Written By Ramadhan Kambi 📝
Tourism in Kenya without the mention of Coast region might sound unfamiliar because literary the region breathes its life through tourism.
But with Covid-19 pandemic the region received a big hit.
Destinations like Malindi, Watamu, and Kilifi, which were used to the foreign markets, suffered and some facilities had to close shop completely as they could not survive.
Sector players were however forced to be innovative and come up with packages for domestics and regional tourists.
In Malindi, two Kenyan investors have partnered with their counterparts from the mountain called Hope to the end adventures to come up with a special package dubbed ‘’the Mountain meets the Ocean” to attract local tourists from the upcountry.
Kene Kiplagat together with Marion Mutahi who own the Villa Safari resort in the porsh casuarina area in Malindi together with a magnificent camping site dubbed ‘camp Gedeng’ located at the hippo infested mouth of River Sabaki is the engines behind the new tourism venture which is slowly bearing fruits.
“We came up with the idea of the mountain meets the ocean to encourage Kenyans from the Mount Kenya to come down the coast to Malindi and those in the Coast to visit Mt Kenya it is a very unique tourism escapade,’ said Kiplagat who is passionate about conservation of hippos and the environment.
Kiplagat and Mutahi traveled to Nanyuki on a mission to sample the diverse tourism products out there in the mountain and found a niche where tourists from that side of the country could tour the Coast and vice versa.
The most interesting and unique thing about the tourism product is that the tourists travel by road and get an opportunity to sample diverse tourism products along the way.
While there they met also other Kenyans who have invested in the hotel industry who gave in to the idea and good enough offered to come down the Ocean in a four-day road trip.
We caught up with them at Camp Gedeng on their last day of the tour and shared amazing experiences of their Safari.
Kene who is also the Chairman of Hippo Campus at the Sabaki river estuary which was established to protect the hippos who were under threat due to human activities along the river said the idea of setting up Camp Gedeng was aimed at taking care of the animals around the estuary.
He said the Covid-19 really hit them hard as the tourism sector went very low contributing to massive job losses.
“We had to come up with a way to revamp the sector by starting this new tourism circuit, so we took a trip all the way to Nanyuki, Mt Kenya traveling through the National Park and we landed at a place called Ol Pajeta, from there we went to Storms,” he said.
Kiplagat said while there they looked at all the camps, what they do, how they raise their funds, and their offers.
He said the people in Nanyuki were super excited to see them from the Coast and they also decided to come down to see for themselves.
Fortunately, the group also came down as an exchange visit also to come and sample their products and what they offer in Malindi.
Those who came were a group of six girls and their driver who traveled 766 kilometers to come and see the Ocean.
“They have done a whole weekend they have seen our tourist locations all over Kilifi county, and have recorded what they have seen and they are going back home to show what they saw,” he said.
Currently, he said they have something new to offer in the new trip where they will be able to see national parks, new locations such as Naivasha, Baringo where those from the Coast can go and visit and experience.
While on that tour those from the Coast region he said will be able to see the animals that are not seen in their area such as the Bullhead, rhinos,
He said Camp Gedeng offers a nice outdoor picnic for tourists since nowadays people no longer like indoors but a place where they can enjoy nature.
Apart from the Camp he said tourists from the mountain can go to see Vasco Dagama Pilla, Gedi ruins, Arabuko Sokoke, Hells Kitchen, Robinson Island, together with the White Sandy Beaches.
Racheal Njeri the founder of Hope to the End Adventure from Mt Kenya said they are very passionate about the new tourism venture.
To her, the idea was not only ab0ut adventure or travel but also to add value to it so as to promote cultural tourism.
“We saw the need in this space where our culture or purr community out there are so rich, they have so much to showcase but they have not been put out there,” she said.
It is due to that she said they came up with the Hope to the end adventure so as to there, give hope to the tourists such that when traveling with them they will be able to travel coastline and impact the community.
Their trip she said was great and visited a village in Mtangani Malindi where they managed to interact with the community.
While there they established a need in the community and they shall come back to conduct training for the community to make an impact.
Alessandro Pantanetti is a professional tour guide in National parks, Mida Creek, Arabuko Sokoke, and Sabaki river.
Pantanetti who was the guide for hope to the end adventure said he took them to Arabuko S0kkoke forest, Gedi ruins and it was fun showcasing them the diverse tourism products.
“It was really good to interact with them and to find out about this new company they want to push and bring people from all over the world to have very good trips, informative ones where people can learn also and enjoy nature,” he said.
Mary Mumbi the founder of Mentor me facilitators from who was also on the trip said they have a partnership with hope to the end adventures whereby from their travels they partner with the community to do empowerment and training.
Already she said in Malindi they have identified training for the community to empower them in some areas of self-growth and development.
In Nanyuki, she said they have organized a camp for children and expect children from the ocean to meet others in Mountain.
“It has been a great experience to be here during that one week we have been able to visit the community, interact with them, able to see what others don’t see when they come to the Coast especially having that interaction with the community getting to know their day-to-day life,” she said.
She said normally tourists come to the Coast to see beaches enjoy food to the beaches but hope to the end enables tourists to see the other side of their life and give an opportunity to make an impact to the community.
Mumbi said anyone thinking of traveling should consider Hope to the end adventures so as to not only enjoy the tour but make an impact.
The Safari driver guide Alexander Ngunjiri on his part commonly known as Alex who did the trip said the people from the Coast came to the Mountain which is the highest point in the country and second in Africa.
“I happened to be the designated driver of high to the end adventures company so we took a trip from the mountain all the way to Nairobi, down to Tsavo east national park entered through Manyani saw a lot of animals such as giraffes’ elephants and many others,” he said.
Ngunjiri said they also went to Lugadi falls and then came to Salagate and took the tarmac road to Malindi.
To him Malindi is a beautiful part of the country where its not only the beach that can bring one to the Coast but there is a lot such as Arabuko, cultural villages that have a rich history.
“We have enjoyed our stay here there is camp Gedeng, Villa safari where we stay, they have shown us a lot of hospitality so as a guide I would recommend hope to the end adventures take a journey from Malindi through our national parks going up to Nairobi to the mountains,” he said.
With such a new venture indeed, there is more than a safari where one cannot only enjoy the nature and tourism sites but also make an impact on the community.
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