Things to Do in Mombasa, Kenya

Quick facts: The coral and lime mortar structure was erected by the Portuguese in 1593, before being stormed nine times by the Omanis and the British. UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage list in 2011, and the man-shaped outline of its walls still contains cannons from the 18th century.

Highlights: An underground tunnel carved into the coral once connected the fort to the beach, a discreet passage for resupplying or evacuating the garrison. Near the western wall, you can still make out cannonball impacts left by the Ottoman siege of 1696.

Quick facts: This maze of shaded alleys hides more than 40 carved wooden doors, some 300 years old, and has served as a port for over 1,000 years. Vasco da Gama anchored there in 1498, while nearly 50 different communities have left their mark on the coral facades.

Highlights: On Ndia Kuu Street, history can be read in the mangrove wood doors, some of which bear Quranic inscriptions carved in the time of the Omani sultans. Around 5 p.m., the Indian Ocean breeze carries the smell of fried samosas and spiced tea, while the shops unpack their beads and kanga fabrics on the jetty.

Quick facts: Few drivers know they are driving under hollow aluminum tusks each weighing nearly half a ton, a metal chosen to withstand the salt of the Indian Ocean. The main pair was raised in 1952 to salute the visit of a queen, and the two arches cross above the avenue without ever touching.

Highlights: The setting sun slips between the two arches and lights up the aluminum with an orange glow that sweeps across the full width of the road. Mombasans simply make a date "under the tusks": it is the only landmark in the city where everyone, from the matatu driver to the harbor fisherman, knows exactly where to stand.

Quick facts: The white sand stretches for almost 12 kilometers, washed by water that stays at 27 degrees all year round. Local fishermen launch their traditional dhow every morning, just a few meters from the sunbathers' umbrellas.

Highlights: In the late afternoon, the beach keepers release their dromedaries onto the sand, their long shadows gliding between the dhows returning from fishing. The sand, ground down by corals, stays surprisingly cool under the sun, a particularity you feel from the very first step.

Quick facts: Guarded by the coral reef of its lagoon, the beach stretches over more than two kilometers of white sand fringed with coconut palms. Local fishermen, the dau lausi, haul their dhows loaded with fresh fish every morning in front of amazed bathers.

Highlights: At low tide, shallow channels form in the coral reef, creating natural pools where schools of golden-striped butterflyfish dart about. Baby blacktip reef sharks sometimes hunt in these sandy hollows just a few meters from the swimmers, a spectacle few visitors know about.

Quick facts: René Haller, a Swiss ecologist, brought this barren limestone quarry back to life as a forest populated by hundreds of giraffes, hippos, antelopes, and birds. Along the way you will meet Mzee, a giant Seychelles tortoise over 130 years old, famous for its unlikely friendship with Owen, an orphaned hippo.

Highlights: The star of the park remains Owen, the little orphaned hippo taken in after the 2004 tsunami, who chose as his best friend Mzee, a giant tortoise weighing 220 kilos. The two companions swim, eat, and sleep side by side, a tender and surreal scene to observe from the trails.

Quick facts: A short distance from the beaches, the lagoon is home to more than 150 species of fish, green turtles, and long-beaked dolphins. The coral gardens sometimes rise to less than a meter below the surface, offering an underwater spectacle accessible even without being a diver.

Highlights: The reef of Sii Island suddenly drops from a coral platform a few meters deep into the big blue, a cliff where gorgonians and parrotfish stack up in colorful layers. Glass-bottom boats let green turtles glide within arm's reach, a slow rhythm that turns every outing into a silent ballet.

Quick facts: More than 10,000 Nile crocodiles live in open-air mud pools, several of which measure over 4 meters long. Daily feeding sessions transform these sleeping reptiles into projectiles that burst out of the water just a few meters from the spectators.

Highlights: During the meal, the keepers hang a large piece of meat above the pool: jaws snap at nearly 5 meters high and the sound of the impact echoes across the whole farm. You can also spot ostriches coming up to the fences to peck, and the most curious can enjoy a grilled crocodile steak and taste an ostrich egg omelet.

Quick facts: One hundred and thirty artisans with disabilities craft beaded jewelry, wooden sculptures, and dyed fabrics, a skill passed down within the same workshop. Every piece sold funds medical care, prosthetics, and schooling for these workers, an entire economic model built around their independence.

Highlights: Behind the shop, an open courtyard lets you watch the artisans at work: fingers run over the beads with the regularity of a metronome and the workshop echoes with the ticking of small hammers. The guide then takes you to the reconstructed village of the coastal ethnic groups, where dancers pull you by the hand onto the stage at the end of the show, a custom that will stay with you.

Quick facts: The name translates as "house of the slave" in Swahili, a curious nickname for this village of sailors and merchants from the 14th century. Ruins of coral houses and mosques spread out under old baobabs, facing a cove where the tide rises and falls twice a day.

Highlights: Inside the great mosque, the prayer niche carved in coral has remained almost intact after seven centuries of sea winds. Baobab roots grip the walls like giant fingers, and fishermen still say the tomb-pillar served as a landmark for the dugout canoes.