London se8 to mobasa, kenya

So seven nights, a one-day safari, traveller’s diarrhoea, and a handful of African woodcarvings later, you probably want to know if Mombassa, Kenya, is as amazing as everyone always says it is – in a word yes, it is, in a page read along as to exactly why it is….

Africa is a beautiful place full stop. Doused in history, when visiting Africa it really depends on exactly what you want to see and do.

Mombassa is one of those few places on earth that easily holds the title as a dreamland type paradise – (I just made that up by the way!) - as a result of its beautiful, pure white sandy beaches, clearly a big incentive in attracting the masses of tourists that flock there each year. Of course, there’s the City’s vast and unconquerable landscape, home to the great Kenyan safari and the numerous different species of wildlife. And if you’re a conservationist, then again Mombassa is a haven for all things green. There are not too many places where even the plants and trees look interesting!


As stunning as our hotel was and despite the fact that it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see monkeys strutting around the hotel grounds, at times it felt strangely claustrophobic. With hindsight I think that this sensation was born from the fact that everything that we needed could be acquired on the hotel premises, and therefore the need to go outside the parameters of the grounds was minimal if not non-existent. It was almost as if the hotel grounds were a comfort zone, and anything outside was new and unfamiliar, so depending on what type of traveller you are, you’ll happily settle for one of the two. Although, I don’t consider myself a newbie to this travelling lark, admittedly I was a bit of a cautioner and was quite content to settle for the hotel grounds, despite the protests of my lovely, ‘carpe diem’ girlfriend.

If you go to Kenya, its usually for a few reasons, safari being one of them. Due to the basic demand to see the great African outdoors and its inhabitants, safari is big business with prices that reflect this reality. This being, our funds only allowed us to embark on a one-day safari as opposed to the customary two-day excursions. Despite our humble broke-ness, Mother Nature was clearly looking down on us, for we managed to catch a butchers of some of African wildlife’s most incredible creatures all in one day. Families of elephants crossed our path without a care in the world; hippo’s immersed themselves in watery swamps in an attempt to escape the harsh Kenyan sun, Massai giraffes with necks long enough to reach heaven, happily ate from Kenya’s greenery, the beautiful black and white strips of Zebras roamed, and the great king of the jungle himself, the lion, even made a cameo appearance – not bad for a days work!