Kilifi travel guide

The town of Kilifi is situated to the north of the Kilifi Creek, 60 km north of Mombasa, while Mnarani village is to the south. In the time of the Portuguese, the main town was located to the south of the creek at Mnarani. This popular boating and sailing centre is in an absolutely glorious location – the shore slopes steeply down to the water’s edge and the view from the bridge is spectacular. The town has an interesting mix of people with quite a number of resident expatriates. The main industry in the town is the cashew nut factory which employs about 1500 people. To the south there are the Mnarani Ruins. It is an easy-going town with an attractive beach, which is fairly untroubled by the hassle of beach boys associated with some of the beaches closer to Mombasa.

The ruins include one of the deepest wells (70 m) along the coast, two mosques, part of the town wall and city gates and a group of tombs including a pillar tomb decorated with engravings of a wealthy sharif. Note the tomb of the doctor, which is easily the most ornate. At the ruins of the larger or Great Mosque can be seen the mihrab (which points towards Mecca) surrounded by carved inscriptions. There are many niches in the walls. To the left of the entrance, the smaller mosque is believed to date from the 16th century. There is a huge baobab tree nearby with a circumference of over 15 m. The ruins are best known for the inscriptions carved into them – many of them remaining untranslated. However, in general they are much smaller and less impressive than the ones at Gedi.

To get to the ruins, turn left off the main road to the south of the creek (signposted Mnarani Ruins) and go through Mnarani village. Turn right when you reach the tarmacked road and stop when you can see the creek. There is a signposted path to the left, and the ruins are a few hundred metres down this path and then a climb of about 100 steps. You also get a wonderful view of the creek from the ruins.