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The white coral beach stretches from miles on each side of the camp, and the swimming in the crystal clear water is, at all times, a delight.
It is possible to go sailing in the camp's Jahazi or dhow, to roam the Kiwayu archipelago of islands and sample some of the undisturbed Bajuni culture in this very sparsely populated area.
Bird watching is a bonus, and deep sea fishing off Kiwayu is world famous, and wild game, like lesser kudos, buffalo and other species, can be seen in the reserves.
Kiwayu Safari Village offers good snorkelling. Wind surfing equipment is available, with expert instructors for beginners. Laser sailing in the bay is exciting and water-skiing, in the calm sea protected by Kiwayu Island, is available on request.
The boating staff are young men from the vicinity who will take you out aboard a fibre glass canoe with out-board engines, to trawl for fish in nearby creeks, and to explore the mangrove forest and surrounding environment. You can arrange an unforgettable desert island picnic where lobsters and crabs are the norm.
A maximum of 36 guests stay in 18 spacious and beautifully decorated local-style cottages (bandas) spread out along the shoreline. The banda is a suite consisting of a bedroom, dressing room, and shower with running water and lavatory.
The seafront environment provides for excellent sport. 50 km of wild, uninhabited coastline offer unlimited boat trips, snorkelling and wind-surfing. There is also excellent creek fishing in the wide mangrove channels.
Kiwayu's beaches are frequented by the green and the hawksbill turtle, which lay their eggs in the dry sand above the tide line throughout the year. Although the most important nesting season is usually September and October.
Take a picnic lunch in one of the adjacent coves and beaches, or speed boat trips to visit the old town of Lamu, a World Heritage Site.
Kiwayu Safari Village will even arrange your wedding ceremony on the beach - for a unique and special occasion.
Getting there from Nairobi: A daily air service operates from Nairobi's Wilson airport. The flight goes via Lamu. Private air charters can also be arranged. The flight is about 1 hour 50mins.
At the Kiwayu airstrip you will be met by a vehicle which will take you the short distance over the dunes to the Village.
Live in a palm thatched cotttage, amongst the palm trees and right on the beach.
Accommodation:
Kiwayu Safari Village beach resort has 18 cottages built in the traditional "Bajuni" style using mangrove poles, palm thatch and matting. The spacious suites are set apart, amongst the star palms along the beach, each enjoying complete privacy.
Bedrooms are large and open to the sea, there is running water and flushing toilets. Each banda has an extensive verandah for lounging (complete with hammock and Lamu beds) to enjoy the breeze where peace is total.
A living room perched graciously under a baobab, leading a few steps away to a dazzling bedroom with en-suite facilities, is all that exists on the small hillside. A few more comfortable steps downwards lead to a pavilion on the edge of the water, perfect for daytime lounging, refreshments and shade.
Each hammock-strung veranda offers privacy and a panoramic view over the bay. And each one is within a few metres of the water's edge, clustered around the restaurant, the bar and the boats.
Every room is furnished with a Super king-size bed surrounded by a turquoise mosquito net. It is simple, spacious and well furnished with different sitting areas and tables - with many options for that all-important siesta. These bandas are designed to blend into the dunes - no concrete, no nails, nothing to jar the senses.
The dining room and bar are also built in the local Bajuni tradition with palm-thatched roofs and woven matting floors, all open-sided to the beach.
Dining:
From the sea: charcoal-grilled lobster with tarragon sauce, giant mangrove crab kalaloo or crab with fresh basil from our fragrant garden, red snapper, rock cod, tuna, sushimi with wasabi, sweet rock oysters and other shell delicacies.
Italian touch: pasta in infinite varieties, home made tagliatelle and lasagne, risotto, tonno tonnato - all simple but oh, so good. Fresh fruit salads filled with mango, papaya and passion fruit flavored with fresh orange, limejuice, and homemade fruit sorbet.
All foods are selected from the best organic farms and markets of the country and we can meet any vegetarian or other diet and delight the gourmet.
Excellent and selected wines of our well stocked cellar please any connoisseur.
Location:
Voted by international magazines and newspapers as the finest seaside resort in Kenya, Kiwayu Safari Village is set to steal your heart.
Kiwayu Safari Village is located on the Kenya mainland in the most remote Dodori National Reserve about 30 miles north of Lamu Island, in a breathtakingly beautiful bay opposite Kiwayu Island.
On Kiwayu Island approximately three kilometres from our existing Safari Village, we have developed "The Baobabs of Kitangani". Nestling between the enormous ageless baobabs, almost invisible from the beach, we have created a dream for a couple expecting the perfect setting and total privacy, in the most aesthetically pleasing blend of architecture, comfort and scenery imaginable.
Nestling amid the mainland dunes, the oasis of Kiwayu Safari Village lies to the north of a sheltered lagoon off the island of Kiwayu. There are few places in our world, which can boast such total seclusion, visited only by fishermen, the dhow that still come to collect sweet water and the occasional sports fisherman in search of the magnificent marlin or sail fish.
Kiwayu is surrounded by a Marine Reserve, protected by the Kenya Wildlife Services and to the north and west, the adjacent Dodori and Boni Game Reserves. These wild areas are vital to the protection of the fauna and flora of eastern Kenya.
Animals inhabiting these reserves are often migratory such as elephant and buffalo. The permanent residents are lion, cheetah, serval, caracal, lesser kudu and that rare hunting dog. (Apart from the monkeys, of course!).
The sea is home to many types of coral fish, dugongs, whale shark, basking whale, tuna, marlin, sail fish, wahoo, kingfish and many other sports fish and edible species. The turtle lay their eggs on our sandy beaches and together with Kenya Wildlife Services, we avidly protect their beat. Fishing trophies such as marlin and sailfish are released back into the sea.
Staff and boatmen are at your service and meals are served on three different locations: bedroom/planetarium, beach house, and dining platform. The staff are invisible and two beaches are exclusively yours.
Activities:
Sailing, fishing, snorkelling, wind-surfing or a game walk in the Dordori Reserve... your choices are all exciting.
Go sailing in the camp's Jahazi or dhow, to roam the Kiwayu archipelago of islands and sample some of the undisturbed Bajuni culture in this very sparsely populated area.
Bird watching is particularly rewarding, not only for the great variety of seabirds to be seen, but also for the dry thorn country varieties seen in such abundance within a few yards of the beach. So is the wild game, like lesser kudos, buffalo and other species, which can be seen in the reserves.
Deep sea fishing off Kiwayu in a 28 ft fully equipped Bertram is world. The experienced Captain, Ubi Saragoni, knows the local waters intimately after fishing here for many years. Record size sailfish, marlin and tuna are just a few of the trophies to be captured.
The seafront environment provides for excellent sport. 50 km of wild, uninhabited coastline offer unlimited boat trips along the beaches and islands, through natural channels and inlets, through the mangrove forests or to visit our friends the dolphins.
Snorkeling off the coral heads is at its best from November to March. You are taken to the reef by boat and the equipment is provided.
Kiwayu Bay is perfect for windsurfing, kite-surfing or to skim the waves in one of our sailing boats (Laser), while the adjacent North-Bay with its open ocean waves invites and challenges the classical surfer.
There is excellent creek fishing in the wide mangrove channels - rock cod, snapper, barracuda, the bone fish and many other species. The fringes of the lagoon pose a challenge to every marine fly-fisher. The inland mangrove channels are home to many different birds: listen to the cry of the fish eagle and the chatter of the hundreds of carmine bee-eaters as they swoop over the headlands.
Walking is an infinite pleasure along the sandy beaches stretching on each side of the oasis or on Kiwayu Island. Foot safaris over the dunes to watch the sun set over hundreds of miles of uninhabited game country with a chance to detect the elusive lesser kudu coming through the doum palms towards you are as exciting as to see the wild animals coming to refresh themselves at the water holes below.
An experienced tracker from a local tribe will point out to you the pugmarks and spoor of a lion on the prowl for baboon, and while he accompanies you he will let you know what this great nature is all about.
Kiwayu Safari Village beaches are frequented by two species of turtle: the green and the hawksbill turtle. They lay their eggs in the dry sand above the tide line throughout the year although the most important nesting season is usually September and October. In 1998 the number of recorded nests numbered 74.
You can take short or longer dhow trips to the island or adjacent coves and beaches with an elegant lunch of soup, pizza, crab, lobsters, fresh bread and mangoes.
Boat trips can be arranged to visit the old town of Lamu (a World Heritage Site). This is a two-hour trip by our speedboat, which takes you past the historic islands of Manda and Pate.
Enjoy the colourful sunset, play your favourite game or read a book in the cushions, while you enjoy a perfectly mixed cocktail and snack from the bar.
Before dark or after dinner you will have a chance to meet other pleasant Kiwayu guests and enjoy a nice conversation with people from all over the world. Wildlife ecologists, tribal anthropologists or specialists in deep-sea fishing are often our resident guests and might share with you some of their experiences and knowledge of the bush, the wildlife, the people and the Indian Ocean. African tales and songs fly high with the flames at a bonfire on the beach.
Boats and Equipment at Kiwayu Safari Village:
Deep Sea Fishing 'Elusive' - a 28' Fly Bridge Bertram Cruiser with twin Volvo Penta TAMD40 engines. 6 Rods complete with Lures.
Captained by Ubi Saragoni with a crew of 2. Max Pax 6.
Lamu Excursions or any long distance excursion /Picnics
'Cobra' - a 30' Rigid Inflatable with 200HP inboard engines capable of 35
knots. Max Pax 8
Water-skiing:
2 Fibreglass speed boats with 80HP outboard engines
Dhow Trips:
A motorised Traditional Local dhow 'Uwazalo', with inboard engine
Sailing:
A Traditional Local Dhow with sail, 'Tusitiri'.
Snorkelling/creek fishing/bird watching:
4 Fibreglass canoes with 15 HP outboard engines.
Sailing: 3 x Lasers
Windsurfing: 4 x Mistral Windsurfers fully equipped for beginners or the very experienced
Surfing: Miscellaneous surfboards.
Deep Sea Fishing, in detail - for the truly committed.
The 28-Foot Bertram Cruiser with twin Volvo Penta TAMD40 engines, is fully equipped with rods and lures for catching Marlin, Sailfish, Barracuda, Tuna and a beautiful local fish called a Felusi.
There are outriggers, one fighting chair, Penn international reels, and light tackle. It is designed for 4 fishermen but can take up to 6. There is a toilet and fresh water shower on board and half-day trips are provided with a cool box with drinks and snacks and a full day includes a picnic lunch.
Captain Ubi Saragoni, has fished the local Kenyan Coastline for twelve years and has spent the last three years fishing the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica before returning to Kenya a few months ago.
He speaks Italian, English, Spanish, French and Kiswahili and is assisted by an experienced crew of 2. The crew are also experienced in Fly Fishing though Kiwayu does not have tackle for fly fishing and the client will need to bring their own.
The fishing season runs from late October through to April though January is often windy. Marlin and Sailfish are tagged and released in keeping with Kiwayu's preservation of the environment.
Weddings at Kiwayu Safari Village:
Kiwayu Safari Village is a unique and special place when considering getting married on the beach. It is the perfect size for exclusivity and what could be more romantic than saying your vows with the sun setting behind you over a blue lagoon with soft warm water lapping at your feet and nobody else except your family, friends and a few turtles to witness the ceremony.
Crocodile Racers can arrange every detail from flights, flowers and even a disco and fireworks, to little gifts for guests in each room. There are endless beach activities to keep the guests amused from picnics in hidden coves, dhow sailing and endless walks along miles of empty beach. Or if you prefer something more adventurous there is Deep Sea Fishing and water-skiing for those with great energy to spend.
The white coral beach stretches from miles on each side of the camp, and the swimming in the crystal clear water is, at all times, a delight.
For more details visit our Wedding and Honeymoon Safaris http://www.crocodileracers.com/honeymoon
The Weather
The temperature is fairly constant but the months of August and September can be windy. The southern monsoon begins to change in early October and becomes a gentle and cooling breeze. The average temperature is 27 to 28 degrees in the shade. February and March are the hottest months and towards the end of March the northern monsoon veers to the south. The Village closes after Easter for the monsoon period.
Bajuni Tribe:
The Bajuni are a Muslim tribe who have established settlements on islands in the Lamu Archipelago on the Coast of Kenya, and on islands northwards towards the border with Somalia. In recent years several villages on the mainland near Somalia have been abandoned and today Mkokoni is the most Northerly outpost of the small Bajuni tribe. Throughout their range the Bajuni exist on fishing, though their villages are built in the few places where fresh water is available, so they grow coconuts and mangoes to supplement their diet. While the men labour at their fishing the women must, as usual, tend to their children and their homes, though they also cultivate small patches of millet and maize to try to take advantage of the two uncertain seasons of rain during the year.
Bajuni women dress in bright coloured traditional cotton kangas, though because of their poverty, their Swahili style jewellery is generally not spectacular. Some wear a small gold stud in their nose and in the past they stretched their ear lobes with plugs of buffalo horn, ebony, or tortoise shell. Their sole form of make up is kohl, a natural kind of black earth found in isolated places on beaches, and which is used as eye shadow.
At weddings they paint intricate patterns on their hands and feet using the ancient method of dying the skin with henna, the extract from the tamarind root. They sing eloquently at their festivities in time to drums played by their men.
