On the isle of Manda, a beautiful life
Published 2 September 2017 Saturday magazine Nation newspaper
Above: Beautiful beach by Diamonds on Manda Island opposite Lamu island on Kenya coast. Copyright Rupi Mangat
The ocean tide flows in from the deep sea in the late afternoon putting aside any thought of visiting the little-known fort at the tip of the channel between the isles of Lamu and Manda – unless we want to battle the ocean current. Continue reading “Diamonds on the Beach”
Published Saturday Magazine,Nation newspaper 5 August 2017
“This part of town was called Utukuni,” states Hadija Ernst of Save Lamu, a coalition of 36 local NGOs to promote Lamu’s sustainable development, while protecting its culture, history and natural resources.
Utukuni in Kiswahili means market. “It was a market street where the merchants had their warehouses.”
Above: Coral garden at low tide on Wasini – copyright Rupi Mangat
Published Saturday magazine Nation newspaper 25 March 2017
A dug-out canoe sails to the dhow anchored in Wasini Channel to paddle me to the shores of the island. In a few minutes we’re on the ancient island of fossilized coral. Wasini once a little village of makuti-thatched coral rag single-storey houses now has a few multi-floored brick buildings coming up. The century-old, ‘Arab’ houses are beginning to crumble and replaced with modern brick.
Our first port of call is to the island restaurant Kaole. Plate after plate of mouth-watering Swahili dishes waft out of the deceptively simple kitchen of the restaurant on coral rag floor and four walls with open frontage to the channel. We’re fed on crab delivered on wooden platters which Husni the waiter knocks the shell open to show diners how to tease the meat out. The table fills with spiced seaweed with chapatti, ‘wali’ and cassava cooked in coconut milk and more. We eat to our fill with the ocean breeze cooling the afternoon temperatures.
Published Saturday Magazine, Nation media 25 February 2017
Above: Coconut trees in the lawns by the Indian Ocean – picture copyright Rupi Mangat
An osprey soars over the jagged tooth of the cliff, on the lookout for a fish from the ocean. I take off from my perch at the sunken bar facing the blue ocean to follow its course but the raptor has vanished into thin air.
January 2016
By the lakes of the Great Rift
My plate, the Ploughman’s lunch is an artist’s delight with the colours of freshly picked salad, a chunk of cheese, cold ham and a wholesome slice of bread and sauces. We’re dining al-fresco on the lush lawns of the Ranch House Bistro in sight of Oloidien, the little lake that goes from fresh to salty depending on the levels of its neighbour, the fresh water Lake Naivasha. At this point this little lake is fresh, filled with fresh-loving water birds instead of the crimson-coloured flamingos that relish the algal bloom when the lake’s salty.
Continue reading “Epicurean Feast at the Ranch House Bistro”
Moonlion Safaris 