July 27th, 2012 
Emily 
Last week, I mentioned how we took The Lunatic Express to Mombasa, a city on Kenya’s coast. Now I need to mention how much I LOVED Mombasa.
Mombasa is a major port city on the East African coast, and has been for centuries. As a result, traders and business people from East Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East have all settled in the area. The city is both ethnically and religiously diverse, and I really enjoyed people watching while we were in town. There’s a sizable population of Muslims, so many of the women we saw were covered head to toe, and even wore a buibui, with only their eyes peeking through the fabric. At Nyali Beach, just north of Mombasa, we drank cocktails on the beach while sitting next to a polygamous family with one dad, two moms and four young children. While going to dinner on Saturday night, we were invited to a wedding celebration at a Hindu temple. In addition to the great people watching, we enjoyed delicious swahili food and visited a diverse array of attractions. Here are some of the highlights:
Fort Jesus
The Portuguese built Fort Jesus in Mombasa in 1593 to protect the local Portuguese population. Because Mombasa was such a lucrative trading port, the Fort was probably necessary. Various entities won and lost the fort 9 times during a 250 year period. The Fort has also been used as a prison and as a barracks for soldiers, and it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
UNESCO says Fort Jesus is a well-preserved example of Portuguese military fortifications.
It wouldn’t be a fort without cannons.
The Old Town of Mombasa
One corner of Mombasa is known as “The Old Town” because it is, indeed, very, very old. The buildings are ancient, the streets are narrow, and you need a guide if you don’t want to get lost. We walked through the Old Town on our way to the market (see below).
Walking through the Old Town
Many of the doors in the Old Town were adorned with these elaborate wood carvings.
We even got to see the wood workers carving these intricate designs.
The Markets
We love food, ergo we love food markets. Mombasa has a great spice market, which we meandered through. I had to restrain my souvenir-loving husband from buying every spice in the place. I think we made it out with just coffee (unless he is hiding spices in his closet).
I just wanted to stick my hand in a bucket of spice.
More market food
Nyali Beach
We figured a trip to Mombasa wasn’t complete without a visit to the beach. We sipped cocktails, walked along the sand, watched camels walking along the sand, and generally soaked up the sunny, warm weather before heading back to Nairobi.
We never figured out who was in charge of the camels.
It was a lovely weekend, and if the going gets tough in Nairobi, then I plan to retreat back to Mombasa. Maybe next time I’ll even get to ride one of the beach camels!
Posted in 
Tags: 
Now I want to go there, too!
It was awesome! I’m hoping we can go back before we leave Kenya.
What adventures you two are having. Mombasa and the beach are lovely. Your posts are often eye-opening for me. I’m afraid I have such preconceived notions about the African continent in general because of the trouble spots. It’s good to be aware of those problems, but it’s also good to see what a beautiful place Kenya is. Keep up the good work!
I’m glad I can show you some of the more positive parts of Africa! You also make a good point about safety though, even in Kenya there are plenty of problems. As a matter of fact, a night club in Mombasa had been grenade-attacked two weeks before our trip. The U.S. government had just lifted it’s travel advisory when we went.
Okay, so I’m hoping Ryan has stashed some spices for souvenirs — sounds so yummy. I bet the smells were heavenly.
Don’t feed into his souvenir collecting! Just kidding, I’ll let you know if we go back. We can pick up some things for you.
What an interesting place! I love places where you can see and feel the history. I liked the look of the narrow roads. It’s easy to start imagining a time when people didn’t need them to be any wider. The rest of it looks beautiful and vibrant. Good stuff!
Ohh, I wish I had a photo of all the donkey carts filling up the narrow roads. It certainly puts in in perspective.