Above: Barefoot Beach Camp dining by the beach at Ungwana Bay near Malindi Copyright Rupi Mangat
Published: Saturday Magazine, Nation media 11 January 2020
The sand dunes stretch along the ocean and l’m barefoot on the beach. It’s the ethos of being at the Barefoot Beach Camp, an unpretentious little camp tucked away in a secluded bay 20 kilometres north of Malindi.
Above: The Blue marlin, the ‘Grander’ and a shark at Malindi Sea Fishling Club. Copyright Rupi Mangat
Published: The East African Nation – 28 September 2019
I’m very hot and very hungry.
It’s the middle of the day and l’m exhausted from playing tour guide to a friend, showing her places of interest in a town steeped in history from the time of Zheng He, the Chinese explorer who stopped in Malindi in the 15th century, decades before the more famous Vasco da Gama did. Zheng He was presented with a giraffe by the Sultan of Malindi to gift to the Chinese emperor. The Chinese had never seen such an animal and it caused a stir on the streets as it was paraded down.
By lunch, l’m in want of food and a cold drink and we’re close to Malindi Sea Fishing Club which is open to all at a daily membership. It’s the ideal place to lunch in town on a hot, airless day.
It’s a quaint old club set in a pretty garden shaded by tall trees by the beach. Hoping off the tuk tuk, it’s a grand entry into the sea fishing club with a Great white shark barring its jaws at the entrance. Inside, it’s a simple old-fashioned club from the fifties with nothing ostentatious to it. Its white washed walls – or rather columns –are open without glass windows and the low walls between the columns double as benches. The long bar features cold beers and spirits. I’ve found my place at the bar. A cold G&T for me please.
Above: Sabaki Estuary. Copyright Rupi Mangat
From the archives: May 2010
On the mudflats of the Sabaki, a strong sun beats down so fierce that it makes the water over the sand sparkle. On the bridge above, cars and matatus speed over the estuary – Kenya’s biggest – unaware of the stunning vistas below and of its importance as an IBA or an Important Bird Area.
Above: Stone Sculpture from Zimbabwe. Courtesy: Carola Rasmussen
Published: 4 May 2019
Tucked away near Malindi’s powdered white beaches and tropical blue waters that are more famous for sun worshippers and ocean sports including all the sharks, whales and dolphins that swim by, l’m in a garden that’s an open art gallery of the most amazing sculptures from Zimbabwe. Strolling around l learn more of the country and its art.
The most famous of Zimbabwe’s stone sculptures are the Zimbabwe stone birds that are the country’s emblem.
House of Stones
“Zimbabwe is the Shona word for ‘house of stones’,” tells Carola Rasmussen, a former journalist turned art collector where her garden gallery in Malindi is called Ndoro showcasing more than 300 stone sculptures.
“Ndoro (in Shona language) is a spiral sea shell that washes up on the East coast of Africa. It’s grinded flat. Local women healers wore it on their forehead,” explains Rasmussen. It was also worn by chiefs, their wives and daughters as symbols of authority.
“When the Portuguese came in the 16th century, they noticed the ndoro. They then made them in porcelain back home and returned with them to exchange them for gold, ivory and other items. Today they are collector’s items.”
Her collection of stone sculptures has many pieces from the first generation of 20th century Zimbabwean artists, none of who had any formal education in the arts which makes their work even more intriguing. They are based on local legends and the spirit work.
Legacy
Zimbabwe’s stone sculptures date from 500 years ago.
The most famous of these are the Zimbabwe birds found in the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe built in the 11th century and inhabited for the next 300 years. When first reported to the outside world in the 16th century by the Portuguese explorer Joao de Barros, it was one of the world’s most extraordinary finds that still baffles many.
The elaborate stone buildings were built using no cement.
The Zimbabwe birds were only seen in the city by a European hunter, Willi Posselt in 1899 and many taken away. They were positioned around an altar in the centre of an enclosure.
Post- Colonial Stone Sculptures
In contemporary times, the sculpture movement also known as the Shona sculpture movement took the art world by storm because critics and art collectors could not understand how this art had emerged in an area that was seen as artistically barren unlike the great sculptural heritage of West Africa. The emergence of the Shona sculpture movement was coined an art renaissance and a phenomenon.
During Mugabe’s regime the art world suffered but now a younger generation of artists hopes that foreign gallery owners and tourists will return.
I never imagined l would learn so much about Zimbabwe in Malindi but art is universal. So enjoy your days exploring Malindi besides enjoying its tropical beaches and warm ocean waters, scuba diving, snorkelling and exploring historical sights.
A Dozen and more things to see in Malindi Town
Statue of Mekatilili wa Menza, the fiery heroine who led the Giriama community in a rebellion against British colonial rule in 1913-1918. She died in 1924 and was buried in the Dakatcha woodlands outside Malindi. Dakatcha woodlands is home to Hell’s Kitchen, a series of eroded gulleys and home to rare birds like Clarke’s weaver and the Sokoke scops owl.
Henry the Navigator’s monument
It’s on the grounds of Malindi National Museum. It was unveiled in October 1960 by the Portuguese consul in Mombasa to honour the prince 500 years after his death in 1460. The monument also honours the Sultan of Malindi and Ahmed Ibn Majid, the local Malindi marine pilot who navigated Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama on the sea route to India.
Vasco d Gama pillar and the quaint makuti-thatched Portuguese Chapel commissioned by Vasco Da Gama the Portuguese explorer in 1498 on his epic voyage to India via Malindi. He was the first European to do the route.
The century-old House of Columns near the church that served as a palatial home, hospital and museum and now a library.
Malindi Sea Fishing Club – Malindi is the best place for deep sea fishing. The season runs from July till March. It’s one of the few spots in the world where anglers can try their hand at a Grand Slam (three different billfish a day), a Super Grand Slam (four different billfish in a day), and a Fantasy Slam (five different billfish species in one trip). The billfish are Black, Blue and Striped Marlin, Sailfish and Broadbill Swordfish.
Best Beach – stretching all the way to the Sabaki River and the towering sand dunes of Malindi.
Malindi Golf Club – a charming club by the seafront with a rare cycad and baobab by the fairways.
Great night life and superb restaurants.
Connect with Ndoro Sculpture Garden: https://www.facebook.com/ndorosculpturegarden/
Published 6 October 2018 Saturday magazine, Nation newspaper
Above: Copyright Nobert Rottcher -Golden-rumped elephant shrew in Arabuko-Sokoke forest
When friends in Malindi announced they were off to Arabuko-Sokoke forest I was on it – and for one sole reason – to look for the ‘only to be found here in the world’ animal, the Golden-rumped elephant shrew.
On reaching the ancient forest that’s just meters from the Indian Ocean, l’d missed the early morning birders who had wandered off into the forest at the crack of dawn. Undaunted and in need of a good walk, l strode off in search of the sengi that is now the new name for the shrew.
Continue reading “Chasing After Shrews and Elephants in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest”
Moonlion Safaris 