Gede

It's Saturday and a large group of us went north to explore Gede.  Outside a bustling little market town, hidden back in the forest, are the ruins of an old and mysterious Swahili town.  Occupied from about 1200-1500 AD, Gede is a mystery. It was never mentioned in any Swahili or Portugese historical accounts (the Portugese were occupying a town about 20 miles north), though the pottery shards and other bric-a-brac found on the site indicate that Gede was an important trading point for goods from China, Iran, Europe, and other far-off places. It's also strange that Gede would be so important for international trade given that it wasn't located very near the coast, which is about 5 miles east of the town.

Gede was 'found' and now mzungus can walk through the ruins of this old town. There are foundations and short walls, the rest of the structures have worn away.  Gede includes at least four mosques, a palace, maybe 10-20 other houses and buildings, and an extensive system of interconnected wells.  The forest has overgrown the ruins and there are massive trees, at some places even grown into the middle of huge walls.  The dense forest casts strange shadows, adding to the haunted atmosphere.  We climbed around and walked through the woods for a few hours. There was no site of the "mournful, sheep-like creature that follows you down the path" according to locals and my guidebook.  There were however loads of Sykes monkeys and a woman from Woodinville who was following them to collect data for a scientific study.

After Gede, Megan and I went a little further up the coast to Malindi. It's known for excellent beaches and/or sex tourism depending on which guidebook you consult. There's a long history of Italian tourism and we sat on the porch of an Italian restaurant, eating pizza and tiramasu, staring at the ocean, in complete disbelief that we were even in the same country as our batty hut and mosquito bites.