VisitBy visiting Arabuko-Sokoke Forest or Mida Creek you can contribute to their conservation. Situated between Kilifi and Malindi, Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek provide an amazing opportunity to experience some of Africa's rarest wildlife and plants.
The Visitor Centre at Gede Forest Station is the ideal place to start your journey. Housing a variety of displays, it offers tips on what to look out for in the forest and creek. Maps, the official guidebook and trained guides are also available to help you make the most of your visit. Located just 2km from the Visitor Centre, 30 feet up in a beautiful Gum Copal tree is the Elephant Trail Tree House, offering views into the forest canopy. One can enjoy a picnic lunch, sunset drink or even spend the night in the tree house, lulled to sleep by the sounds of insects, frogs and nightjars.
The neighbouring Mida Creek is a tidal inlet, fringed by mangrove forest. During the European winter, this habitat is frequented by thousands of migrating birds including flamingos and the rare Crab-plovers. The bird hide at Mida Creek offers a superb vantage point to watch the birds, best experienced on neap high tides as they roost after feeding on the rich variety of invertebrates buried in the muddy sandflats. In order to reach the bird hide one must also experience the mangrove forest. If you are planning to stay in the area, we recommend you book with one of the following hotels, who are supporting ASSETS. They will also be able to help you to organise trips to the forest and creek.
If you would like more information about visiting the area, please see http://www.watamu.net/. |
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Following the trails through the forest at dawn you have a good chance of spotting the rare Golden- rumped Elephant Shrew in search of insects. If you are lucky and use a skilled guide, you may find the Sokoke Scops Owl, Africa's smallest owl, roosting on a branch. In the tree canopy Syke's Monkeys search for fruit, hundreds of colourful butterflies frequent the flowers and the varied bird life is breathtaking.
The vastness of the forest is best experienced from the View Point, located in the depth of the Cynometra Thicket. The Nyari cliffs offer a bird's eye view over the forest, across to Mida Creek and the Indian Ocean beyond. 
The mangrove walkway is an impressive structure, a series of 17 suspension bridges leading 260m through the mangrove canopy. Made from "recycled" hard wood from the forest, the walkway leads out to the elevated bird hide. 
