Dick and Penny Jenkinson
Kenya Holiday Sep/Oct 07
Travel BLOG

We have just returned from 2 weeks at the Aquarius Beach Resort, Watamu where we had an excellent holiday. We booked the hotel through RCI weeks and were pleased with the quality of the hotel which was Italian run. The only problem was that everything was in Italian! As our room was not equipped to self-cater we chose to opt for the full board option at 2000KS per day per person. In hind sight the half board option might have been better, although there were not many other restaurants within walking distance.

The hotel has three distinct sites: the main part of the hotel with reception, restaurant, some accommodation and a swimming pool; Lily Palm with accommodation and a swimming pool and finally the Mapango restaurant with jungle bar and another pool. Our room was clean and comfortable overlooking the Lily Palm swimming pool.

Dream Safaris, who operate within the Hotel, offered a safari package of three different trips. First was a trip around Malindi walking around the old town markets and the beach front, also including a visit to the local orphanage. Second was Safari Blu, a trip to the reef in a glass bottomed boat with snorkelling and a barbeque on a sand bank. Finally we did a two day Safari to Tsavo East by minibus staying overnight in the Kiboko Lodge. The tour guides spoke adequate English and we were pleased with the trips, but I am not sure that we got the best value that we could have done.

Later, we were introduced to Julius Kenga Ndaa, a registered Tour Guide who arranged four trips for us. The first was a walking tour of Watamu and Timboni which was both informative and interesting. We then joined up with a South African couple called George and Ros for a day trip to the Gede Ruins, the Kipepeo Butterfly Project and the Marafa Depression (Hells Kitchen) geological feature. This trip also included lunch at Robinson Island which was truly magical. This is not a restaurant that you find by accident, it is in a very remote and beautiful spot and you have to book; Julius took care of everything. Julius then arranged transport for George and Dick to play a round of golf at Malindi Golf club and this was followed by another tour of Malindi including a good lunch at a sea front restaurant. Finally George wanted to go deep sea fishing in a sailing boat followed by cooking the catch of the day on the beach. Unfortunately the sea was too rough so Julius arranged a barbeque on an island just off shore which we reached by a local sailing boat. It was Penny’s birthday and Julius made sure that it was a day to remember. If you are in Watamu and are looking for an English or German speaking guide I would whole heartedly recommend Julius. Contact us for Julius' contact details.