Who you travel with
Jambo, I'm John.
Kenya isn't a destination I sell. It's home.
At a glance
- Role
- Local guide and safari organiser
- Based in
- Watamu, Kilifi County
- Where I work
- Watamu, Malindi e costa nord del Kenya
- Languages
- Italian, English, Swahili, Giriama
- Qualifications
- Registered tourist guide with Kenya's Tourism Regulatory Authority · First aid and sea safety, refreshed every year · Training on the KWS rules for approaching park wildlife
- Licences
- Tour operator licence (Kenya)
- Years working
- 12
On this site you'll find me as John Nyale: it's the name I answer messages with.
I live and work on this coast, and I take people around it starting from the shape of their trip rather than from a catalogue: how many days you actually have, who you are travelling with, and what interests you enough to be worth a five o'clock alarm.
The work starts long before the vehicle does. It starts when I tell you that the safari you have in mind, in the days you have, would turn mostly into hours on the road, or that the day on the water works better shifted by twenty-four hours because of the tide. I'd rather give you an awkward answer at the right moment than a polite promise I can't keep.
What I can be held to isn't what nature will do, but how the days are organised: how long the transfer really takes, what the price covers and what it doesn't, and which experience makes sense for the days you have.
How an experience takes shape
I listen
You tell me your dates, how many of you there are, whether children are travelling and what interests you most. A month with no certainties is a fine starting point.
I propose an outline
I send you one or two realistic combinations, with the real driving times and the reason I'm steering you away from whatever I'm steering you away from.
I check availability
Only then do I check vehicles, park entries, tides and people for your exact dates. Nothing is booked up to this point.
I send a written summary
Time, meeting point, duration, price, what's included and what isn't. If one of those items isn't confirmed, the summary says so.
What I won't promise you
- Sightings. Animals move where they like: I can take you where the odds are best in that season, not guarantee you a lion.
- The weather. Heavy rain can change the tracks, stretch the transfers or make going out by boat a bad idea.
- The tides. In Watamu they decide when you leave and when you come back: they set the timetable, not the other way round.
- Immediate availability. Some days are already full, and some experiences need a minimum number of people to run.
- Prices fixed for ever. Park fees and vehicle costs change: when they do, you hear it from me in advance, not once the trip has started.
None of this is a prepared excuse: these are the conditions we work in here, and knowing them early changes how you plan your days.
On the ground
The places I know best
These are the ones I keep going back to, and the ones I can answer questions about without checking a brochure.
Still at home, or already under the Watamu sun?
Tell me where you are in your trip and how much time you have. We start from there.