Ten Things to Do in Mombasa Beyond the Beach

1. Fort Jesus

Built by the Portuguese in 1593, besieged for thirty-three months, and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2011. Go in the late afternoon when the coral walls go orange, and pay for a guide at the gate — the history is not self-explanatory and the guides are good.

2. Old Town

The lanes behind the fort are the oldest continuously inhabited part of the city: carved doors, Omani balconies, spice shops and the Mandhry Mosque, in use since 1570. Walk it slowly in the morning before the heat.

3. Mombasa Marine National Park

A protected reef off Nyali and Bamburi, reachable by glass-bottomed boat in fifteen minutes. Best at low tide in the dry season.

4. Haller Park

A former cement quarry rehabilitated over forty years into a forest with giraffe, hippo, buffalo and a serpentarium. Giraffe feeding is at eleven and four.

5. Mombasa Go-Kart & Wild Waters

Where local families go, and the easiest afternoon of the trip if you are travelling with children who have had enough of sand.

6. The spice and produce markets

Marikiti market at dawn, or the spice shops on Biashara Street. Buy cardamom, cloves and pilau masala — a fraction of supermarket prices and incomparably fresher.

7. Mombasa Tusks

The aluminium tusks on Moi Avenue, put up for Princess Margaret’s visit in 1956. Photographed by everyone, understood by few — they spell "M" for Mombasa.

8. Nyali Golf Club

Ninety years old, kikuyu grass, and a reciprocal welcome for visiting players. Book ahead and take a caddy.

9. Swahili food, properly

Biryani at Al-Yusra, viazi karai from a street cart, and mahamri with mbaazi for breakfast. Then the mishkaki stands on Mama Ngina Drive after dark, which is as much a social scene as a meal.

10. Mama Ngina Waterfront

Redeveloped, floodlit and genuinely pleasant in the evening — promenade, food stalls, ocean on three sides, and the whole city out walking. Free, and the best hour in Mombasa.