The fresh air, ocean breeze, and an amazon shower – some of my favorite features about staying at Distant Relatives Eco-lodge and Backpackers. I have been to enough hotels and corporate entities that claim to be are eco-friendly, and the most they have are a couple of solar panels, and maybe are conscious about how they recycle their garbage. So when I heard about Distant Relatives Eco-lodge and Backpackers, I sort of let the “eco-lodge” phrase skip my mind. I was pleasantly surprised and somewhat amazed by how the DR team has incorporated environmental friendliness into the design of the lodge, and the entire experience of your stay. The lodge is extremely environmentally conscious, and the compost toilets really fascinated me. They are uniquely designed to not use water to flush, but use sawdust to cover up your waste – and it works really well. Some dorms were built around tree’s to protect the plant life, and they incorporate the whole “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” philosophy really well, find out more about it here. Getting to Kilifi So how do you get to Kilifi? We took a flight down to Mombasa, there’s also the option of taking one to Malindi, but flights from Nairobi to Malindi are more expensive. From there, we were going to take an Uber from Moi International Airport (MIA) to Buxton where we could pick up a matatu to Kilifi, but we negotiated a flat rate with the Uber driver (Ksh3,000), and he took us all the way to Distant Relatives. On the way back, it was much easier because we knew where we were going, so we took a tuk tuk to Tusky’s in Kilifi (Ksh 200), then boarded a matutu into Mombasa (Ksh200), and picked an Uber to Moi International Airport (MIA). It’s about 2 hours from MIA to Distant Relatives, without any traffic on the way, and the roads are great so the ride is really enjoyable. On arrival, the lodge is calm, and peaceful – as it should be. The staff is very warm and welcoming. The Grub We were greeted with refreshing Dawa’s – after a long ride from the airport, it was a drink I really savored, plus the ginger leaves a tingling sensation on your tongue which fees great. We arrived at around 10.30am and so we indulged in a Full Brekkie (a lovely spread of scrambled eggs, bacon, lamb sausage, toast and beans) – the perfect meal for curing you of the Kilifi heat, which took us some time to adjust to. The service was prompt; we didn’t wait too long to get meals. Soon after letting our food settle, we were shown to our room –DR has several options to cater for various budgets. You could choose from staying in a private Banda that allows you to share with a group of friends or family, or in a dorm with other backpackers. You may also decide to stay in a safari tent with either a single or double bed, or stay in your own tent on DR’s garden. Rates go as low as Ksh600 (low season) for one guest per night when camping. What You Can Do There’s a bit of a walk down to the beach, but it’s so peaceful and calming. And the best part - no pesky beach boys; so you can actually enjoy and get lost in your own thoughts. At night, you can catch the bioluminescence (when the plankton in the water lights up in the water). We never managed to see it, because of our fear of wading into the water at night, but bet it is pretty cool. Touring Kilifi is such an unforgettable experience! A 5 minute tuk-tuk ride from DR is Bofa Beach, and since we’re in the middle of the Kenyan summer, the water was super warm, and there was quite a bit of seaweed. But this did not distract from the soft white sand, and pristine blue waters Kenyan beaches are known for. On our second day in Kilifi, we toured the Giriama village, to see the community and sipped a bit of Mnazi (coconut palm wine), which has a taste that takes getting used to. The climax of the tour was the Giriama Paradise, where you can watch the sunset over the Kilifi creek and soon after delight in ugali and BBQ chicken in coconut chicken sauce. Snorkeling on our third day in Kilifi was absolutely the best culmination to a long weekend. It feels good drifting out at sea (especially if you don’t get sea sick). If you’re lucky, Captain Issa will entertain you with some Swahili songs as the boat carries you out into the sea. It was my first time snorkeling and I quite enjoyed looking at the massive sea urchins on the coral and watching the fish swim past me. It was the perfect experience.
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By Njeri Kariuki Destination weddings are becoming more and more popular in the 21st century, one of the best being beach weddings. Kenya boasts some of the best beaches in the world from Mombasa to Kilifi, to Malindi and Lamu. One reason as to why you should consider a beach wedding is it’s an easy way to incorporate an adventure into such a special ceremony. It could most possibly involve travelling and other beach activities such as snorkelling, jet skiing, boating and most importantly, romantic relaxation on the beach. These types will help in bringing a group of friends and family closer together as you’ll get to spend more time together than the few hours you would have at a traditional wedding. Beach destination weddings are also more relaxed than your traditional wedding. As a bride, they will offer you the chance to have a light, airy yet elegant dress rather than an embellished one. This would also be the chance for you to acceptably ditch that pair of high heels and opt for a comfortable pair of sandals. Amandadress.com.au offers a wide selection of Beach wedding dresses in Australia; this should give you an idea of what we mean. Not to mention, beach weddings make it much easier to have your honeymoon. Think of it as a two-in-one vacation if you may. This is fantastic as you will already have your first week as a default ‘vacation’ and it would be much easier for you to just extend your time away, in order for you to have your honeymoon. Kenya’s coastal locations such as Kilifi, Lamu, Watamu and Diani, offer you multiple activities that would be sure to keep you and your guests entertained if you opted for a beach wedding. There are exciting tourist destinations such as the ruins of Mnarani, the Vasco Da Gama Pillar, the beautiful untouched Swahili town of Lamu which offer timeless, breathtaking adventures for all. Where would you like to have your destination wedding? |
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