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These are unedited, unsolicited reviews and comments from some of our customers.
"The best holiday I have ever had" - Steve Parks Posted by nathaliapendo 1 January 2008 on Guardian web site as a travel hint. "Captain Shallo and Sail Kenya run sailing safaris along the Lamu archipelago. Captain Shallo also runs sailing safaris from Kalifi between Mombasa and Malindi.
I went on the four-day Lamu sailing safari last September and would truly say it was one of my best ever holidays. Captain Shallo and the crew really make sure you have a great time - swimming in clear, warm, blue water, walking along the most powdery of white sands, visiting tiny villages along the north-eastern coast and eating great super-fresh food.
It's not a luxury comfort holiday, but a bit of an adventure combined with a lot of pleasure."
"The food was absolutely fantastic. Every day we ate fresh fish, most of it was caught on a line off the boat. Snapper, barracuda, tuna, grouper. We were in heaven. The sailing is amazing, we could help with the sailing if we wanted to, if not we just relaxed and watched. Its great book reading time and a very head clearing experience. Sometimes we saw monkeys on the beach. Occasionally saw dolphins and turtles too. I would recommend this trip to anyone who wants an adventure. We were looked after so well by the crew and were good friends by the time we left. Most of the time the sea was calm but we did have a few windy days when there was some swell which was exciting. We had plenty of stories to tell when we got back!" - Review by Ann and Dani Church
Read the complete review on www.responsibletravel.com
"Following a conversation with Dave Beavan and discussion with Rupert it was decided that we would join Dave on his Dhow for a weeks sailing in Kenya this February leaving another couple of weeks for safari and general chill out. We met Dave at Lamu in Northern Kenya , very Islamic and interesting, no cars but lots of donkeys. They are the healthiest best looked after donkeys I’ve ever seen, not like your skinny old Greek donkey, but still some sad old Europeans have managed to set up the ubiquitous donkey sanctuary.
Sailing from Lamu to Kisingitini and Kiwaiyu we were shown how well such a basic and on the surface unhandy craft can be sailed, the shallow draft and lack of a keel made it the ideal boat for the often narrow channels between reefs.The crew had a technique for every occasion all of which seemed to work however bizarre. They were really good seamen who navigated from experience and instinct with only occasional recourse to modern nav aids, that was Dave’s department. We had an excellent cook who produced super local dishes on very simple equipment, fish, rice and fruit featured in most of them made from the freshest ingredients, my mouth waters when I think of them now.
We ony had two hiccups the first was the engine packed up on the 2nd day, but as we were sailing off the wind thereafter with a decent breeze on the beam by mid afternoon it was a pleasure not to have the option of using the smelly old thing and the second was that we ran out of beer at Kiwaiyu necessitating a serious Tusker hunt, that being the name of the local amber nectar, supplies were obtained at rather a premium price by Kenyan standards but still half the price of Adnams. Return to Lamu was via the outside passage around Pate Island thence to Kilifi via Malindi and Watamu.
I enjoyed the whole trip as did Rupert on his first visit to Africa, happy friendly people, lovely climate and no hassle, much as I remembered from my first visit as a young merchant navy officer some very long time ago. Dave doesn’t promise jacuzzi’s or air conditioning, it’s very much an adventure holiday but he does have solar panels which power the fridge to keep the Tusker cold. Highly recommended" - Review by Malcolm Taylor
"Dear David,
Just a line to thank you very much for an interesting and instructive time on Ashraf. We liked the boat and thought the crew were excellent. We hope that the rest of your season has been going well, and look forward to hearing from you on your return to England. We returned to the coldest three weeks of the winter!
Best wishes,
Colin and Imogen Bright"
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