msambweni

The cheeky chocolate-cake-stealing monkeys of Jinchini

In the gardens of Jinchini on the coast of Msambweni, Kenya live a band of Sykes monkeys who tear through the neighbouring properties like marauding pirates – sucking the pollen from flowers, licking leaves like their lives depended on it, stealing chocolate cakes, fighting over food and inhaling bananas left behind by the Humans. These comical monkeys, which consist of nervous mothers, gangly spider babies, boisterous and naughty juveniles and the larger ‘dude’ males with their moving caterpillar eyebrows,  series of squawk, barks and squeaks and unsubtle crashing from tree to tree, provide hours of entertainment every time I visit Kenya. They are such[…]

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From acrobats to askari – the faces of coastal Kenya

I’ve spent the past week relaxing at my friend’s coastal beach house, Jinchini, in Msambweni south of Mombasa, Kenya, as I prepare for my trip to Samburu and Namibia. It’s my fourth visit to Jinchini and the pace of life is still as it was when I first visited ten years ago. The toughest decisions here are what to eat, whether to lie by the beach or by the pool and which way to walk along the beach. Despite the fact there are two large hotels at either end of the beach and an enormous compound for a thriving moringa business,[…]

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