Private Mombasa Old Town & Fort Jesus City Tour by Car

Fort Jesus: the fortress that guarded the harbour

Fort Jesus was built by the Portuguese between 1593 and 1596 on a coral ridge above the entrance to the old harbour, designed by an Italian architect in the shape of a man seen from above. Over the next two centuries it changed hands repeatedly between the Portuguese and the Omani Arabs, survived a famous siege that lasted almost three years, and later served as a prison before becoming a museum. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 2011.

Inside you walk the ramparts with views across the water, see the old cannons, the Portuguese and Omani rooms, and a museum of ceramics, coins and finds from a sunken warship. Allow about an hour. Fort Jesus opening hours are daily from morning to late afternoon, and the entry ticket is paid at the gate and not included in the tour, so bring cash or a card. Our guide explains the layers of history that a visit alone can miss.

Mombasa Old Town

Behind the fort, Old Town is a tight grid of lanes that grew up around the old port over the past several hundred years. Its houses mix Swahili, Arab, Indian and Portuguese influences: coral-stone walls, overhanging wooden balconies, fretwork shutters and the carved doors for which the coast is famous, with brass studs and verses cut into the frames. The Mandhry Mosque, dating from the 1570s, is among the oldest on the Kenyan coast and still calls the neighbourhood to prayer.

The streets are too narrow for the car, so this part of the Mombasa Old Town tour is on foot at an easy pace for about forty-five minutes, with our guide pointing out the old customs house, the former dhow harbour, antique shops and the smell of cardamom and coffee from tiny cafes. It is a living neighbourhood, so dress modestly and ask before photographing people; the guide will tell you when it is welcome.

The spice market

Mombasa has been a spice port for centuries, a link in the Indian Ocean trade that brought cloves from Zanzibar, pepper and cardamom from India and cinnamon from further east. The city's main market, built in the early twentieth century, is still where households buy their spices, and the stalls around it overflow with pyramids of turmeric and chilli, dried fruit, coconut, fresh mangoes and pilau masala blended on the spot.

Your guide walks you through the covered hall and the lanes around it, explaining what goes into Swahili dishes such as biryani and pilau, and you can sample and buy spices if you wish, directly from the sellers. This is the most atmospheric stop of the private Mombasa city tour by car, so allow around half an hour and keep bags closed in the crowds. It is also where you leave the car for the tuk-tuk.

The Tusks and the tuk-tuk ride

From the market a tuk-tuk, the three-wheeled motor rickshaw that is Mombasa's everyday taxi, takes you through the traffic of the city centre and under the Tusks, two pairs of giant aluminium elephant tusks that arch across Moi Avenue. They were put up in 1952 to mark a royal visit and have become the symbol of the city, appearing on everything from matatus to souvenir shirts. The ride itself is part of the fun, noisy and close to street life.

The tuk-tuk ride is short, about fifteen minutes, and your guide rides with you, so you do not need to negotiate anything. It is a chance to see the business district, the Portuguese-era streets giving way to colonial buildings and modern shops, and the daily rhythm of a city of more than a million people. Our car meets you at the waterfront at the end of the ride.

Mama Ngina Waterfront

The tour ends at Mama Ngina Waterfront, a landscaped promenade on the southern tip of Mombasa island overlooking the Likoni channel, where ships pass into Kilindini, one of the busiest ports in East Africa. Baobab trees that are hundreds of years old shade the lawns, families stroll in the evening breeze and vendors sell cassava crisps and madafu, young green coconuts opened with a machete.

Spend twenty to thirty minutes here watching the Likoni ferries shuttle across to the south coast and, if a cruise ship or container vessel is coming in, see it slide past almost close enough to touch. This is the best place on the Mombasa day trip to feel why the city was built where it is. From the waterfront our driver takes you back to your hotel or, for cruise guests, to the port gate.