The Lure of the Indian Ocean, Mombasa, Kenya (featuring Diamonds Leisure, Mombasa GC and Nyali GC)

The lure of the Indian ocean has such a strong pull that we find ourselves once again beside this beautiful blue expanse of water.

It’s with excitement and a little sadness that we approach our final few rounds of golf to complete our Africa 100 Challenge, but in truth, it will also nice to go home, stop living out of a suitcase, get away from the ever present dust, which seems to get everywhere! and to enjoy some time, not working and not golfing either, to get into our own bed, unpack fully and get some washing done, not when we need it because we’ve run out of clothes!

Leaving Tsvao, we approach Mombassa with this mixture of feelings bubbling up, whilst trying to maintain a steady head navigating our final leg with the pushy drivers and dangerous traffic on the road.

With relief we reach Diamonds Leisure Beach & Golf Resort.  A light cool breeze wafts through reception as we embrace this lovely resort with its clear holiday vibe.  It’s a sprawling place with multiple buildings, all resembling each other, all in white offset by the ocean or one of the many pools some with swim up bars.  Our room was stark, clean and white with a dash of aqua blue.  The contrast between bush living and beach-side resort becoming more and more apparent.  

Diamonds is pleasing to the eye.  As the temperatures soured outside, being oceanside has its advantages; a warm and welcome breeze.  With easy access for beach walks take you through coconut trees, a little cave and down a few steps and you’re there, ready to paddle in the Indian ocean.

Making cocktails; vibrant, potent, tasty and much needed after the drive gave us an opportunity to not only try different cocktails, some we’d heard of, but never ordered before now, and some we can add to our ‘we’ll order that again’ growing list.  It also gave us a wonderful opportunity to practice some photography, with the cocktails colours popping and pretty much making the picture themselves - we just had to push the button!

Their golf course across the road from the entrance of Diamonds Leisure.  The clubhouse has been going through some repairs and upgrades, and wasn’t quite set up when we played, but we have since heard it is now in full swing; roof repairs done, golf carts bought and they are ready to receive more golfers.  

This is our 97th golf course in Africa.

On the day we played, it was so so hot, even walking was difficult in the heat, let alone swinging a golf cub!  A slight damp start underfoot gave way to an oppressive heat as the Kenyan sunshine took hold.  Marvelling at the huge tree in the bunker on hole 2 makes you wonder; isn’t golf hard enough!?  Black sleeved monkeys sat watching us as we played, keeping one eye on the golf bag and one eye on us, we knew what they were after!  Multiple trees, some tropical, some in the way and some to just marvel at.  Bunkering was consistent with bright sand which stands out against the blue sky and green grass.  A decent roll on the green, albeit slightly slower than some we’d played with some holding more interest by way of humps and bumps than others, some had sand on them left over from top dressing, whilst others rolled so well it was as easy to putt off the greens as on them.  The incredible Baobab trees sit solid in amongst the bunkers, and rather than move the bunker, or heaven forbid, chop the hundreds of years old trees down, they built the bunkers around the tree, to create a spectacular contrasting scene.  The beauty of this course shines through, the water vistas are special and fit in well with the nature and surroundings and we know that now we have been told it is back to its full potential, it is going to be one to reckon with as a must play in Mombasa.

Back in our cool room and a dip in the pool, which being just outside our window made it an easy decision to take a dip.  Instead of calling us into the cooling pool waters, it only need whisper, and we’d still be there!  The swim up bar was dominated by smokers, which was a bit annoying as we couldn’t get close to order a drink without secondary smoke clogging our lungs. 

Choosing to dine in the resort offers many choices.  Watching home made pizzas being prepared, cooked and served, was efficient and mesmerising as the skilful chef takes pride in each masterpiece he created - no just slapping on a dollop of  tomato and a sprinkling of cheese on the pizza’s here, Diamond pizzas are created with love using rosemary twigs to spread the base with oil before adding the various fresh toppings.

We dined in the main buffet restaurant for breakfast and sat in the same restaurant, one evening for dinner, where tables and chairs were pulled onto the grass and the garden lit with a myriad of colourful lights in and around the small ‘stage’ which consisted of a few planks of wood upon the ground.

Live entertainment was by way of local dance schools, young adults bounced around with so much energy it was contagious, sharing their traditional, if maybe slightly modified to modernised tribal dances.  Colours whooshing as a blur in front of our eyes couple with the sound of pounding feet and their sing song voices, was melodic and surprisingly peaceful to watch.

Another night was like one big hotel guests party with various BBQ stations dotted around; a tandoor for the most delicious bread and a whole section of salads and veg were a treat, not to mentioned the variety of meats cooked in many different ways, on and off the BBQ.

We took a boat ride to see the dolphins, past islands made solely of trees which have adapted to create little island themselves, crevices and holes dissecting their main trunk, it isn’t until you’re closer that you realise, they are in fact tree clad mini-islands.  The make-shift crew band starts up as we return back to shore having seen the dolphins and done some skin diving around a beautiful white sandy beach island with a coral surround.  Back on land, and we are treated to a local meal, of a local vegetable curry and Indian style bread.  Simple and delicious.

The nine hole Mombassa golf club is reachable from Diamond Leisure, so we made our way over to be greeted by the most hospitable members.  A happy bunch who wanted us to share their celebrations, although we were uninvited and had just turned up.  Sadly we had to go out and play some golf.  On the first tee, a slight elevation, we marvelled at the huge ocean liners almost within reach - OK not that close, but very close to the shoreline and the Mombassa golf club, which is our 98th course in Africa.  Tall city scape buildings one way, the ocean liners and the ocean the other, and the golf course laid out in front of us.  Over ravines to parts of the fairway you couldn’t see with the waves lapping to our right.  Go close to the edge and you were either rewarded with a nice little beach or sadly washed up rubbish.  A shrine made of a rocky outcrop was also visible.  Across the road to play a few more holes, and the heat hit you like an electric blanket which had just been turned on!  Airless and hot, we didn’t hang around although the monkeys did make mocking sounds as we tried to hurry up and give ourselves some reprieve from the heat.  You know you’re glowing when the caddies ask ‘are you a little warm?  I was obviously red faced and ready to get to the ocean side for the promised breeze - which amazingly didn’t turn up that day!

Beside a new dam being built, we assume for watering the course, and we’re making our way back up the 9th towards the clubhouse.  You can play this as an 18 hole course, but nine was enough for us that day!

Our final night at Diamonds Leisure and the next morning we’re on our way to play our 99th golf course in Africa, and we have heard its a good one from members and visitors alike.

Nyali Golf & Country Club is a slice of golfing heaven.  So green and clearly cherished by the members, we were welcomed with open arms.  With no time to practice, the first hole was a 490 yard par 5.  Nothing like being thrown into the deep end and suddenly the first green is in front of us.  No idea how it played or how it rolled, we found just hitting it worked quite well!  A nice parkland course, not far off the main road but still sporting the odd wild deer who made an appearance, just for us!  It's hard to believe that this golfing idyl is here, in all its glory.  Nice big trees made regular appearance, some narrowing the tee shot, some tall and statuesque others just randomly in the way, all beautiful.  The big greens rolled well as the birds chirped happily in the abundance of trees.  Bunkers weren’t deep, but some were narrow, other huge sandy openings in the ground.  There was little water, just the odd splash of pretty pond views on the 14th, with the low hanging trees were adding another challenge. Having a golf cart helped us in the heat of the days we took in the golf course and all its beauty as monkeys once again decided to use the golf course as their playground.  The par 3 finish was a nice one to complete this lovely course and with a cold coke and samosas calling from the bar, we finished the course with a flourish and dashed to the clubhouse, promising ourselves we’d be back

Back on the road after golf and we are off to our final destination, for golf anyway, and I will let you into a secret, its a great one to finish.

We’ve played 99 golf courses in Africa, so it's time to give you an update on the score which sits at 50 to Steve, 49 to me.  It’s going to be a tough final game for me, I think!