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Malindi Vasco da Gama

Malindi located about 100 km north of Mombasa, Malindi is one of the large tourist towns along the coast. It's history goes back to 860 AD with fossil evidence showing trade with lands as far as china.

In April 1498 docked Vasco da Gama in Malindi. Before that Vasco da Gama had stopped in Mombasa where the reception was not quite friendly. For the Sultan of Malindi not quite friendly with Mombasa this was an opportunity to receive Vasco da Gama. Later in 1593 the Portuguese concurred Mombasa and built the Fort Jesus and moved their headquarters there and Malindi became quite again. It is until the 1930s that Malindi became famous worldwide through the writings of Ernest Hemmingway. After 1945 Malindi a became a popular Holiday destination for the European settler community in the Kenyan highlands and started to grow again. In the 70s Malindi became the centre of mass tourism in Kenya.

The white sandy beaches entice visitors from all over the world. Currently it appears mostly to be the sit of Italian tourism and is doted with numerous street cafes, restaurants, hotels and other tourist facilities with Italian names and notice boards.Malindi's beach Sometimes the town makes a very touristic sometimes artificial impression. The many hotels, beer gardens and hoards of tourists in T-shirts make one forget where he is....in Africa that is.

When one makes his way to the Malindi Bay where the Vasco da Gama's pillar is located one gets an impression of the changes that this town has undergone. The foot-path to the pillar is lined with walled private villas. The whole place seems to be in the hands of private ownership. Inquiries and a little walking around shows the visitor that beneath the beauty of the tourist world lies the reality of the everyday life of the people of Malindi.

In the town centre where a few years back the Bus station populated with hawkers was located, now stands only a few huts and small restaurants. The new post office in Malindi is expected to be built here and of course the opinion of the small businessmen was not requested. They will have to give way to the post. But their life was already affected by the removal of the bus station anyway.