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.

GEDE RUINS

Gede ruins are the remains of a Swahili town, typical of most towns along the East African Coast. It traces its origin in the twelfth century but was rebuilt with new town walls in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This rebuilding is connected with the emigration of many citizens of Kilwa to Mombasa, Malindi and other places along the coast.

With its numerous inhabitants, the town became wealthy and it reached its peak in the fifteenth century. This enormous wealth is evidenced by the presence of numerous ruins, comprising of a conglomeration of mosques; a magnificent palace and houses all nestled in 45 acres of primeval forest. But in the first half of the seventeenth century the last
families left the town.

Gede's eventual abandonment to nature is believed to be as a result of a number of factors. Namely, the Wazimba raid along the East African coast in 1589. The removal of the Sheikh of Malindi and the Portuguese to Mombasa in 1593. The falling water table as shown by the deepening of the well outside the Great Mosque and finally the overhanging menace of the Galla, a hostile nomadic ethnic group from Somalia. Gede remains the first intensively studied site on the coast. It was first visited by Sir John Kirk, a British resident of Zanzibar in 1884. Over forty years later in 1927, it was gazetted as a Historical Monument. Two years later in 1929, it was declared a "protected monument" and in the late thirties, the Public Works Department carried out work on preservation of its crumbling walls. Gede was soon after the repairs in 1948 declared a National park and an Archaeologist appointed as warden. Thus, the first archaeological work at Gede began under the direction of James Kirkman followed by the first publication of the site. In 1969, Gede's administration was taken over by the Museum Trustees.

Currently the Monument is under the care of the National Museums of

Gede Ruins

  Kenya and in addition to being avery important archaeological site; Gede indigenous forest is a sacred site for traditional rituals and sacrifices for the surrounding community.

The benefits tourism

The main benefits of tourism are:
(1) Economic Benefits.
(2) Socio-Cultural Benefits.
(3) Environment Benefits.
Other benefits can also include job opportunities to the citizens in a community such as tour guides, hotel house keeping. Industrial jobs can also be generated through; agriculture, food production and whole sale/retail businesses.

the tourism destination in western Europe

International tourism record:

The international tourism record for summer 2016; has grown so high in other countries (tourism destinations), but very low in Western Europe and the Caribbean

Definition of Tourism:

Tourism; it is the commercial organization and operation of vacations and visits to places of interest for pleasure, business, research and studies.

The Ngorongoro Crater

Located in the northern part of Tanzania, the Ngorongoro Crater is home to over 25,000 wild animals, including 62 lions. It also houses a wide variety of vegetation. it encompasses the Savannah, forest, and bush land. The crater itself is about 20 kilometers wide, 600 meters deep and 300 sq kilometers in area. It is a place where humans, domestic animals, as well as wild animals can coexist. It has been considered a world heritage site since 1979 (UNESCO). The Ngorongoro Crater is home of the Olduvai Gorge which is where human life is believed to have started. The crater is protected by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA). The area has some of Tanzania's best hotels and lodges and can house up to 560 visitors. The tour of the crater itself includes a drive into the crater as you watch the different animals feed and walk around, and reaches a halfway point where the car stops around a small lake where you can watch the hippos as you enjoy your lunch. it ends with going back to the NCAA headquarters. It is a trip you should definitely have on your bucket list and is truly nature's gem.