7/31/2019 Port of Malindi
1/2
Port of Malindi
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Galana
River, lying on theIndian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120
kilometers northeast of Mombasa. The population of
Malindi is 117,735 (in 1999 census).It is the capital of the
Malindi District.
Tourism is the major industry in Malindi. The city is
exceptionally popular among
Italian tourists. Malindi is served with a domestic airport and
a highway between Mombasa
and Lamu. The nearby Watamu resort and Gedi Ruins (also known as
Gede) are south of
Malindi. The mouth of the Sabaki River lies in northern Malindi.
The Watamu and Malindi
Marine National Parks form a continuous protected coastal area
south of Malindi. The area
shows classic examples of Swahili architecture.Around Malindi
were large plantations with
fruits (lemons, oranges), coconut palm trees, vegetables
(millet, rice, and sugar cane), cattle
and meats.
Malindi has been a Swahili settlement since the 14th century.
Once rivaled only by
Mombasa for dominance in this part of East Africa, Malindi has
traditionally been a port city
for foreign powers. In 1414, the town was visited by the fleet
of the Chinese explorer Zheng
He. Malindi's ruler sent a personal envoy with many precious
items as presents to China on
that fleet.
Of all the things Zheng He brought back, the most exciting to
his countrymen was the
giraffe he got from Malindi in 1415. The Chinese people thought
the giraffe was a type of
unicorn whose arrival, according to Confucian tradition, meant
that a sage of the utmost
wisdom and benevolence was in their presence. Zheng He had
exchanged Chinese gold; silks
and spices to bring many other exotic animals from Africa.
Malindi had things the Chinese wanted: ivory medicine, spices,
exotic wood and exotic
wildlife. Beginning in the A.D. first century, when the Han
Emperor was given a rhinoceros,
the only gifts from the tributary states that really seemed to
impress the Chinese emperor
were animals. Zheng He brought back lions, onyxes, nilganias,
zebras and ostriches from
Africa.
The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama met Malindi authorities in
1498 to sign a trade
agreement and hire a guide for the voyage to India, when he
erected a coralpillar. The pillar
stands to this day, though there have been calls by
conservationists to take care of it, since
soil erosion might make the pillar fall into the ocean. It is a
fairly popular tourist attraction for
both local and international tourists. In 1499 the Portuguese
established a trading post inMalindi that served as a resting stop
on the way to and from India. A church dates from this
era.
Many traditional buildings survive, including the Juma Mosque
and palace on the beach,
a stretch popular with tourists.
Today, Malindi is a famous tourist attraction. The tourist
attractions are mainly relate to
tropical water and beaches and the marine national parks.
Malindi offers to visitors modern
resorts, restaurants, cafes, a post office, nightclubs, a
casino, markets, hotels (mostly Italian
owned), fascinating ancient mosques, and quiet relaxing
hideaways. Rhinoceroses continue to
be shipped from Africa to China. However, that rhinoceroses are
farmed for their horns,which are used in Chinese herbal
medicine.
