Malindi is just over 25kms from Watamu, and
may be reached easily via the Mombasa-Malindi road, either by matatu, taxi or
self-driven. You may need to go there in order to book air and bus tickets to
Nairobi, Mombasa or Lamu, so why not explore a bit while you're there.
Malindi is a much larger place than Watamu, and as a result the beaches tend
to be more crowded, especially with hawkers and beach boys and girls.
Watamu.net
naturally, therefore, recommends Malindi mainly for four things:
SHOPPING
For both everyday needs, such as groceries and booze and occasional luxury items,
Malindi may have things not available in Watamu, since most of the supermarkets
have a wider range of goods on offer.
There are several supermarkets on Lamu Road, the main road
that runs parrallell to the beach heading North, including an Italian one with
lots of Mediterranean goodies - at a price, of course!!
Malindi is well known for its Halwa, and the Malindi Halwa
Shop is one street behind the Town Square, a triangular roundabout next to the
local District Commissioner's Offices.
You can also find the ubiquitous curios in a variety of different sorts of
establishments, from upmarket shops selling high value work, to the Malindi Curio
Dealers Association, a ramshackle collection of semi-permanent kiosks where you
can find many bargains.
NOTE: watamu.net
requests that visitors observe wildlife and conservation ethics and DO NOT buy
seashells, corals or wood carvings that are made with endangered local hardwoods.
HISTORICAL PLACES OF INTEREST
Vasco da Gamas Pillar, on the beach in the middle of Malinidi's long
coastal front, is a monument to where Vasco da Gama first set foot in modern-day
Kenya in 1498. There is also a Portugese church nearby.
WINING AND DINING
Malindi really comes into its own when you have exhausted Watamu's eating joints
after a few days. Top of anyone's list should be a visit to The Old Man
and the Sea a wonderful seafood oriented restaurant on the seafront.
A number of Italian restaurants serve the usual fare of pizzas and pasta, and
there are numerous excellent Swahili cafeterias in the town itself that make a
great change from exported foreign foods.
Most of the action is on the Northern side of the town, along Lamu Road. There
are a number of bars of varying degrees of popularity where you can while away
the afternoon over a cold Tusker. However, at some places you will be harassed
by commercial sex workers, especially if you are a single man, or a group of men!
You have been warned!! For little or no hassle, choose a place with a vigilant
watchman, like Palm Garden. On the other end of the scale, Star
and Garter can be quite calm during the day, and has pool tables too.
NIGHTLIFE
As the afternoon fades, and evening approaches, Malindi seems to die
out and everywhere empties out. This is because things do not really get going
until much later - Meditteranean style!
Of the remaining Nightclubs - the biggest, Stardust, having shut down sometime
last year - Club 28 is almost always heaving by midnight, and
carries on until dawn, even on weekdays in the low season. This is not a club
for the fainthearted, and as either a male or female visitor, expect to be "chatted
up" more times than in the whole of the past year!! Other clubs and discos
are only open in the high season, such as Fermentos, a reputed
hang-out of Naomi Campbell when she was still dating an Italian with a house here.
Prices match too! Other clubs are associated with the hotels in which they take
place.
Other attractions, both night and day, include a couple of Casinos, snake parks,
a falconry, the fish market, dhow trips, Malindi Marine National Park (stick with
Watamu instead!) and plenty of tour operators, a car hire company, pharmacies,
doctors and normal shops. |
