After a year of work and no play, I decided to
take a vacation. I have visited Lamu and Mombasa but I have never taken time to
enjoy Kilifi, another old and beautiful town on the Kenyan coast. A friend and
I were looking for a beach house to stay in for a couple of days. We were referred
to a place called Scherehezade and had such a great experience that I decided
to write a review.
Named after a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights, Scheherazade is a beautiful house situated
3km from the main road and 4km from Kilifi town. The outside architecture and interior
décor’ is Arabic with wide and low windows allowing for circulation of fresh
ocean breeze in all the rooms.
The house
stands on a one acre piece of land with an assortment of vegetables and
indigenous trees including palms. The East side of the property extends towards
a steady rugged coral cliff overlooking the beautiful Indian Ocean. A round
wooden table and three chairs have been placed near the cliff. This was my
favorite spot! I would sit there in the evenings and enjoy the sunset, the
breeze, and serenity of the sea. We discovered some man-made stairs leading to
the sandy beach below. I have a phobia for heights so I didn’t climb down but
my friend did. Guests are advised to only use the stairs during the low tide
for during the high tide; the angry waves usually smash the cliff walls with a
great force.
If you
have a family, this is an ideal vacation choice. The house can comfortably
accommodate 8 people. It has a sitting room, indoor and alfresco dining areas, a
fully equipped kitchen, a food store, and a swimming pool. The main house has 2
bedrooms. The master bedroom is en suite, located upstairs with a capacious
balcony overlooking the ocean. It has one king size bed with beautiful beddings
and fluffy pillows. The downstairs bedroom is also en-suite and ideal
There is
an option of eating out or preparing your own meals. If you are not too busy
and love to cook, go ahead and do-it-yourself. But if you want to laze around
(which is the whole point of a vacation) hire a local to make the meals. We
chose the latter except for the last night. I loved that we could tailor-make
the menu and the cook whose help we solicited was awesome! Our menu included
such meals as coconut rice and prawns, salmon and roast potatoes for dinner, mahamri and mbaazi, for breakfast and
other coast dishes.
Local Activities:
Due to
the close proximity to Kilifi town, we were able to take walks around the
nonchalant town and enjoy the Arabic architecture. The streets are not
overcrowded and traffic is relaxed. We were able to shop for local garb and
sandals for reasonable prices. We also visited the local beach and took long
walks along the sea shore. On the last night, we had dinner at Mnarani Club
(which is a walking distance from the beach house). Boating (at Mnarani creek), snorkeling and other water sports, dhow trips, bird watching, jogging and golf—the Vipingo golf course is only a 20 minute drive from Scheherezade.
