This delicious rice cake is known on the Kenyan coast as mkate wa sinia or mkate wa kumimina, which literally means flat bread.
It is an absolute must try and is also...

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The Bixa Orellana, locally known as 'mrangi', is a shrub belonging to the Bixaceae family.
Native to South America, this small tree was transported by...

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Mango ( scientific name Mangifera indica ) is a tropical plant belonging to the family of the Anacardiaceae.
Native to India, it was spread also in Africa and Latin America thanks to the Portuguese.

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Thirty kilometres north of Watamu, after the bridge over the mouth of the Sabaki River, where flamingos and hippos can be seen and where the vegetation is particularly luxuriant, lies the village of Mambrui.

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Mnavu or managu is a green leafy vegetable very common throughout Kenya and East African countries.
At certain times of the year, bunches of this highly nutritious and protein-rich vegetable can be...

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Kenya, thanks to past trade relations with Arabs, Indians and Persians, is a mix of cultures and traditions, of stories and food.
Among the most common street food...

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Rhodognaphalon Schumannianum or East African Bombax or Wild Kapok, is an indigenous species of flowering plant in the Malvaceae family found in the coastal strip of East Africa, from south-eastern...

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The Galana Conservancy is one of the true wildlife treasures of County Kilifi and Kenya.
This 60,000 acre wildlife paradise is located on the eastern border of the Tsavo East National Park, on the northern banks of the Galana River, about 120 km from Malindi and thanks to the new paved road can be reached in less than an hour. The protected area is home to many wonderful species, some unfortunately endangered and threatened.

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Delonix Regia, native to the forests of northern Madagascar, is one of the most beautiful flowering tree species belonging to the Fabaceae family, also known as Leguminosae. It is known by many as...

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Tsavorite, the green stone named after the Tsavo National Park, was discovered in 1967 by the Scottish geologist Campbell Bridges.
Since then it is more and more famous abroad than in Kenya and Tanzania, the only countries where it is found.

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The story of the first Chinese to land on the shores of the Indian Ocean is six hundred years old.
According to Beijing scholars who recently published a book on the voyages of the great oriental navigators, it was in fact 1417 when Zeng He arrived in Malindi with...

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Crows are increasing dramatically on the coast and residents are again organising themselves, as they did some 20 years ago, to restore the right biological balance by controlling their reproduction.
The Indian House Crow, known as the Indian House Crow, likes...

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Many who know Kenya's history are convinced that Christianity was brought here by German missionaries who opened the first Catholic mission in...

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We have selected ten sentences that express a feeling dedicated to Africa, understood more as a spiritual and moral, historical and social entity than as a geographical reality. The selected words are all taken from published...

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The Lion King, a photorealistic computer-generated animation film, released in cinemas in 2019 has earned the number seven position among the highest-grossing films in cinema history.

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They called it 'Simbakubwa', the big lion in Kiswahili, but in fact the huge carnivorous mammal that lived on earth 22 million years ago and whose remains were found in Kenya, is in fact the oldest...

In the markets and on the edges of many roads of Kenya you can see the sellers of this tuber (already, usually they are women, the real productive and commercial engine of this continent).

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"My fight to save Africa's natural treasures'. 
This is the eloquent subtitle of an autobiography co-written with journalist Virginia Morell.
The life of the founder of the Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya's staunchest defender of wild animals. 

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One of the traditional dishes of Sub-Saharan Africa is okra soup.
In Arabic, 'okra' is the name given to the tasty little courgettes with grooves found at every market stall, which the English call 'Lady's fingers', while in...

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We have already talked about and proposed a classic recipe of matoke or green banana, but today we want to propose you a sweet, unpublished version: matoke in coconut cream and cardamom.
This fruit is very similar to the banana, but only in...

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Kuki Gallmann had "a story to tell".
This novel is his story.

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The torrid heat that is continuing in these days on the Kenyan coast could favour the presence of snakes, particularly green and black mamba and more rarely cobras. 
Here is a decalogue of precautions reported by KWS.

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The low tide creates perfect conditions for both beginners and experienced freestyle enthusiasts.

The Portuguese presence in Malindi began with the arrival of Vasco de Gama in 1498. It is known that the chapel was built at the end of the 15th century. It is rather surprising that the authorities of an ancient Islamic city authorised the construction of a Christian church.

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Karen Dinesen Blixen lived in Kenya from 1914 to 1931.
She came there from the icy Denmark with her husband, baron Von Blixen, to buy a plot on the hills Ngong, near Nairobi, and build then a farm. 
Rather being a farmer, the baron was actually more interested in the big game hunting and the young masai women.
It was his fault that Karen was infected by syphilis and had to come back to Denmark to follow treatments. 
At that moment, she realized she was a writer and learned what is mal d'Afrique.

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My mal d'Afrique is dedicated to those who have never been in Africa.

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Beautiful view of one of the Watamu bay

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Fish morsels in mango sauce.
This is a Swahili recipe particularly used in Malindi and Watamu and on the coast of Kenya, where the plants of this delicious tropical fruit abound.
Here is for you the recipe of watamukenya.net

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Cinnamon or cinnamon is an evergreen tree of the Lauracee family, originally from Sri Lanka but widely spread throughout the East.
Today it is also cultivated in Tanzania and partly in Kenya...

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Visheti or Vikokoto are sweet, crunchy, sugar-coated fried dough morsels, one of the many specialities of the coastal area from Mombasa to Lamu, Kenya. They are very similar to...

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Watamukenya.net remembers one of the Italians who best told about the love for this country and its contradictions

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We live in a historical period where art, in addition to the intrinsic and historical value as bearer of beauty and stimulator of the mind, assumes an important social role; it fights for the protection of the environment and community between peoples.
Viewed this way...

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The Swahili cuisine has an infinity of delicious sweet dishes that, especially during the Ramadan period, you can discover and taste and then propose them on our tables.
The vipopoo or...

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Cutlets, snacks similar to our potato croquettes, are very popular on the Kenyan coast to be eaten on the street or in the many local restaurants.
Usually they are filled with meat, but we offer a tuna version, easy and quick to prepare at home with few ingredients.

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Although originally from South America, papaya has spread widely in Kenya and is well integrated into Swahili cuisine. An interesting and tasty example is...

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Chapati is a traditional bread brought to Kenya from the Indian tradition, but then evolved throughout the country and today baked in the streets, in poor places as well as in high level establishments as an accompaniment for dishes.
Its simple and quick preparation makes it a tasty and filling dish to pair with beans, vegetables or meat dishes and soups. 
HERE THE RECIPE

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Since there is tourism in Kenya, and particularly in the coastal resorts, there is a fashion among westerners (the so-called mzungu) to braid their hair in African style.

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Located between Lakes Naivasha and Nakuru, however small, Lake Elmenteita (also known as Elemantaita) is one of the most important in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, as it is the breeding and feeding ground for many rare and endangered bird species...

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The mshakiki are meat skewers, similar in presentation to the traditional roasts of central Italy.
They can be beef, chicken or kid and ideal, before preparation, is the maturation of the meat in the fridge and marinating with oil, salt, pepper and lemon. 

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The coconut is the fruit of the coconut palm, scientific name Cocos nucifera, a plant belonging to the Arecaceae family and native to Indonesia, but thanks to the ability of coconuts to float on seawater and maintain the ability to germinate after 110 days of immersion (a period in which they can travel up to 5000 kilometers) has spread naturally in many places around the globe. 

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It is one of the most detox drinks you can taste on the Kenyan coast, and particularly in Lamu, in some Swahili bars that offer fresh juices (the unmissable tamarind, the classic passion and many others). We are talking about beet juice and ginger.

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To us at Watamukenya.net lately it happened to see them peeled and eaten by some women around the Galana River, but it is present on Lake Victoria and a little bit in all the green areas of Kenya. 
In Kenyan supermarkets and the most quoted greengrocers it is not easy to find them, if not already in the form of clean and packaged berries. 
We are talking about...

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"Muhogo wa Nyama" (meat with cassava) is a typical Kenyan dish. Cassava is a tuber also known as cassava, it is used to make flour or like potatoes, both fried and stewed. Its taste is a bit reminiscent of chestnuts. In this case it can be an alternative to potatoes or green bananas for meat stew.
RECIPE:

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The Swahili cuisine of Kenya, as we know, is a mixture of the cultures and people who have landed on the coast, and the products of the territory they have learned to use. The example is offered by the use of coconut for boiling and stirring rice and mango, which the English culture has also transformed into "chutney" sauce, using onions, spices and chilli pepper.
So here is the recipe for beef with mango chutney, accompanied by coconut rice.

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You can find it in local markets, or watch it bend the branches of the plant on which it grows, the Annona muricata.
It may seem harsh with its spines and huge (a single fruit can weigh up to 2 kg), but not only is it edible, but it is one of the most beneficial fruits found in nature.

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Perhaps that cucumber aftertaste may leave you bewildered for a moment, but in its bittersweet bouquet you can also taste lime, passion and banana. We're talking about Kiwano, also known as horned melon.
Belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family, the Cucumis metuliferus is the fruit of a climbing plant native...

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Sweet, fresh and thirst quenching Kenyan pineapple is one of the most loved fruits not only in this country.
A typical fruit of the coast, but also cultivated in the Rift Valley and around Nairobi (Thika's is particularly famous), pineapple (or pineapple, in Italian) belongs to the bromeliad family.

Chicken cooked "alla swahili" suffers, like many dishes of the Kenyan coast, from ancient mixes and suggestions between India, Middle East and other countries that have frequented the Indian Ocean of Africa.
Here is the original recipe for this tasty earth dish

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The passion fruit is also called Maracuja and is the fruit of the Passiflora Edulis, a tropical climbing plant belonging to the Passifloraceae family.
One might think that its name evokes aphrodisiac properti

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The "matoke" or "matoki" are green bananas, also known as plane tree, not excessively sweet, which also in Kenya, as in most of Africa, have various utilizations. Besides flour and bread, they are used as potatoes in stews.
HERE IS THE MOST POPULAR RECIPE IN KENYA

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Chicken with spices and lime is a tasty land dish from the Kenyan coast.
The combination of chicken with sweet and sour is a classic in Indo-Eastern cuisine, as is the combination with ginger and turmeric.
It is not uncommon to find this dish accompanied by rice flavored with garam masala in Mombasa, Malindi an Watamu.
HERE IS THE RECIPE OF WATAMUKENYA.NET

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The rice "pilau" is one of the most common unique dishes to be found in restaurants in Kenya, especially those on the coast. The recipe is of Middle Eastern origin, but its Swahili variant is widespread especially in Kenya and Tanzania and...

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Star Fruit, as it is called in English-speaking countries like Kenya, is little known in Italy as Carambola, which comes from its plant, the Averrhoa Carambola. 
On the other hand, the name of the plant itself....

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In the 13th century recipe book "Kitab al tabeek", the writer Muhammad Bin Hassan Bhagdadi, whose original manuscript is still kept in

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Mixed potatoes with lemon aroma and chili soul are one of the delights of Kenyan coast street food.
They are called "Viazi Karai" and are sold at every street corner, fried on the fly in the wok set up in simple kiosks or outside the local restaurants.
Here is the recipe to prepare them at home.

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Kebab is a word of Arabic origin now known throughout the world.
But every country has its own recipe for these meatballs.
Here is the recipe of the Swahili coast, for this very popular dish that is never missing in the diners from Lamu to Ukunda.

Chutney is a typical English sweet and sour sauce made with fruit or green tomatoes. It is excellent as a sauce to flavor meat and fish foods....

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An ancient Swahili legend says that before the arrival of the Portuguese, the natives of the Kenyan coast did not eat avocado but only used oil, because they did not consider it as fruit or vegetables.
When the Portuguese decided that...

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In Kenya they call it the fruit that protects, but the properties of papaya are many and not only limited to its emollient and anti-burning properties on the body, or to the digestive, purifying and

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On the African shores of the Indian Ocean, combining fish with fruit is not a gamble, but a pleasant contrast.
On the other hand, if the fish fauna goes so well with lemon, why not also dare with passion fruit, mango, pineapple and papaya?
Here, for example,

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The Indian Ocean, among its wonders and fish delicacies, abounds in squid.
The local population, especially the Swahili of the coast, do not particularly love them and are used to cook them on the grill, or together with the octopus in a guazzetto with tomato sauce and coconut milk.
But there is also a recipe of Portuguese origin that we have called "Calamari alla Vasco Da Gama".
Here is the recipe from watamukenya.net:

Coconut beans (maharagwe za nazi) are a poor but tasty and energetic dish of the tradition of the ethnic mijikenda that populates the Kenyan coast.
Depending on who prepares it, tastes and abundance of beans, it can be cooked as a soup (more brothy) or as a cream (with more coconut milk).
Here is our recipe:

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Rice sautéed with mango and cashews is a specialty that the Indians who emigrated to Kenya in the last century brought to the cuisine of the coast.
Habit favoured by the abundance of these two ingredients, combined with the great availability of...

Crab soup with ginger is a traditional dish of the Lamu archipelago.
The local people, especially on the island of Pate, usually eat this dish with coconut rice or chapati.
Here is the original recipe reworked by watamukenya.net

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Cardamom is a spice known since the times of the Greeks and Romans, who used it to produce perfumes, and is currently known as the third most expensive spice in the world after saffron and vanilla.
The one available on the Kenyan coast ....

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The goodness of free-range chicken in Kenya is no mystery. In most cases it is simply cooked on the grill, but there are dishes of Swahili cuisine that contemplate other pleasant encounters of flavors. One of these is tamarind chicken (kuku wa ukwayu).
HERE IS THE RECIPE OF WATAMUKENYA.NET

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It was called "Jumba La Mtwana", where "jumba" in kiswahili means "home".
It was an Arabic citadel built in the 13th century AD on the banks of the Indian Ocean, not far from the cove of today's Mtwapa, about twenty kilometers north of...

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Vibibibi" are local pancakes made with rice and coconut milk.
"Vibibibi" in kiswahili means "young ladies."
In the tradition of the Kenyan coast they are used in particular at breakfast or as a sweet appetizer before lunch.
Some people also appreciate them together with ice cream.

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The Zege (or Zegee) is a sort of omelette with potatoes and is one of the delicacies prepared by the kiosks and fry shops outside the

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Jacaranda Bay is the best beach in Watamu: hundreds of fans of Africa, tourists and Italian residents who love the coast of Kenya, say that.
A week of voting, more than four preferences among readers of the two watamukenya.net malindikenya.net and portals, as many of the 5000 followers of our Facebook page and other groups and social network pages, gave the award to the first major survey .
(Read here nominations and view of the beaches gallery)

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