The Coastal Cure

After breakfast we begin with a visit to Turtle Watch. This experience will awaken your desire to engage in conservation. Learn through videos and makeshift turtle habitats about the life and times of Turtles. They face the imminent danger of extinction and the Turtle Watch team is working around the clock to try to extend or reverse this. Engage and participate in different programmes and projects at the center. In the afternoon, visit the Jungle Village Center. Enjoy authentic Coastal music and dances, performed live and direct on site. Get to experience live shows as the real snake man showcases his snake handling skills. The center is home to birds, rodents and reptiles. Feed and pet some of the animals in here. Travel back to Safari Beach Hotel for the evening.

After breakfast, experience the ocean’s beautiful formation, features and creatures. Experience the famous African Pool and the Star Fish Island. Travel by boat to this area, well experienced when the tide is low. These water pools are shaped like the African continent and one can swim in them. Walk the shores into the caves nearby. The area is also dotted in star fish, coloring and beautifying the entire area. It’s gentle, surreal, and utterly unforgettable. In the afternoon, visit Diani Children Village and enjoy some good times with the kids and babies in this village. Show some love and affection to the young ones through various actions and activities. As the sun sets, visit the beautiful Kongo River Estuary. This is where the river Kongo joins the Indian Ocean. Sit by the beach and watch the waves hit the shores or face the sun as it sets, creating a shimmering effect on the river face upstream. Travel back to Safari Beach Hotel for the evening.

After breakfast, get ready to embark on a journey further south. A journey deep into culture and history. Travel South to Shimoni and Wasini towns. The two neighbouring towns, split by a kilometer of water, are in the same vicinity but unique in their histories, nature and cultures.  Shimoni was a slave holding port in the 1750’s, with voluminous dark caves that served as cells for en route or newly fetched slaves from the neighbouring villages. Learn the history of this dark trade and enjoy the hospitality of the people who gave rise to the port.  Wasini is an Island in the middle of the sea, a beautiful home to generations that have lived on this isolated rock outcrop. Winding coral paths through the mangrove forests on the island lead you to the local village where the quiet rhythm of daily life is displayed in the simplicity and joy of the local inhabitants.  Explore the women’s projects which include a board walk built over a coral garden. Later, indulge in a sumptuous seafood lunch which features some local delicacies and a variety of sea food prepared according to the local recipes. It is now a beautiful take-off and landing port for dhows cruising the Islands of Pemba and Zanzibar.. Travel back to Safari Beach Hotel for the evening.

After breakfast, visit a primates’ safe home. Travel by local tuk tuk to the Colobus sanctuary and up close with the elegant black-and-white Colobus monkey, an endangered primate found in the equatorial forests. The swing-loving acrobats of Kenya’s forests are rehabilitated here once rescued as babies. The Colobus Trust is also a learning center for other projects around conservation in and around Diani.  After lunch, get ready to experience high adrenaline and fun filled sporting sessions at the Village Retreat Center. Soar through the trees or perfect your aim with a bow. Talk a walk along the winding River Kongo. Enjoy a bird’s eye view of the villages beneath and the sea shimmering on the horizon as you enjoy the thrill of the zip line. Travel back to Safari Beach Hotel for the evening.

After breakfast, don your safari hat, khaki shorts and pick your camera, binoculars and embark on a wildlife tracking safari. Jump on the jeep and head out to Shimba Hills Game Reserve. This green jungle is the canopy of the coastal areas, cooling the region from the ever humid weather. Most of the rivers around the coastal region start from this forest. Get to track elephants, enjoy the magnificent towering waterfalls and be on the lookout for the ever elusive leopards that walk deep in this green jungle. Travel back to Safari Beach Hotel for the evening.