Mombasa Town

A little history of Mombasa as provided by the Daily Nation:
As the country’s oldest city and its most important port, Mombasa holds a central place in Kenya’s story. The city’s history dates back thousands of years, and is riddled with violent conflict, numerous takeovers, and an enduring cultural impact.

The earliest recorded mention of Mombasa is in the works of Diogenes, a Greek merchant in the First Century. Diogenes reported that he had been blown off course from his usual route to India, ending up in a port town he called Rhapta. Rhapta has never been conclusively identified, but Roman coins have been found on several islands that were part of or near what became the Zanzibar Sultanate, of which Mombasa was a core town.

The island was first referred to as ‘‘Manbasa’’ in 1502, when the Sultanate became autonomous from Kilwa Kisiwani. ‘‘Manbasa’’ is the Arabic form of the Kiswahili name, Mvita, derived from Shehe Mvita, the founding father of the island city. Some sources claim that Mvita is actually derived from Mombasa’s violent history over the centuries. The history supposedly earned the city the Kiswahili nickname “Kisiwa Cha Mvita”, which loosely translates to “Island of War”.

Most European travelers referred to it as “Mombaz” or close forms of the word. While it was a British Protectorate for two short years between 1824 and 1826, Mombasa was turned over fully to the British Imperial East African Company in 1898. The Sultan of Zanzibar officially leased the town to the British government in 1895 as a follow-up to an 1885 agreement. Technically, and legally, the coastal strip that is today the Kenyan coastline remained part of Zanzibar until it was ceded to independent Kenya in 1963.

Got my ticket to the coast....Mombasa Town. 

Waiting for the bus to load downtown Nairobi at night. It's  interesting, and a bit unnerving, to be downtown at night. The city moves and feels almost more alive than it does during the day. Near the transport hubs, the city never sleeps.  People throng around, moving to and from matatus and buses, and hawkers sell everything and anything you can imagine. It's wild, but keep your hand on your bag...

Pulling into Mombasa at daybreak. It's about a nine hour drive from Nairobi to Mombasa. The night bus usually allows a peaceful over night trip. However, this particular bus driver thought it would be nice to entertain the entire bus with loud club music throughout the entire night. Thankfully he stayed awake, I guess.

A view of the drive from the center of the city out. 

Check in at the hostel, and straight to the beach.

The Indian Ocean. 

We stayed near a public beach so there was a lot of activity throughout the day. An interesting slice of life, many locals live and work right on the beach: little wood huts for living, small wooden shops selling food, or massages, or various souvenirs. We saw this little girl every day we went to the beach, always with her younger siblings.  

The crew in the back of a tuk-tuk. The tuk-tuk is a lasting symbol of the Indian influence in Kenya. Many Indians were brought over by the British to build the railways during the colonial days. They stayed and now there is a thriving Indian community in Kenya which has influenced many aspects of the culture...most notably (in my opinion) with the food!!! Yum. 

Our tuk-tuk in action!

More drive time.

What's this? The Largest Crocodile Farm in Africa? Got to check this out. 

Time to see some crocs!

Classic tourist trap, but who cares?

Nope....

Apparently this helps them cool down. 

Catching some rays!

Teen crocs.

So many crocs.

I mean really, there's literally thousands of them. 

If you look to the bottom left hand corner, you can see Big Daddy's head. Big Daddy is the main attraction at the farm. They say he is more than 100 years old. According to our guide, he's the biggest crocodile in the world and killed five humans before they trapped him in the river and brought him to the farm. He didn't come out of the water for us, but you can see him in action here: BIG DADDY. 

Here's a little guy, perhaps a Big Daddy one day, but more likely to end up as lunch.

These guys are 2-3 years old. 

There are hundreds of them. 

So many crocs.

They are delicious! Tastes like fishy chicken. 

The crew holding a python. 

Evening at Mombasa Backpackers, a great little hostel with an eclectic mix of international guests.   

Day two, Old Town Mombasa. 

The entrance to Fort Jesus, a structure originating from the 16th Century with a rich history and interesting life. 

A.k.a. the squaty potty. 

The view of Old Mombasa from the fort. Unlike the historical places I've been in the States (or even Europe), here at Fort Jesus, you can go wherever you want, climb on what ever you want, and basically just do you. I dig that. If you tried to climb on Fort Macon, they'd arrest you. Here? I do what I want. 

Looking down at the entrance. 

More views from the top of the fort. 

The inside of the fort. 

Lots of interesting artillery here in the fort. You know what they say, "Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be an ugly brawl." 

A museum exhibit inside the fort. 

Manning my post. 

A view of the inlet: Tudor Creek and Nyali Beach. 

More views from the ramparts. 

TIA, just sayin. 

For a brief period, this part of the fort served as a temporary holding bay during the slave trade. Slaves would be brought here for a short while before being transferred to ships heading toward Indonesia and the West Indies. 

Some kiddies on a field trip. 

Smiling faces.

Play time...(shhh, they don't know I'm filming them)

Outside the fort. 

A view of the Tudor inlet. 

Old Town Mombasa. 

Although the epic chase scene in the film Inception was supposed to take place in Mombasa, most likely in Old Town, it was actually filmed in Morocco. If Hollywood cared about authenticity, they would have filmed the scene that was supposed to take place in Mombasa actually in Mombasa. These tiny side streets would have made for an even more awesome chase scene. 

These are also the kind of streets they warn you not to walk down. Oh well. 

Some merchants in Old Town. 

Another scene of Old Town. 

Street vendors. 

Strolling through town. 

The key is to look like you know exactly where you are going, don't make eye contact, and don't touch something unless you are sure you want to buy it. 

More scenes downtown.

Here's me trying to be covert and not draw attention to myself (and the camera).  But alas, the jig is up. 

Another chance to experience Kenya by land and by sea. Here is our captain Juma preparing his catamaran to take us out to the coral reef lagoon just off the shore of the beach. 

Juma, a man of the sea. 

Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me. 

Crystal clear/blue waters. 

I'm going in! We were able to snorkel in a coral lagoon for about an hour or so, it was pretty amazing. 

The crew at sea. 

The first mate!

Along the coast near Mombasa, about a half a mile off the shore, there is a coral reef barrier/break/sand bar. From the beach, it provides a constant gentle roar of the wave breaking against it. It reminds me of the scene from the Voyage of the Dawn Treader where the beach of Heaven comes out of the ocean. It was incredible.

A view of the coral barrier.

Life on the Break. (sorry about the wind)

The tide is just about to come in, right at sunset. Breath taking. 

Not quite like Peter, but I still, kinda-sorta, feel like I'm walking on water in the middle of the sea. 

Sunset on one side, moon rise on the other. 

Treated to a beautiful sunset on our last night. 

Simply beautiful. 

If you are ever in town, you can't beat a deal like this. About $15 for a two hour sailing trip: snorkeling in pristine coral reef and walking on the break of the sea. 

Goodbye Mombasa!