Malindi: Italian influences on the Swahili coast

The first African stop of Vasco da Gama on his voyage to India, Malindi today preserves a strong presence of Italian residents and tourists along its Swahili coast.

Taxis and tuk-tuks remain the most common way to get around town.

The Pillar of Vasco da Gama, erected by the Portuguese explorer in 1498 as a navigational landmark, remains one of the oldest European monuments still standing on the coast of East Africa.

A few steps away, the Marine National Park of Malindi protects a coral reef rich in tropical fish, among the first marine protected areas established in Africa.

Continuing inland, one visits the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, the last great original coastal forest of East Africa, a refuge for rare animal species.

Toward evening, the neighborhood of Little Italy, with restaurants and shops run by Italian residents, reflects decades of tourist and commercial ties between Malindi and Italy.

Vasco da Gama's Pillar marked one of the first secure reference points for European navigators along the route to India, after rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

The strong Italian presence in Malindi, which grew beginning in the 1960s, made Italian a widely understood language in many commercial activities of the Kenyan coastal city.