Voyages

First Guests

Four intrepid girls were our guinea pigs on a week’s sail from Kilifi to the Lamu archipelago in October 2004. They saw schools of tuna, sharks, turtles and tortoise, they spent a night on a deserted island and were amazed by the clear seas for the snorkeling:


Asleep in the sun

Last night feast: fresh crab, fish curry and coconut rice

Preparing the shower

Up Mida Creek With A Paddle

Every year hundreds of thousands of European yachtsmen fly to the Caribbean for winter sailing in the sun and return with sailing cruisers stories. Why can’t Kenya get a slice of this yacht charter action? This is the theory we set out to test as we left Kilifi in April 2004 for an overnight stay in Mida Creek, 24 kilometres up the coast on a 10 metre dhow.

The four-year old Lamu dhow, Ashraf had not been fitted with an engine yet, so we had to pole and pull, and then short tack against the flood tide and onshore wind to reach Kilifi club, where we loaded some cold Tuskers into the coolbox. By 11.30 we were cruising along with a following wind inside the reef off Kilifi Bay where we had three metres clearance under the keel.

Sitting in the shade of an UNHCR canvas, we watched the coast slide past at 5 knots, enjoying a fresh fruit lunch of mangoes, banana and pineapple. Villas and hotels gave way to scrub and a solitary Giriama house. We saw no shipping unless you count a group of lobster fishermen with snorkels.

SailKenya.com

Authentic Sailing Dhow Adventure in Lamu: Kenya's Indian Ocean Paradise