Nature and sunset
Local guide and safari organiser · Watamu, Kilifi County
Languages: Italian, English, Swahili, Giriama
A sandstone canyon inland from Malindi, to the north, visited in the late afternoon because that is when the walls change colour.
Marafa is a sandstone gorge cut by water and wind in the country inland from Malindi, to the north. The place itself is called Nyari; in English you will usually see it advertised as Hell's Kitchen, a translation of the name visitors use for it.
You arrive at the rim and walk down inside, between walls and spires of compacted earth. We go in the late afternoon for a simple reason: with the sun high the sandstone looks pale and flat, while in low light the beds of rock separate out into red, ochre and white layers. It is not a special effect, it is just the right hour.
Stage 1
I pick you up at your accommodation. The departure is timed so that we reach Marafa as the light begins to drop, not before: waiting two hours on the rim of the canyon makes no sense.
Stage 2
You leave the coast and the landscape changes: maize fields, baobabs, villages. The last stretch is unsurfaced and at some times of year it is rough. These are kilometres you feel, and I would rather tell you beforehand.
Stage 3
We stop on the edge, where you can see the whole canyon at once. Here I explain how it was formed and tell you the story that Marafa passes down about where the name came from. It is a local account, not a historical fact, and I say so plainly.
Stage 4
We go down a steep, sandy path to the floor. We walk between the walls, climb onto a couple of side terraces and wait for the sun to drop further. It is the slowest part of the day and it is the part that makes the journey worth it.
Stage 5
We climb back up before the light goes completely: the climb is harder than the descent and I don't want to do it in the dark. The sunset is watched from above, on the rim.
Stage 6
The drive back is in the dark, with an unsurfaced stretch at the start. I take you back to your accommodation in the evening: the exact time depends on where you are staying.
We meet at your accommodation. The departure time changes through the year, because sunset moves: I confirm it in writing the day before, together with the approximate time you will be back.
Marafa has none of the organised tourist facilities you find on the coast: basic toilets, no reliable bar, patchy phone signal. That is part of the place, not a failure of service.
Access to the site is run by the Marafa community, with an entry fee and local people who take visitors down into the gorge. Where that fee applies, it stays there, and I think paying it is the right thing to do.
After the rains the floor of the gorge can be muddy and parts of the path give way: on those days we shorten the route or stay on the rim. In the dry months the walking is good, but there is more dust and the afternoon heat is strong.
The colour of the walls depends on the light that day. Under an overcast sky the tones stay duller: it happens, and it is not something I can correct.
If the access track is impassable because of rain, the trip moves. We don't go anyway just to avoid cancelling.
The descent into the canyon is steep, with no handrail, on compacted sand that slides; the climb back takes about ten minutes at a slow pace and is the hardest part. It is not possible in a wheelchair or with a pushchair. Anyone who would rather not go down can stay on the rim, where the view is there anyway: tell me beforehand and I will plan the trip around it.
4/5 across 1 verified reviews
We arrived late in the afternoon and the canyon changed colour every ten minutes. John also told us the local story behind the name and was careful to say it is a story, not geology. Small thing, but it says a lot about how he works.
Safety comes before the programme. If the weather worsens, if the sea is not workable or if conditions in the park change, we talk it through and decide whether to alter the programme, postpone it or replace it with an alternative.
The conditions that apply in these cases are set out in the proposal you receive, so you know in advance how things are handled when the day is not the one we expected.
Many of them can be, but there is no single answer: the duration, the length of the transfers and the timings all have to be weighed against age. A dawn departure with hours on the road is not the same thing for a four-year-old and for a twelve-year-old.
In the form all I need is the number of children and their age ranges. Names, dates of birth and other personal details are not required: those, if they are needed at all, come only when a property or a park asks for them.
Every proposal states explicitly what it covers: transport, entry fees, guide, meals, accommodation and activities. And it states what is left out as well, because that is usually where misunderstandings begin.
Before confirming you always receive a written summary with these points, so you can read it through calmly and ask me about anything that doesn't add up.
A morning on foot through the old town of Malindi, taking in the Portuguese pillar, the harbour and the market where people really do their shopping.
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Water in the morning, dunes and a Swahili village in the middle of the day, a canyon at sunset: a full day, described for what it is.
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A morning split between the ruins of a Swahili town and the edge of the largest coastal forest left in East Africa.
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Tell me how many of you there are and when: I'll tell you what's realistic and what isn't.
