Malindi, Gedi Ruins & Marine Park Tour

Highlights: This tour takes you to Malindi across the new Mtwapa and Kilifi bridges to visit the Gedi ruins. Continue to Malindi and view marine life in a glass-bottom boat at the Marine Park. After lunch in a local restaurant, visit the Snake Farm and the Falconry. En route to Mombasa, stop at a local village to watch Giriama dancers.

This tour starts very early from Mombasa to Malindi town to catch up with the Marine park trip from Watamu. After that, you will proceed to Malindi town to see the Vasco da Gama pillar and then to Gedi Ruins on your way back to Mombasa in the afternoon.

Malindi is one of Kenya's coastal towns north of Mombasa. Just like Mombasa, Malindi holds a lot of history. Its scenic beauty and clean white beaches make it one of the most visited towns. The Swahili people are the predominant culture found in Malindi. A multi-ethnic city, a mixture of different cultures and religions, a multi-colored human rainbow, and this is how Malindi presents itself. Downtown and old center, the local market building, and touristic resorts. Malindi is a Kenyan beach holiday at all. Malindi is the most lively and entertaining place along the coast, with its discos, restaurant and pubs night parties on the beach, the casino. Everything needed to make an unforgettable holiday.

Malindi was made famous after Vasco da Gama's stopover in 1498. In Malindi, you will see narrow alleys in the old town where the old houses have lived for centuries. One of the oldest East African churches still stands strong; the Church of St. Francis Xavier still stands strong across Vasco da Gama's pillar, where he carved the Christian cross. Extant is the Juma'a mosque, which was a haven for slave trading until the mid-1870s.

Gede Ruins is a 12th Century Swahili village that was mysteriously abandoned some 600 years ago due to unknown causes. It is now a National Museum, and the ruins are heavily overgrown with beautiful indigenous forest trees, baobabs, and tamarind. Well worth a walk and a visit. Look out for Syke's Monkeys, and One can also see the Golden Rumped Elephant Shrew. A quiet, careful look in some of the old wells can turn out the odd owl, too. The tour of the Malindi area will encompass a visit to the lost city of Gedi, the town of Malindi, a ride out to sea in a glass-bottom boat, and lunch at Hemingway's Beach Resort or Turtle Bay Beach Resort before disembarking back to Mombasa.