Located at the coast of the Indian Ocean and just 4° below the Equator, the pleasant climate of Mombasa has contributed to its popularity as a tourist destination.

The history of Mombasa, however, goes way back to at least the 1100s. Its location has over time made it an important trading post and called on by famous seafarers like Portuguese Vasco de Gama and Chinese Cheng He.

Gold, ivory, spices, coconuts, millet and innumerous other major commodities were traded in or exported from its port.

Mombasa itself is located on an island access to which to this day is by some simple ferries and a railroad. The popular beach resorts are not located on the island itself but on the beaches north and south of the city.

We were looking for a place to spend a much need long weekend away from the daily hardships of expat life in Egypt back in the early 1980s.

Best choices were Athens and Rome, but also then the Palestinians ruined that through indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians in those cities.

We therefore turned our eyes south and chose a beach resort near Mombasa.

We stopped over in Nairobi (back then there was no international airport at Mombasa) for the night and took Coconut Airways to Mombasa next morning.

The resort was paradise on earth. Food was superb, service was great and accommodation reasonable. The waters of the Indian Ocean were warm, clear and clean.

Half a day was spent on a safari into one of the nearby wildlife reserves, with innumerous sightings of animals like giraffe, buffalo, antelope, baboon, water hog, just to mention a few.

We visited Mombasa in 1979. At that time tourism here was only in its infancy and we had most of the beaches and facilities to ourselves, to which the photos testify.

Locals were still pushing out their catamarans from the white sand beaches to go fishing in the early morning.

Entertainment was still rather "genuine" and not totally professionalized. The safari bus had abundant space and the guide had plenty of time to talk to us.

Local trades people would not constantly push their trinkets on to you all over the beach as seen all too often today.

The resort truly lived up to its purpose: rest and recreation.

No regrets. I would go back anytime and I would believe that so would Annette.

All of the photos on this page are my own. My camera was not very sophisticated, so I excuse the relatively poor quality of some of the pictures.

Sources:
Wikepedia
Own photos taken late 1979
Display program inspired by Matteo Bicocchi and BT