Kenyan coast

One of the many corridors in Lamu.

Hanging out on one of the main streets and tourist sections of Lamu.

One of the many beautiful doors in Lamu.  Similar doors are seen in Stone Town, Zanzibar.

Shela Beach, located 5 km from Lamu.

One of the trees that grew around an ancient wall in Gede. 

Kat poses in the mihrab (echo chamber) in one of the mosques in Gede  A mihrab is a section of the mosque where Muslims pray loudly and hear their prayers echo throughout the area

The pillar tomb and Great Mosque of Gede. 

The greater palace area of Gede.  In the foreground is another tree that grew around a palace wall. 

           It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of Kenya’s major sources of revenue comes from tourism.  Many think of the many safaris (Tsavo, Massai Mara) and Nairobi when discussing tourism in Kenya.  However, the Kenyan coast does a fair share of tourism too.  The beaches and ancient Muslim towns draw tourists every year to the coastal towns and resorts. 

            The 2007-2008 election devastated the tourism in Kenya due to the major violence and fear of civil war.  While those fears were abated and tourism came back, recent issues with Al-Shabaab and Somali refugees have placed major concerns with the Kenya-Somali border and the Kenyan coast.  Terrorist attacks on coastal towns destroyed tourism in Lamu and Pate last year, and recent attacks in Mombasa have reignited concerns about safety on the coast. 

            One of the major tourism sections is the town of Lamu, situated on the northern section of Kenya’s coast.  This old Muslim town is less famous than Zanzibar’s Stone Town, yet Lamu is as beautiful and has just as many winding corridors and fun alcoves to discover.  There are boys riding donkeys through the town and mosques on every corner.  While Lamu may be 100 years past its peak (due to the abolition of slavery, Lamu was once a major slave trading port), it was rediscovered in the past 30 years as a vacation spot.  Shela beach is a popular spot near the town to relax, while Lamu attracts the explorers and adventurers of Kenya.

            Closer to Mombasa is the traditionally Italian and British vacation spot of Malindi.  This beach town is a major commerce center for Kenyans, but Europeans know it for the Italian restaurants and resorts.  A smaller version of Malindi is situated 20 miles south in the beach town of Watamu.  While Watamu may claim tourists for relaxing, it is also next to the famous Gede ruins.

            Gede was once a prosperous town that traded with areas far away as Persia, China, and Portugal.  Due to ivory (and probably slaves), Gede’s trade resulted in a civilization complete with a sultan and several mosques.  There are cemeteries, massive drinking water wells, and communal areas for men and women.  At Gede’s height (estimated between the 12^th and 18^th centuries), Gede was one of the most prosperous and richest areas on Africa’s Indian Ocean coastline. 

            Gede’s decline is a mystery and has several theories: drawdown or salt water in the wells, disease, attacks from inland, or a lack of continuous resources from the surrounding area.  Whatever the reason is a mystery to the greater mystery of Gede: no one knows much about Gede because there are no historical records or texts of its existence.  There are only conclusions that can be drawn from scientific discovery of the area.

            I spent 10 days on the Kenyan coast this past July.  The Kenyans in this area are very amiable and helpful, some of the best I’ve encountered in Africa.  The only downside to this area is the heat and high level of humidity.  Enjoy the photos. 

Mt. Kilimanjaro

The entrance gate to Machame route and the beginning of the hike.

My tent overlooking the summit of Kili at our campground for the second night, Shira Camp.

My guide Frank posing on day 3 of the hike.  The peak of Kili sits behind him.  Notice that Frank is wearing only a t-shirt and we're at about 14,000 feet.  That's why we call him Iceman. 

Senecios sitting below the peak of Kili on day 4 of the journey.

A map of Kilimanjaro National Park.  The red indicates the Machame route, which was the route I took on a six day, five night trek.  We began at Machame Gate, slept at Machame, Shira, Barranco, Barafu, and Mweka, and finished at Mweka Gate (photo courtesy of alpineascents.com). 

One of the premier sites of Africa is Mt. Kilimanjaro, and one of the premier activities in Africa is hiking Mt. Kili.  The popularity of the hike is due to several reasons: it’s geographical proximity to Arusha and high quality safari drives (Ngorongoro, Massai Mara, Serengeti, etc), the level of difficulty yet accessibility, people can hike this in a relative short period of time (six to ten days), and people can say they’ve hiked the highest mountain in Africa and highest freestanding mountain in the world.  Due to the mystique and reasons listed above, Kilimanjaro attracts thousands of hikers a year and leaves a few dead on its slopes. 

Hiking begins at one of the several trailheads (there are six official routes) in a humid tropical environment before ascending through semi alpine, alpine, and finally through high altitude with snow and no vegetation.   Hikers can expect to sleep at least three days at elevations of 12,500 feet and above, where sleeping can become quite difficult.  (If you want to shell out the money, you can sleep in the crater at the top.  It’s expensive to bring porters to this elevation and VERY cold, but you do get to sleep at about 18,000 feet.) Furthermore, the ascent to the top begins generally at midnight where hikers experience extreme cold and wind for six to seven hours, followed by a 10,000 foot descent to the final camp.  Despite there being no technical climbing required, Kili is a very demanding hike.  Reports listed by Kilimanjaro National Park estimate that 41% of hikers reach Uhuru Peak, the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. 

In late June I made a six day journey to hike to the top of Kili.  The team consisted of my guide Frank, my cook, three porters, and me.  Due to my exhaustion from trekking across Africa, I wasn’t able to make it to the top.  My guide and I decided to turn around at approximately 18,300 feet (Uhuru Peak’s elevation is 19,341 feet officially), so I never made it to the roof of Africa.  I’ll be honest: it was disappointing.  However, aside from the 1,000 feet I didn’t make of the mountain I had a great trek.  I saw some gorgeous areas and met some great people along the way.  Furthermore, I learned a lot about myself.