"Mtwapa" Coast Province by muguruki

Seeing as it is impossible at the moment to post anything on a dedicated Mtwapa page I have put my tips about Mtwapa on this Coast Province page.

Mtwapa is an odd town, really just a satellite town of Mombasa about 40 minutes matatu ride away from Mombasa town centre but is actually in Kilifi district rather than Mombasa. The town has built up over the years along either side of the Malindi - Mombasa road just north of the bridge that long ago replaced the ferry across the creek.

Mtwapa seems to be getting bigger over the last few years as new bars, cafes, lodges and kibandas open up along the dusty streets of the town and an increasing number of German and Swiss residents build or buy property there as well. I take it they are residents rather than tourists as Mtwapa is not exactly a tourist town. There is a very small beach that is situated to on the end of the creek as it meets the ocean but as tourist facilities and sites go that is it.

It may not be touristy but I’ve always found it friendly and has enough cheap bars and cafes to keep me happy. These bars and cafes have a big advantage over similar places in Mombasa town itself in that an awful lot of them seem to be open 24 hours a day even the some of the large amount of chemists/pharmacies are open at ridiculous times of the day.

There is a mixed population living in town that the teutonic inhabitants live among. The original Giriama are here in large numbers as well as Wakamba, Wakikuyu and the easily identified Masai, Samburu, Rendille. While I was there this year I was surprised to meet more than a few Ugandans and Tanzanians, a lot of the shops here are owned as elsewhere on the coast by Swahili, Indian and Arab.