Sunset
Local guide and safari organiser · Watamu, Kilifi County
Languages: Italian, English, Swahili, Giriama
A couple of hours on a traditional sailing boat on the creek, in the slot when the light drops. You sit, you don't paddle, and you come back in the dark.
The dhow is the sailing boat this coast has always used. On the creek it moves slowly, often pushed more by the current than by the wind, and the sound is water against the hull.
It is the simplest trip I run at Mida Creek: you don't need to swim, you don't need to paddle, and it works with small children too, as long as they stay seated. We go out in the late afternoon and come back once it is already dark.
Stage 1
I pick you up at your accommodation in Watamu. The time depends on the tide and on the hour the sun goes down, so it shifts from week to week: I confirm it the day before, not a month before.
Stage 2
You board from the jetty or from the bank, depending on the water level. Before we set off I show you where the life jackets are and how to move around on board: on a dhow you move very little and you stay seated.
Stage 3
We sail along the arm of water, with mangroves on both sides. The route depends on how much water there is: at low tide some areas are out of reach and we stay in the main channel.
Stage 4
For the last half hour the boat stops or slows right down. This is when the birds come back towards the mangroves and the creek goes quiet. There is nothing to do: you watch.
Stage 5
We come back once it is already dark, with a torch on board. From the creek I take everyone back to their accommodation: you get in with time for dinner.
The timing is built on two variables: the tide, which you need in order to sail, and the hour the sun goes down, which changes little here across the year. When the two don't line up, the trip moves to another day, not to another hour.
The dhow takes a small group and is never as crowded as an excursion boat. With a day's notice I can almost always arrange it, even if you are already on the coast.
The boat and access to the creek belong to the people who live there: in the written proposal I tell you who provides the boat and what stays locally.
At low tide the creek shrinks to a channel and some areas are out of reach; at high water there is more room to sail. Neither condition is better than the other in itself, but they change the route, and you find out which one you have on the day.
In the late afternoon the wind can get up suddenly. If that happens we come back early, or we don't go out at all: on a sailing boat the wind is not a decorative detail.
The birds coming back to the mangroves at the end of the day are the most consistent part of this trip, but they are wild animals: I promise no species, no numbers and no distances.
You board from the jetty or from the bank depending on the tide, which means a step up and a hand to hold; on board you sit on low benches with no backrest. If you need assistance, write and tell me beforehand: in many cases it can be arranged, but I would rather know in advance than improvise on the bank.
5/5 across 1 verified reviews
We set off on the right tide and stayed quiet almost the whole time. John knows every bend of the creek and explained the mangroves without turning it into a lecture. An hour and a half that went by in a flash.
Siamo partiti con la marea giusta e siamo rimasti in silenzio quasi tutto il tempo. John conosce ogni curva del creek e ci ha spiegato le mangrovie senza fare la lezione. Un'ora e mezza che è passata in un attimo.
Safety comes before the programme. If the weather worsens, if the sea is not workable or if conditions in the park change, we talk it through and decide whether to alter the programme, postpone it or replace it with an alternative.
The conditions that apply in these cases are set out in the proposal you receive, so you know in advance how things are handled when the day is not the one we expected.
Many of them can be, but there is no single answer: the duration, the length of the transfers and the timings all have to be weighed against age. A dawn departure with hours on the road is not the same thing for a four-year-old and for a twelve-year-old.
In the form all I need is the number of children and their age ranges. Names, dates of birth and other personal details are not required: those, if they are needed at all, come only when a property or a park asks for them.
Write to me and I'll check what is available over the following days. I'll tell you what is realistic to put together at short notice and what is not.
Every proposal states explicitly what it covers: transport, entry fees, guide, meals, accommodation and activities. And it states what is left out as well, because that is usually where misunderstandings begin.
Before confirming you always receive a written summary with these points, so you can read it through calmly and ask me about anything that doesn't add up.
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