Tourist Attractions in Malindi
Tourist Attractions in Malindi : Malindi is the second biggest coastal town after Mombasa, located 120 kilometres from Mombasa and 566 kilometres from Nairobi by road .A journey of approximately 9 hours and 21 minutes. It is the largest urban town in Kilifi county, a town on Malindi bay at the mouth of Sabaki River on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya.
Tourism is the major industry in the town of Malindi. The town is very popular among the Italians tourist. The town grew as part of Swahili civilization in the period between 5th and 10th centuries since then the town has tremendously grown to be one of the tourist favourite destinations in the Coastal region of Kenya.
Malindi has Watamu Marine National park and Malindi Marine National Park managed by kenya wildlife service as a continuous protected area found in the South of Malindi town.
Watamu Beach
Watamu beach is known for its pristine sandy beaches with coconut palm trees, and the soothing warm Indian Ocean waters. This gives Watamu beach it beauty and spectacular views of the Indian ocean. Watamu beach is the world’s famous for its beautiful beaches.
Gedi ruins
Gedi ruins is one of the standing out historical and archaeological site in Malindi. The Gedi ruins also known as Gede is adjacent to the Town of Gedi and within the Arabuko Sokoke Forest.
This outstanding site is walled town which includes a Mosque, a Palace and numerous houses are made of stone are one storey and are distributed unevenly. There are little evident documentation associating Gedi with the Indian Ocean trade but it is believed to be one of the important sites during the trade.
Gedi architecture has imported materials culture such as pottery, beads and coins providing evidence of a one time flourishing trade and a popular ancient city dating way back to the 11th century to its abandonment in 17th century. It is today one of the rich historical sites and a tourist attraction in Malindi.
Kipepeo Market
Kipepeo is a Swahili word which means Butterfly. It is one of the community based projects started was started in 1993.It is located in Gedi ruins South of Malindi 20 kilometres from Malindi town. It is a community based enterprise formed by the communities around Arabuko Sokoke Forest, it provides incentives for their efforts in conservation of high bio diversity and Endemism.
This Kipepeo Market sells butterflies and moth pupae and other insects products such as honey and silk cloth produced by the community.
This farm breeds butterflies of various colours, and sizes helping thousands of people living in around Arabuko Sokoke Forest.
Vasco Da Gama pillar
Vasco Da Gama pillar is one of the physical reminder of the Portuguese influence in Kenya. It is one of the tourist attractions in Malindi and must be included in places to visit in Malindi. The pillar was built by the Portuguese explore Vasco Da Gama in 1498.
Vasco Da Gama pillar is located at the sea front, it has a cross at the top made of Portuguese limestone from Lisbon. This bell shaped Monument built by the Portuguese in 1498, is the oldest European Monument in East African coast amid strong Muslim resistance.
The Vasco Da Gama pillar looks like a light house in shape the only difference is that Vasco Da Gama pillar has no lights in it. It is believed that the Portuguese explorers would see the pillar from the see as they approach the shores of Malindi but its main purpose was to give a bearing to Portuguese explorers navigating to India. Other historical accounts is that Vasco Da Gama built the pillar as a appreciation for the hospitality accorded to the Portuguese to the explorer by the rulers of Malindi and the locals.
Vasco Da Gama was born in 1460s in the town of Sines in Portugal. He was the first European explorer to sail around the Cape of Good Hope to India. He sailed through the East Coast rounding the Cape of Good Hope reaching India in 1498. This opened up the Southern route which was shorter than the Northern route and this opened it up to Portuguese ships and eventually dominated trade between India and Portugal.
Portuguese Chapel
One of the tourist attractions of Malindi is the Portuguese Chapel which show the influence of Portuguese in the town of Malindi.This Makuti thatched Portuguese Chapel was built by Vasco Da Gama in 1498 on his epic voyage to Goa India via Malindi.
The Portuguese Chapel compound contains graves of two sailors buried there in 1542 by St Francis Xavier who retraced Vasco Da Gama voyage to India. This is a tourist and religious attraction in the coastal town .There are more than 34 other people who have been buried here ,including the first Malindi British Commissioner Bell Smith in 1894.
On December 3rd each year a hundred of Catholic faithful visit the Chapel to commemorate the feast day of St Francis who buried his two sailors and prayed in the Chapel while travelling to Goa. Within the same street as the church is centuries old House of Columns a palatial home which at one time served as a Hospital then later ,it was changed into a Library.
Vasco Da Gama is a famous Portuguese explorer who was best known for being the first to sail from Europe to India by rounding Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. This journey he carried over the course of two voyages beginning in 1497 and 1502 da Gama landed and traded with locals along the coast of Southern Africa before reaching India on 20th May 1498.
House of Columns
This history building named House of Columns is one of the oldest buildings in Malindi town. This building is named House of Columns because of the Columns in front of the building. It houses one and the only large Coelacanth ever captured in the Indian Ocean waters of Malindi. This House of Columns was previously known as The Malindi Museum, is believed to have been built in 19th century but the structure of the building shows that it may be way back older than that. The first picture of the building is seen in a book published in 1898, Tourist Attractions in Malindi
The building has two small dark rooms ,one is dedicated to a strange little display of the fishing industry in the area and the other has preserved carcass of Coelacanth found in the Indian Ocean waters of Malindi. The building has upstairs which hosts a library, which apparently has books in English, Swahili and Italian.
The Falconry
This is a private zoo which host a collection of birds of prey and other animals. It is located Malindi off the Lamu road near Moriema cottage. It is one of the tourist attractions of Malindi which can be experienced as a family tour safari in Malindi from where you can choose to walk around the place exploring some of the Falcons and Eagles at close range.
The Falconry host some of the rescued and injured animals and rehabilitated. Some of the birds found here are; Eagles, Falcons ,owls ,goshawks, and peckers among others. Other animals found are; crocodiles, monitor lizards, Tortoises, Monkeys and Snakes. One of the most fascinating animals is the largest giant Aldabra Tortoise which is more than 100 years which originated from Seychelles. It is vegetarian and can reach up to 250 kilograms, it can eat about 20 bananas and 40 kilograms per day.
Bio Ken snake Farm
This a research centre and a laboratory that host the largest collection of snake in East Africa. They specialise in anti venom production and the study of snake bites. It is here where you’ll study different species of snakes their behaviour and their venom milking techniques.
Watamu and Malindi Marine National Parks
It is among the Marine National parks managed by Kenya wildlife service and it was established in 1968. It is among the Un recognised world Biosphere Reserve with plenty of aquatic animals and birds to view in the park. These parks are endowed with magnificent resources such as fringing reefs, coral gardens in the lagoons, sea grass beds, mangroves, mudflats, marine mammals, turtles and various species of shorebirds There are also plenty of other water sport activities like diving, windsurfing, Snorkelling and Glass Bottom Boat Rides among others.
Mida Creek
Mida Creek is a tidal stretch of about 32 km² from the sea into Arabuko Sokoke Forest. It is one of the major tourist attractions of the watamu marine national park and the most productive mangroves ecosystem in the world.It is an recognised international bird area and together with Arabuko Sokoke Forest forms a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is home to different species of birds such as Greater and Lesser sand plover, Crab plovers, Dimorphic Egrets ,Lesser Crested and Roasted terns, Sanderling, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Whimbrel, Grey Plover, and Greater and Lesser Sand plover among many other bird species and some of the migratory birds from Europe.
Mida Creek is also an important feeding and breeding grounds for green and Hawksbill turtles. Coral heads and the rich sea grass beds provide food in a sheltered area away from large predators.