We made a short stop at the partly excavated, atmospheric ruins of the Swahili city of Mnarani (🎟️500 KES). It is located high on a bluff just west of the old ferry landing stage on the southern bank of Kilifi Creek. The best-preserved ruin is the Great Mosque, with its finely carved inscription around the mihrab (prayer niche showing the direction of Mecca). Under the minaret lies the skeleton of the town’s supposed founder. The site was occupied from the end of the 14th century to around the first half of the 17th century when it was abandoned following sieges by Galla tribespeople from Somalia and the failure of the water supply. There are monstrous old baobab trees, the largest 900-year-old, on the bluff’s edge and just beyond the walls of the main complex.
