A tour to the south coast

In today’s industrialized society, a walk in nature can be therapeutic and a source of inspiration. Located on the south coast of Mombasa, it is a piece of nature you cannot afford to overlook. As you move past Ukunda, heading to Shimoni, you will pass by Gazi Bay.

Gazi (Maftaha) Bay is a tropical mangrove bay that boasts nine mangrove species. The dominant species is the red mangrove-whose bark is used as a mosquito repellant. This tree is the famous ‘mkoko’ in Swahili, as the locals have a variety of uses for it. There’s also the grey mangrove (Avicennia marina (Forssk.), the black or orange mangrove (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.), the cannonball mangrove (Xylocarpus granatum), tulip mangrove, and many more. Each of these mangroves benefits the community. For instance, the fruit of the cannonball mangrove is used to improve a man’s virility.

A point to note is that there is a 10th mangrove. But scientists don’t recognize it as a mangrove but rather as an associate species. It’s called the small-leaved mangrove (Pemphis acidula Forst.). Gazi has about 600ha of mangrove forest. As such, this is a fantastic place to spot water birds, reptiles, and other fantastic creatures in their element, from coloured rovers to the palm nut vulture, crab-plover, and other palaeatric shorebirds, gulls and terns. Gazi is also home to the olive thrush baboon and the Colobus monkey.