Hello there! Could anyone give us some leads for a nice, quaint place (on the beach) to stay in Mombasa? My husband and I are planning a trip to Nairobi and Mombasa in Dec'99...we are hoping to spend the new years in Mombasa. Also, we would like to find out how to get to Mombasa from Nairobi?
Thank you in advance for your help!
Ayca + Zoltan
[There are 5 posts - the latest was added on Wed 26 May, 3:32]
Use the form at the end of this page to add your own post.
Topics
| Thorn Tree
| Home
For Nairobi/Mombasa take the train. It is an overnight
sleeper - a most civilised way to travel.
Watamu just north of Mombassa (near Malindi) will offer you
nice beaches, great snorkelling and is much quieter than
Malindi. I spent some time there in 1996 and it was one of
the highlights of my three months in Africa. I would also
suggest taking the 'lunatic express' from Nairobi to
Mombassa - the overnight train. Again suggest a sleeper in
either first or second class. If you take the train say Hi
to David the train captain for me.
Enjoy
Probably not worth trying to drive between Nairobi and
Mombassa any more. It used to take only about six - eight
hours, unfortunatly the pot-holes get bigger (we're talking
teh size of cars here), and last year a lot of the road got
washed away in the floods. This put the journey time up to
around 16 hours - However, they may have fixed it all since
last year, but I doubt it.
If you want to avoid the large hotels on, and around
Mombassa - try 'White Rose Villas' (I'm pretty sure that is
the name), they are small
self-catering apartments on their own stretch of beach and
can be found and booked from Nairobi, it
is easy to walk along the beach to the touristy bits, but
far enough away to avoid all the 'beachboys' hassling you.
They are also close to the markets for food etc.
Even though they are self catering, the management can
recomend some wonderful local cooks who can be hired to
prepare day and evening meals - they will also select the
best fresh sea food and fruits from the local sellers who
come door to door in the mornings. An absolute bargain and
god send. Also most of the cooks are muslim, so have no
qualms about working over the Christmas period.
Mombasa is interesting and safer place than Nairobi, but if
you really want to relax go to the beaches south or north
of the city. I stayed on Tiwi beach wich is about 10 miles
(16 km) south of Mombasa. There is a good range of
accomondations from camping to confortable hotels. The
beach is just incredible there. There is plenty of activity
from diving to camel back riding.
The train is an obvious choice from Nairobi, although it
derailed twice in the last two months killing 10 tourists.
It just happened a week before I was there in March so I
took the bus. If you go with a more luxury bus line the
trip isn't so bad. It takes about 8 hrs and it's a lot
cheaper. They started charter flights from Nairobi to
Mombasa wich also affordable (US$45 one way).
Tamas
I second the choice of White Rose Villas. My friend and I
stayed there several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Right on the beach, fairly inexpensive, and very close to
the upscale hotels. We took the train from Nairobi to
Mombasa and then a cab to the White Rose Villas (though I
remember feeling a bit put out about the cab price). Take
a local bus and they will drop you off.
Have a wonderful time.