Watamu Things to Do

enjoy an early morning or late
Afternoon ride in an intimate and relaxed
Atmosphere through the local village; set
Amongst plantations of Coconut, Mango,
and Cashew Nut trees.

You will be in the capable hands of David
Gibson, a.k.a. “Gibbo”, ex-champion jockey.
Winner of 234 races.

With his 4 horses, he will guide you around
the local Gede village, where you can wave to
the children and the families, and have a
glimpse into the true African life.

I really enjoy the horse riding, its such a great trip, slowly walking through african villiages watching as people go on with their daily life, no one trying to sell you things !
I shall be riding again next year as well, they never take the same way twice so even though I've done it before its different every time.

4 more images

When the tide goes out in turtle bay it exposes the most wonderful rock pools, the ammount of things to see changes daily, moray eels are abundant (up to over a metre in length), hundreds of different species of fish as well as all manner of sea slugs etc the list is endless but like I say no two days are the same.
We spent hours this year just checking out the wildlife situated about 1 minutes walk from the hotel !

First tried big game fishing in Malindi in1996 using Kingfisher, even though my first trip was not productive I enjoyed being out on the indian ocean 20 miles off the coast there is so much to see.
For the last 2 years I have been using Ocean sports in Watamu for my fishing, I personally prefer to fish with Peter Darnborough who skippers a 37ft sports fishing boat called "Alleycat" which sports a fantastic crew and who I have great fun with.
All the big five species of billfish can be caught off Watamu. Blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin, broadbill swordfish and finally saifish as well as the yellow fin tuna which in my opinion fight pound for pound harder than anyother fish I have caught. Other species can be targeted as well.
Its not just the fishing though, the ammount of whales we see is amazing, whale sharks are common, as well as humpbacks which are fantastic to see, dolphins, turtles, amazing birdlife , in fact its a safari on the sea.
Conditions can get rough so its not for the faint hearted, last year one of my friends daughters got so sick we had to return to shore after only 20 mins ! he also had to get off, which was a shame as I ended up catching over 20 yellow fin & 2 wahoo in one trip, my arms were not in good shape, also chartering a boat on your own is not good as there is nobody to share the work with, believe me its hard work but enjoyable.
Can't wait to get back out in august, if anyone fancies trying the fishing, I can put you in contact with Pete or you can book direct with Ocean sports which is situated next door to Hemmingways.

We took a boat trip along the Mida Creek to see the sun go down and watch the local birdlife. Mida Creek is lined with mangrove swamps and we say herons, different species of kingfishers and flamingoes - as well as some others whose names I forget. It was lovely and peaceful and the highlight was watching the sun sink below the horizon. It was a really spectacular sunset as well - unfortunately I have no piccies of it but we did capture it on video. It was also interesting to see the local population still fishing from dugout canoes.

We spent a lovely afternoon and evening visiting the local forest nature reserve. This was part of an organised trip by the hotel but it would be possible to arrange it yourself. We walked through the forest with the guide pointing out things of interest, birds, insects (giant millipede - yuk!) lots of monkeys etc. Take care with the sun and wear a hat and sun cream lotion as it is very hot on the trail. Also use insect repellent. We ended up at a tree-house (very rickety climb - would probably be condemned by the Health and Safety Police in this country!) to watch the sun go down while munching on snacks and sipping cold beers and cocktails.
Best bit was listening to the sounds of the forest as the darkness descended - very atmospheric.

It is worth spending a day in the town of Malindi. It has shops and a market area and is good to walk along the jetty. Our guide took us to see Vasco de Gama point where he landed in 1499.
We visited a wood carving co-operative which had very good quality carvings at a reasonable price. You could also walk around the workshop area and watch the carvers in action. This is on the outskirts of the town so try not to worry when the taxi driver takes off down a side road into a not very salubrious area - you will be OK!
We also visited a snake and crocodile farm where we saw a baby crocodile hatch from an egg. We could also try freshly barbecued crocodile meat. Try and get there at feeding time - especially interesting to watch the snakes being fed, if a little gruesome. We could handle a python, even the children, and hold baby tortoises. For more pictures see travelogue.

These ruins are the remains of an Arab town originating in the 12th century with later additions. They are in about 45 acres of forest and are crumbling and overgrown. There is enough structure left to get a good idea of life at the time and some buildings are quite intact.
The best part is the atmosphere of the ruins - especially as we had them practically to ourselves with just the guide. You can also spot monkeys jumping through the trees and its kind of creepy listening to them crashing through the branches and following you around.
Also of interest are the plants in the forest, there are some beautiful flowers - but highly poisonous according to the guide.
On a practical front you will need insect repellent but as much of it is covered by forest I didn't find the sun too bad. Take plenty of water as you walk a long way (wear sensible shoes) and it is hot and humid.

Walking through the mangroves around Mida Creek is like entering a different world. This is stuff that you usually see on BBC documentaries, and I felt very privileged to be able to actually see them for myself, and to be involved in a re-forestation programme run by Watamu Turtle Watch in co-operation with local conservation groups.

There are seven different mangrove species in Mida Creek, the most fascinating of which I found the Rhizophora with their dazzling network of stilt-like roots that were strong enough to walk on.

There are more mangrove pics in a travelogue.