathed in a laid-back mood provided by low-key but consistently helpful management. Dogs and cats, rescue parrots and a troupe of vervet monkeys are all part of the atmosphere .The sea here is shallow, good for children, and favoured by egg-laying turtles. Cook/house-keeper available.
Sand Island Beach Cottages Tiwi Beach. Well-maintained if fairly rustic, the six fully equipped ,self-catering cottages here are all sea-facing .The long –established ,shady site is very attractive ,with the sand island exposed at low tide just metres across the lagoon, and safe swimming possible at all states of the tide. The products of a working citrus orchard are available, as is fish from the local vendors, and the ruins of old slave quarters standing the grounds.
Tiwi Beach Hotel Tiwi Beach. The former Maweni Beach,Capricho and Moonlight Bay Properties, amalgamated under a single management, includes self-catering cottages and hotel rooms.Maweni has a variety of cottages with stunning sea views in beautiful gardens roamed by dik-diks; Capricho is slightly pricier, with well-designed vault-roofed cottages and plenty of cool space; and Moonlight Bay has four cottages and a restaurant .You can hire the services of a cook.Theres also a restaurant at Moonlight Bay and a pool bar at Maweni.
Twiga Lodge Tiwi Beach. Lively, secure and good value, this hostel and campsite traders on a reputation established in the 1970s, and is perennially popular with budget travelers and overlanders with their own vehicles. The cheap rooms are simple but good-value (some have verandas), and the superior rooms, which cost twice as much, are big, bright and airy. You can also camp .There’s an adequately stocked shop and the bar-restaurant is lively and does decent food (meals 8am-9pm; bar open as late as the last drinker).
Diani Beach & Around
Diani Beach ought to fulfill most dreams about the archetypal palm-fringed beach. The sand is soft and brilliantly white; the sea is turquoise and usually crystal-clear; the reef is a safe thirty-minute swim or a ten-minute boat ride away; and, arching overhead, the coconut palms create pools of cool shade and keep up a perpetual slow sway as the breeze rustles through their fronds. While competition for space always threatens to mar Dianis paradisal qualities, the 2008 downturn in tourism knocked out some of the hotels ,while the droves of hustlers ,or “beach boys”, dwindled to a few relatively easily brushed-off diehards. Security has been tightened up, with askaris posted all the way along the beach outside every property, and tight security at hotel entrances.
If you’re coming to Diani by public transport from Mombasa ,first take the Likoni ferry and then catch a matatu for “Diani” or “Beach” .If there are no direct matatus,get one to Ukunda , and then make a connect ion down to the beach road. There are taxis from Mombasa to Diani, depending on your final destination. If you’re flying to Diani Beach airstrip you’ll find you arrive right in the middle of things, less than ten minutes drive from most hotels along the beach.
Running three hundred metres behind the beach and separated from it by bush, the Diani Beach road feels like Kenya’s number –one strip in the high season.Fortunately, forest and scrubby bush separate the road from the shore, though more of the Jadini Forest disappears every year as one new plot after another is cleared. Apart from too many would-be estate agents and travel agents, there are genuinely good tour operators and safari agents along the strip, together with an increasingly heavy scattering of shops-though thankfully no shopping malls as yet-a Barclays with ATM, a Post office and several cybercafés, not to mention an ever –changing list of restaurants and bars, happily including some that have been pleasing visitors for years.
Hotel Accommodation Diani Beach
Although there are one or two good hotels north of the Ukunda junction, the much longer beach-front to the south retains some flicker of the pre-hotel era, and this forest is. To the north, the scene is brasher and more despoiled. Many of the thirty-odd hotels offer all-inclusive deals, as well as full-or half-board or bed and breakfast ,and most provide some sort of nightly entertainment ,including cheesy bands and troupes of dynamic acrobats ,Most all-inclusive are open to casual visitors: normal activities .
Budget accommodation along the beach is sparse, although there are one or two places to camp. If you’re with your family or in a group, renting a cottage is invariably better-value than taking hotel rooms, and gives you the chance to cook local food-or have it cooked for you. Most self-catering places are regularly visited by fruit and fish vendors.
The distances in the following listings are from the Ukunda junction on the Diani Beach road, next to Barclays Bank. For locations, depending on whether places are north or south of the Ukunda, junction, see either the “Tiwi & Diani Beach North “”Diani Beach South”.
Peter Mwangi New CEO Of The Nairobi Stock Exchange.
