Malindi and Gedi ruins

Malindi is a small town on Kenya’s east coast. It was here Vasco de Gama’s fleet landed in the year 1498, after having been denied access to Mombasa harbour. The emperor in Malindi opened his harbour for Vasco’s fleet.

Malindi became the place where the Portugese built their base and lived for about a 100 years. They did not leave Malindi until after Fort Jesus had been built. They capatured Fort Jesus and settled there.

Malindi is also the place to go fishing and snorkeling, as a matter of fact there is no limit to what you can rent on the beach, e.g. waterscooters, glassboats and fishing boats, but it is only for the rich white to rent fishing boats. The fact is that it costs about $500 per day, whereas in other places you can rent a boat for $100-300 .

South of Malindi is one of the most fantastic coralreefs. Here you can rent glassboats and snorkeling equipment for a fair price - 700 kenyan shillings (about $7). It is a protected area where fishing is not allowed, which means that the fish are not afraid of people. Here, compared to other places, which are not preserved, you can touch and swim with the fish, which means that it is clearly best to find an area which is preserved. It makes the experience much better.

Between Malindi and Watamu are the old ruins of Gedi, it was here the Swahilies settled. It was also in this town the language Swahili got its name, because they had found out that when the waves break against the shore it sounds like "swahili". The size of the town was 42 hectare and the population was about 2500. They had a great temple as a matter of fact it is the most well-preserved of all the buildings in the ruin. Probably the town was built in the year 1314, and it existed until 1600. The town was situated 15 kilometers from the water, but because of an underground canal they could get water. During all the time the town existed they were attacked twice by the Turks, they survived the first time, the second time they had to surrender. Shortly afterwards the Turks had to leave the town, because the underground canals had changed direction which meant their irrigation system dryed out.

The Gedi ruins are certainly a place to visit, and it gets better if you invest in a guide, after all the area is about 42 hectare. A guide only cost about 100 kenya shillings. My suggestion is to give him 350, it does make the conducted tour better. Visit the Gedi ruins and get the best experience for a long time.

(Reference: Fynsgade)