MIDA CREEK

Spend a few hours exploring Mida Creek and enjoy a relaxed guided tour and canoe ride through the mangrove swamps where you can view a magnificent array of birds and animals.

Situated in western Kenya in the popular tourism region of Malindi-Watamu one will find the beautiful Mida Creek. Mida Creek is a large saline lagoon that merges with a 1 600 hectare Mangrove forest. The area has a number of different habitats and supports a diverse range of flora and fauna including both indigenous and migratory species.




A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and one of the most important conservation regions in Africa; Mida Creek is an important birding area and is significant in the passage and as a wintering location of migrant waders from Paleartic regions such as northern Africa, Europe, Asia and the Himalaya foothills. Many young Turtles also use the area as a feeding ground and it is an important spawning ground for several fish species.

Through a project called ASSETS (Arabuko-Sokoke Schools and Ecotourism Scheme) run by a Christian initiative called A Rocha Kenya, visitors can take a guided tour along a board walk. The entrance to the boardwalk provides a magnificent view across the creek to the line of thick mangroves.


Friendly local guides meet you at the entrance where you can arrange for a guided tour of the boardwalk followed by a canoe ride across the creek and a delicious lunch of grilled fish in coconut sauce. The tour takes you along the 260 metre suspended boardwalk that twists and winds its way through the mangrove, swaying gently as you walk along it. During the walk your guide will teach you about the different plants in the mangroves and the variety of birds and wildlife found in the area, you may also have the opportunity to see a colony of Greater Flamingos and a large number of Crab Plovers. At the end of the boardwalk there is a rustic bird hide from which you can see a number of water birds from Greenshanks to Whimbels, Sacred Ibises and Sandpipers. After you have spent some time bird-watching your guide will escort you out of the hide and across the mud flats, past the scuttling crabs, to the canoes. Your guide may also show you the rock pools where brightly coloured Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers and Cow Fish may be seen. The canoe ride ventures silently into the mangrove forest taking you past a variety of waders and water birds as you head deeper and deeper into the forest. This is a wonderful way to take in the beauty of your surroundings as you skim effortlessly across the water.