Why this ride
A 205 km round trip from Mombasa - roughly 3 h 35 in the saddle. The stops in between: The Historic Town and Archaeological Site and back through The Historic Town and Archaeological Site.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mombasa long day · The Historic Town and Archaeological Site
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 205 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 35
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Mombasa
Mombasa is an island, and that single fact explains its history. A small coral island lies between two inlets on Kenya's coast, joined to the mainland by causeways and a bridge, with a deep natural harbour that made it one of the great ports of the Indian Ocean. Arab, Persian, Indian and Portuguese traders came here for centuries, bringing cloth, spices and slaves and leaving behind a coastal Swahili culture that mixes African and Arab elements.
Read the complete Mombasa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mombasa is where the day begins. Next is The Historic Town and Archaeological Site.
2. The Historic Town and Archaeological Site
Gedi does not announce itself. You drive along the Kenyan coast through palms, cashew trees and roadside stalls selling mangoes, turn in under the shade of the Arabuko-Sokoke forest, and suddenly there are coral-stone walls in the trees, a mosque with an arched doorway, a palace courtyard, houses with wells and sleeping niches, all roofed with branches and leaves instead of stone. This was a Swahili town, founded around the twelfth century and flourishing in the fifteenth, when it traded with the Indian Ocean world, with Chinese porcelain and Venetian glass turning up in the digging. By the early seventeenth century the people had gone. Nobody knows exactly why, and the theories, a shift of the coast, raids, or the failure of the water, have never been settled.
Read the complete The Historic Town and Archaeological Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Historic Town and Archaeological Site comes up 61 km in.
3. The Historic Town and Archaeological Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Historic Town and Archaeological Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
122 km in you reach The Historic Town and Archaeological Site. Next is back through The Historic Town and Archaeological Site.
4. back through The Historic Town and Archaeological Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Historic Town and Archaeological Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Historic Town and Archaeological Site, late in the day. Next is Mombasa.
5. Mombasa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mombasa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Mombasa. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Mombasa to The Historic Town and Archaeological Site
Mombasa → The Historic Town and Archaeological Site is 122 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through The Historic Town and Archaeological Site to Mombasa
back through The Historic Town and Archaeological Site → Mombasa is 122 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.