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General Information |
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Kisite Safari, Malindi |
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Marine National Parks and Reserves
General Background Information
Malindi Marine National Park & Reserve
Watamu National Park
Mombasa Marine National Park & Reserve
Kiunga Marine National Reserve
Kisite Marine Park & Mpunguti Reserve
Background Information
Marine parks and reserves, the white sandy beaches, historical
monuments, contemporary culture and the warm climate give the Kenya
Coast a unique tourist product. Almost 47% of Kenya's tourism occurs
here. Nationally about 52% of the total hotel beds are at the coast,
and 95% of the visitors to Kenya use the coast as a base for inland
safaris.
The marine and coastal environments include Indian Ocean territorial
waters and the immediate hinterland areas that border the ocean.
Another feature of the coastline is the fringing coral reef which
runs between 0.5 km and 2 km off-shore with occasional gaps at the
mouths of rivers and the isolated areas facing the creeks. The
shoreline is dominated in most areas by beaches, cliffs or mangrove
forests. The coral-reef system and mangrove swamps serve the most
important ecological role and the former is a major tourist
attraction next to the sun, sea and sand.
WATAMU MARINE NATIONAL PARK
Watamu National Park is part of a complex of marine and tidal
habitats on Kenyas North coast stretching from Malindi town to
beyond the entrance to Mida creek. It is enclosed by the Malindi
Marine National Reserve which also encloses Malindi Marine National
Park. Habitats include intertidal rock, sand and mud; fringing reefs
and coral gardens; beds of sea grass; coral cliffs, platforms and
islets; sandy beaches and Mida Creek mangrove forest. The park was
designated as a Biosphere reserve in 1979.
Mida creek is a large, almost land locked expanse of saline water,
mangrove and intertidal mud. Its extensive forests are gazetted as
forest reserves and the extreme western tip of Mida Creek is part of
the Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve.
Roads: Access is via tarmac road from Mombasa or Malindi.
Airstrips: Mombasa or Malindi Airports.
Reptiles/fish: Fish, Turtles.
Insects/arthropods: Crabs
Vegetation: Mida creek has important mangrove forests with a high
diversity of species including Ceriops tagal, Rhizophora mucronata,
Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Avicennia marina and Sonneratia alba.
MOMBASA MARINE NATIONAL PARK & RESERVE
The park is 10 km2 while the reserve is 200 km2. Both the park and
reserve are the most highly utilised among marine protected areas .
Their coastline is heavily developed with tourist facilities.
There are various agents who offer for hire boats to get into the
Marine Park. There are quite a good number of companies offering
water sports facilities. These firms are spread along the beach. The
place is ideal for diving. Diving gears are easily available from
water sports desks.
Mombasa itself is a mix of traditional and modern culture. The 17th
Century Fort Jesus, which was used as a Fort by the Portuguese
against Sultan invasion after which they (Portuguese) were
eventually evicted after a two year siege, is within the Island
which is a few minutes drive from the marine park. Mombasa Old Town
is highly dominated by swahili culture especialy architecture.
Major Attractions: Beach, Coral gardens.
Insects/arthropods: Crabs, Corals, Shells, Sea urchins, Sea
cucumbers, Sea Stars, Jelly fish.
Common Vegetation: Mangroves, Sea grasses, Sea weeds.
KIUNGA MARINE NATIONAL RESERVE
Kiunga Marine National Reserve incorporates a chain of about 50
calcareous offshore islands and coral reefs in the Lamu Archipelago,
running for some 60km parallel to the coastline off the northern
most coast of Kenya and adjacent to Dodori and Boni National
Reserves on the mainland. Composed of old, eroded coral, the islands
mainly lie inland around 2km offshore and inshore of the fringing
reef. They vary in size from a few hundred sq m to 100ha or more.
Their walls rise sheer from the surrounding seabed and are usually
deeply undercut on the landward side. The larger islands and the
more sheltered inner islands are covered with low, tangled thorny
vegetation including grass, aloes and creepers. The small outer
islands provide nest sites for migratory seabirds. The reserve
conserves valuable coral reefs, sea grass meadows and extensive
mangrove forests, with their attendant biodiversity and is also a
refuge for sea turtles and dugongs.
Climate: The climate is hot and humid with rainfall around 500mm per
year.
Roads: By boat from Lamu or by road from Lamu
Airstrips: One at Dodori N. Reserve
Major Attractions: Coral reefs, Sand dune, Kiwayu Island
Activities: Wind surfing, Snorkeling, Water skiing, Sunbathing,
Diving
Reptiles/fish: Sea Turtles, Olive Ridley, Leatherback, Turtles, Reef
fish
Insects/arthropods: Lobsters, Sea urchins, Sea star, Crabs, Mosquito
Common Vegetation: The islands consist of bare sharp edged spikes
and ridges of coral on the seaward side with a little straggling
vegetation such as Saliconria and the succulent sanseveria.
On the landward side there is more vegetation including stunted
thorny bushes of Commiphora and Salvadora persica. The coast itself
has sandy beaches, some with mangrove swamps and a great variation
of marine flora.
Microscopic marine plants are absent from the upper part of the
intertidal zone except for areas of Bostrychia bindelia. In the
intertidal sand and mud, the finer sediments below water, which are
subject to less wave action, have become fixed by growth of marine
angiosperms and there are extensive areas of dugong grass (green
algae) and Zostera spp.
Dwarf shrub thickets of salt-tolerant plants (halophytes) typical of
the Indo-Pacific beach littoral zone are common on the mainland, and
species include Ipomoea pescaprae, Cyperus maritimus, Suaeda, and
Tephrosia. Mangrove swamps dominated by Rhizophora mucronata occur
in the sheltered tidal waters between Mwanzi and Mkokoni.
KISITE MARINE PARK & MPUNGUTI RESERVE
Kisite and Mpunguti Marine Parks are located on the south coast off
Shimoni and south of Wasini Island in Kwale District on the south
Kenyan coast near the Tanzanian border. Kisite park covers 11km2
while Mpunguti reserve covers 28 Km2. The complex covers a marine
area with four small islands surrounded by coral-reef. Kisite island
is a small waterless coral island, 8 km offshore in the Marine Park.
Coral platforms around the raised central portion are exposed at low
tide. The three other coral islets in the park (Mpunguti ya Juu,
Mpunguti ya Chini and Liwe la Jahazi) lie closer to the larger
Wasini Island, are scrub covered and support no significant wildlife
or birds. The surrounding waters have well developed coral gardens
and a large variety of fish.
Roads: 40 kms from Mombasa via Diani & Kwale
Major Attractions: Coral Gardens
Activities: Snorkelling, Diving, Bird watching
Common Vegetation: Kisite is flat and treeless, covered in low grass
and herbs while Mpunguti Islands have dense coastal equatorial
forest. Sea grasses Cymodocea serrulata and Syringodium isoetifolium
cover a large area of the sub-littoral zone of the reef. Marine
algae include Padina commersonii, Dictyota bartayresiana, Bostrychia
binderi, Ulva lactuca, Dictyosphaora sp., Udotea indica, and
Halimeda opuntia.
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