Invading Portugeuse and Dhow Foraging

After the Gede ruins, we drove onward to Malindi seeking the elusive coffee that we heard could be found there. Malindi is a coastal town so it’s basically 2-3 streets all running parallel to the water and not much else. On the way into town, we stopped at the only historical site in Malindi: the Vasco de Gama monument.





Vasco de Gama arrived in Malindi in 1498; this was no small accomplishment because he had to go around the southern tip of Africa since he was about 400 years too early to use the Suez Canal. Understandably though, the local Kenyans weren’t that impressed because his forces immediately took over Malindi and Mombasa and established trading forts there to the detriment of the locals. The monument stands out on a deserted tip of land just outside Malindi and is apparently regularly defaced by local hooligans. On this day, however, it was pretty clean.

The vantage point of the monument allowed us to see the whole town and we observed that it was low tide and that the dhows were sitting on the beach. Dhows are traditional Swahili fishing and shipping vessels that move up and down the coast from Lamu in Northern Kenya, all the way to Zanzibar in Tanzania. Some of these vessels now do tours for tourists but the majority of them still fish. Dhows are built entirely of wood and range in length from 15 feet to about 40 feet.

Dhow on the beach at Malindi:


We’ve really enjoyed watching the dhow sailing in front of our house and were excited to see that the Malindi dhows had the decorative wooden pieces on the bow (front) of their dhows that are common in Lamu and Zanzibar. See the carved blue wooden piece on the front of this large dhow in Lamu:



Since we both love the water and unique art, we knew this would be the perfect souvenir to bring home. When we visited Lamu last October, we had tried to find someone to sell us some weathered versions of the blue pieces but no one was willing to part with them. Now, I could sense though that M was up to the challenge of trying again. We drove to the beach and spotted a man working on his dhow. Leaving me in the car, M went to speak with him and the guy pointed him in the direction of the fundi (Swahili for expert) who manufacturers dhow parts. After a quick negotiation, M returned with not one but two boards that had the weathered look we were seeking. Total cost: 1,200 KSH or about $15. I was thrilled. Now we just need to figure out how to get them home but I’m sure it’ll work out.

Our dhow pieces:


A closeup. Notice the iron nails that cause the rust:


Finally, we drove into Malindi and found coffee! Despite the fact that one can drink “Kenyan blend” coffee at nearly every Starbucks in the world, you cannot really get good coffee in Kenya. Those Malindi Italians though have imported not only coffee but also pretentious espresso cups in which to consume it which we thoroughly enjoyed. Now if someone in Kenya can just invent the “to-go” cup of coffee, I’ll be a happy girl.