From The Plains To The Sea: Arrival In Diani & Reflections On Safari
We’ve been in Stanley’s company for over a week, our different lives thousands of miles apart thrown together by circumstance, and saying goodbye at Voi train station feels disproportionately poignant.
“You going home today after your long week, Stanley?”
“Oh no, don’t remind me of that” he says, “it means that I won’t ever see you again”. For a brief moment he actually appears to be welling up. It must be dust in his eye, surely.
Stanley has been a good guy. He talks to the animals out of the minibus window, tells us what he thinks the animals are thinking, and, when he spots a dead bird seemingly killed by a safari vehicle, he gets out, cradles the corpse in his hands and carefully places it behind a bush. He clearly cares.
It has to be said though that not everything in the world of safari is as ethically sound as we would like it to be. Most sightings are fine, and are viewed from a distance, but if a call comes in to say there is a sighting close to the track, vehicles appear from everywhere and crowd the animals, sometimes causing visible distress. On those occasions, we weren’t entirely comfortable with what we were doing. Thankfully such incidents were the exception rather than the norm.
One safari lodge has adopted the policy, for the benefit of eager tourists, of hanging meat on a rack at 5pm and, as reliable as clockwork, a leopard climbs the frame and devours the meat, ignoring the “real” prey of young buffalo just yards away at the waterhole, who in turn are not fearful of the leopard’s attack. That absolutely cannot be right, and when we tell Stanley that we disapprove, he warms to us palpably. Unsurprisingly he disapproves too.
The lodges, by the way, are welcoming and comfortable homesteads, well run and with engaging staff, but they are by definition international: catering for international guests and reflecting such in the cuisine and ambience. It’s not authentic Africa inside these compounds but they are still relaxing places to stay. Indeed, as we settle down with a beer on one of our first nights, it’s not the throb of tribal drumbeat on the sound system, nor is it latter day African pop – no, it’s Fleetwood Mac, Madonna and, of all things, Rick Astley.
The train to Mombasa is punctual and comfortable if a little modest on the speedometer. A taxi through the city, a ferry belching fumes across the sea inlet and a taxi along the A14 coast road bring us to our next destination, Diani. From the taxi window through Mombasa it’s clear that the Muslim influence is much greater there, though in the hectic looking old town we see churches of several other denominations too.
Waking on our first morning in Diani, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, the Indian Ocean and its beaches are just a short walk away behind the trees. There’s a sense of unwinding even before we begin to explore. It doesn’t take long for us to know that we like Diani, it’s one of those laid back, slightly ramshackle beach towns where tourism has arrived without changing too much about the village. Diani is lean-to huts selling clothing and artwork rather than high rise hotels, and rustic beach bars with slow “African time” service rather than something trying to imitate Starbucks.
Apparently some stretches of this coast have been developed a bit more, but our section of Diani has clearly not gone down that route. We are reminded of villages in Vietnam or Cambodia, of Cirali in Turkey, and of the quieter Thai islands.
Everybody speaks to us, everybody has time, everything is slow paced. A call of “Jambo” and a fist bump from virtually everyone in the village greet us on our first walk along the beach road, we’ve had twenty odd conversations before we’ve even made it to our first beer. Yes sure half of them want to sell us something, but there’s no pestering, and by our second day it’s just a genuine “jambo” and no selling – plus, they remember our names from yesterday.
“Jambo Michaela, how are you today? Welcome again, where you going today?”. Mind you, we’re fairly recognisable here, for obvious reasons.
Johnson, Benson, Jamelia the waitress, Zaccaria the night gateman, Amos the boat trip man, Marriette who does laundry…..oh, and a guy called Philip who arranges onward transport. We’ve only been here a little over 24 hours and we’ve already been introduced to half the village.
A great little laid back village next to the Indian Ocean, huge white sand beaches, rustic bars where conversation is valued, ultra friendly people, tuk-tuks everywhere for a quid a time….and everything just a bit on the ramshackle side. Absolutely our cup of tea. We think we’re gonna like it here.
25 Comments
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
Those “animal chaser” safaris have become much worse since I was there, when I saw that happen only one time, and then it was only one vehicle doing the crowding. I did hear of one that went chasing animals at night; just awful. Given your experience, I don’t think I would want to do one now. Glad that you’re enjoying Diani.
Phil & Michaela
It was the exception rather than the rule, I would say again. Most was very sound but now and again the whole thing crossed a line. And the “feed the cheetah” thing was definitely out of order. Didn’t like that at all.
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
Those “animal chaser” safaris have become much worse since I was there, when I saw that happen only one time, and then it was only one vehicle doing the crowding. I did hear of one that went chasing animals at night; just awful. Given your experience, I don’t think I would want to do one now. Glad you are enjoying Diani.
Toonsarah
Oh yes, Diani does look lovely and so unspoiled for a place with such a fabulous beach! As to the negative sides of safaris, I’ve never come across a lodge putting out meat for wild animals, that’s really dodgy practice. And we’ve been lucky that we’ve not experienced such crowding of vehicles around animals anywhere in Africa although as I said before it was certainly like that in Ranthambore when a tiger was sighted. Stanley sounds like a gem of a guide however, definitely on the plus side of your safari experiences 🙂
Phil & Michaela
I would like to say again that those bad moments were the exception, not the norm. But when it happens, you don’t feel right, and the cheetah thing…well, let’s say we were very surprised.
Monkey's Tale
I haven’t seen lodges put our meat for animals, but it doesn’t surprise me. Much like feeding the fish for snorkelers, it’s likely very common, but we avoid it as much as possible. The beach town looks perfect. We didn’t make it to Kenya’s coast. Enjoy!! Maggie
Phil & Michaela
It wasn’t all the time by any means and the good easily outweighed the occasional bad moment.
Helen Devries
The pressure to give people ‘what they want’ must be great….but with what effect on the animals themselves?
Stanley is a real gem.
Phil & Michaela
Well we consoled ourselves by remembering that there are thousands of square miles of country and only a small network of tracks, so surely over 90% of the animals’ time goes unseen and untroubled. I hope so anyway.
Heyjude
A great experience, though I think maybe I preferred my camping trip through southern Africa where we did quite subtle safari drives in the parks we visited and a few private ones. And the self drives in Addo were good. But you got to see so many animals and birds and so many wonderful photos, it is something you will never forget. Enjoy your beach time.
Phil & Michaela
Yes, as I’ve said to others, those troublesome experiences were the exception, not the norm. And we’ve seen some wonderful sights.
Travels Through My Lens
Except for a few negatives, it sounds like you had a fabulous time with Stanley. I’m looking forward to hearing more.
Phil & Michaela
Thank you!
wetanddustyroads
Stanley is certainly the type of guide to be praised for his dedication … not because he has to do the work, but because he really cares. It’s a shame that there’s also a negative side to safaris … I hope you guys have seen less of this, though. Diani sounds like a good place to get back into civilization after your days on safari.
Phil & Michaela
Agreed on all points. Diani is definitely a place to chill. We’re liking it here.
grandmisadventures
Stanley seems like a class act with his obvious care of the animals. It’s sad though that there is such an opposite feeling at some places. I’m glad though that those were not the norm but the exception. It seems like a great beach side town you found with lovely people and beautiful views
Phil & Michaela
Feeling quite settled here just now…
WanderingCanadians
The hanging meat thing is pretty bad. But I’m guessing (and hoping) that most of the lodges aren’t like that. Diani seems peaceful and that beach looks beautiful.
Phil & Michaela
Only the one that we saw or were aware of. It’s very relaxing here in Diani.
Lookoom
The safaris are certainly a great experience, but it seems difficult to repeat them very often. The Indian Ocean, what a change of scenery!
Phil & Michaela
With a very laid back vibe too
Annie Berger
Hard not to be concerned with a few of the practices by the lodges and guides in the interest of appeasing the tourists. Are there no consequences imposed on either the lodges or guides by the authorities when they know of transgressions that may/will harm the animals?
Phil & Michaela
There didn’t appear to be, but what was very clear is that all the guides do stick to the tracks and don’t drive across the open plains even with 4x4s. So I guess the saving grace is that there are thousands of square miles of freedom for the animals where the tracks don’t go, and the tracks are a tiny percentage of the areas as a whole.
Alison
Another amazing post, you describe the characters so well. I can imagine if the meat is not up by 5 pm there will be trouble at camp! Setting a bad precedent. The village looks so laid back.
Phil & Michaela
Thank you Ali…I can see that you’re still having trouble with our site, so thank you for your perseverance! The WP gods are trying to keep us apart I reckon 😀😂