Diani Beach, Kenya

Flying over the Kenyan countryside in a small plane is to bear witness to the vastness of this famous African country. Talking on such a flight is nearly impossible with the deafening sound of the engines but the diversity of the landscape as you fly south from Nairobi, towards the Shimba Hills National Reserve was sufficient to render most people completely silent anyway. A glimpse of the Indian Ocean shores of the popular beach enclave of Diani adds yet another dimension, in the form of palm-fringed landscape, as we touch down.

Landcruisers and soft top camouflaged Jeeps are lined up at the edge of the tarmac of the airstrip, ready to transport guests to any number of beach resorts that line the coast in this area. It’s a pretty wild and chaotic trip through bustling laneways and back streets – nearly 100,000 people live in Ukundu, the nearest town. Diani itself is all color and quirky hand-painted signs by the roadside with the ubiquitous smiling school children on their way home.

We arrive at our destination, exhausted but excited: it’s been weeks since we saw the ocean! We are beyond ready for immediate saltwater therapy we head to the water’s edge. Camels, – at least 6 of them in varying sizes, huge colorful umbrellas and Maasai warriors with spears selling beaded arm bands and trinkets (‘bush boys’ the locals call them) are but a few of the first impressions when we are finally get to the beach. It’s tempting to buy everything – but in the end even such gorgeous loot cannot compete with the bliss of swimming in the lime-aqua-turquoise clear, temperate water.

DBLS is a keen observer of rustic coastal style and Diani Beach with its nearly 10 kilometers of white sand perfection is certainly a standout. It might be the classic mud brick and thatched-roof indigenous architecture that draws you in, but there is another visually pleasing layer in the form of the rather mystical ‘dhows’ that gently cruise past the fringing reef break. Watching these beautiful traditional yachts is one of the more evocative reminders of the Kenya’s Arabic trading links.

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Tourism-g775870-Diani_Beach_Ukunda_Coast_Province-Vacations.html