My whole trip got flipped on its head when we moved to the coast. The coast of Kenya is part of the “Swahili coast” of Africa stretching from as far north as Mogadishu all the way down to Mozambique and origin of the Swahili language and culture. Swahili language (as well as culture in many ways) is a blend of Arabic and Bantu, with a little legacy of the Portugese colony mixed in. Although the Portugese were here on the Kenyan coast for a few hundred years, the only Swahili word I know derived is “meza” for table. It is true that the coast is NOT Kenya, purely in the sense that the culture and people here are more unique than any other place we have travelled in Kenya. The food, religion (vast majority are muslim) and language are heavily influenced by the legacies of trading and exchanges with the middle east and other countries on the Indian ocean. This photo is a view of a “creek” leading in from the sea to the village where I lived for a week “Takaungu” about 30-40 miles north of Mombasa and just south of Kilifi. The start of the village stay began my eventual 9-week stay on the Kenyan coast in Takaungu, Mombasa and Lamu.
Into Africa 