| Mombasa is the best summed up as a feeling-love it | | | | The first Portuguese forays into Arab territory took |
| or loathe it, there's something about the salty heat, | | | | place here in 1505, when Dom Francisco de Almeida |
| the humid air, the sounds of the city and the | | | | arrived with a huge armada and leveled the city in |
| sensation of the dust sticking to your sun screamed | | | | just 1 ½ days. The plundered remains were |
| skin that evokes an instant sense of place. | | | | soon rebuilt, but in 1528 Lisbon struck again as Nuna |
| If this is your first stop after visiting the interior, you | | | | da Cunha captured the city, first by diplomacy |
| could hardly ask for a more distinctive introduction to | | | | (offering to act as an allay in Mombasa's disputes |
| Kenya's coast, and its perfect place to help you fall | | | | with Malindi, Pemba and Zanzibar) and then by force. |
| into the naturally languid rhythm of Swahili life while | | | | Once again Mombasa was burned to the ground while |
| still enjoying the modern comforts of home. | | | | the invaders sailed to India. |
| Mombasa is the largest city on the Kenyan coast and | | | | The Portuguese made a bid for permanency in 1593 |
| also the largest coastal port in East Africa. The city | | | | with the construction of Fort Jesus, but the hefty |
| sprawls across a low-lying island at the mouth of a | | | | structure quickly became a symbolic target for rebel |
| broad inlet, providing a natural anchorage for ships. | | | | leaders and was besieged incessantly. During the 17th |
| Traders have been coming here since at least 12th | | | | and 18th centuries Mombasa changed hands dozens |
| century and the goods from Uganda, Rwanda, | | | | of times before the Portuguese finally gave up their |
| Burundi and eastern Congo (Zaire) still pass through | | | | claim to the coast in 1729. |
| here on their way overseas. | | | | Waiting to step into the power vacuum were the |
| The Mombasa city's population is overwhelmingly | | | | sultans of Oman, who had defeated the Europeans |
| African, many of whom are Swahilis, but there is a | | | | and occupied the Fort Jesus after an incredible 33 |
| remarkable range of races and cultures here, from | | | | month siege in 1698. The city remained in their |
| Africans to British expats, Omanis, Indians and | | | | control until the 1870's, when the British intervention |
| Chinese. | | | | ended the slave trade and gained for the empire a |
| Most package tourist stay in the beach resorts north | | | | foothold in East Africa. |
| or south of town, but leaving Mombasa out of your | | | | Mombasa subsequently became the rail-head for the |
| itinerary completely would be a shame. The most | | | | Uganda railway and the most important city in British |
| interesting part is the character Old Town, with its | | | | East Africa protectorate. In 1920, when Kenya |
| narrow, winding alleyways, historic Swahili houses and | | | | became a fully fledged British colony, Mombasa was |
| the remains of the mighty Fort Jesus. | | | | made capital of the separate British coast |
| History | | | | Protectorate. |
| Mombasa has always been at the centre of the | | | | Today the cut and thrust of politics and power play |
| coast's key events, a crucial stronghold for local and | | | | largely passes Mombasa by, but it's still Kenya's |
| invading powers ever since the Arab-Swahili Mazrui | | | | second city and a crucial social barometer for the |
| clan emerged as one of the most powerful families in | | | | coast province as a whole. |
| 9th century East Africa. | | | | |