Adventure travel: Swahili that I used to know

Claire Keeton visits a Kenyan village, abandoned 400 years ago

The lost city of Gede in Kenya's coastal forest prospered in the 15th century, with its inhabitants trading as far away as Venice and China.

But mystery shrouds the Gede Ruins near Malindi, since there are no written records.

A sultan's palace, mansions, seven mosques, water filter and cooling systems and elaborate tombs give a glimmer of insight into the 12th-century Swahili civilisation, whose architecture can be seen in other old towns on the East African coast.

The city was abandoned in the 17th century, apparently after its wells ran dry and the Indian Ocean retreated.

For a bird's eye view of the ruins, you can climb up to a platform in a towering baobab, which is itself centuries old.

From here, you can appreciate the orderly layout of the city with its inner and outer fortifications.

Back on the ground, we walked around with our guide, Pili Said.

The Dated Tomb (about 1399), Tomb of the Fluted Pillar, the Court, the Palace Annexe (possibly where the sultan's harem swopped notes) and homes with names such as the House of the Cowries (for money) and the House of the Iron Lamp (from India) were among the excavated sites we saw.

The Ruins of Gede were declared a national park in 1948, when the archeological digs began. Daggers, coffee pots, ceramics and other precious finds are displayed in the small Gede museum.

The National Museums of Kenya manage this overgrown national monument, where tour guides are informal and visitors have the freedom to wander on their own.

The relics of Gede are sufficiently intact to suggest how its people once lived. If you enjoy history, do make a trip to the monument in the Arabuko Sokoke forest. Gede is 16km south of Malindi and 90km northeast of Mombasa.

Another attraction outside Watamu is the Bio-Ken Snake Farm, which states: "Visitors welcome at their own risk".

This sounds ominous and we heard that cobras had escaped while being milked not that long before our visit.

Bio-Ken claims to have "the largest collection of snakes in East Africa" and the laboratory research centre produces the "pure desiccated snake venom" needed to make anti-venom.

The centre has a vast collection of poisonous snakes including black, eastern green and Jameson's green mambas; Egyptian, forest, black-necked, large brown and red spitting cobras; gaboon and rhinoceros vipers and puff adders.

We missed the milking times but were told how it works. To collect venom, the handler grabs the snake at the back of the head behind the glands. The snake may then strike through a membrane-like skin over a vial, or its fangs get pushed through this film.

To squeeze out all the poison, the handler massages the glands. More than 60ml is rated a "double tot".

During our visit we were lucky to see newborn snakes. A Kenyan sand boa had just given birth. The babies grow quickly, shedding their skin about 10 to 15 times a year; adults shed three to four times a year, according to our guide, Geofrey Kepha.

He also showed us a stash of python eggs; African rock pythons can grow up to 6m long.

"An African rock python tried to swallow the limb of a guy who was asleep drunk in the bush. He got rescued and has the scars to prove it," Geofrey told us.

The rock pythons we have seen are usually inactive and this time was no different. But other non-venomous snakes slithered over our arms. A flap-neck chameleon hunched on my hand and we saw crocodiles, lizards, terrapins, tortoises, toads and frogs.

A variety of safaris, such as the Big Five Snake Safari, are among the opportunities Bio-Ken offers tourists to learn about snakes and their conservation.

Watamu has more to offer, though, with the Malindi Marine National Park and Turtle Beach near to the village. We snorkelled from the shore to the closest reef in the marine park and watched the fish swirl below us.

Turtles come back to these beaches to lay eggs; tourists come back for the ice cream.

Over the door to the famous Bahati Gelateria Italiana, there is a sign: "If you are in a hurry, you are in the wrong place." That is how this stretch of the coast feels.

Watamu is a holiday village where time seems to stand still.

Quick Facts

• Bio-Ken Snake Farm: Entrance R85 (KES750) per adult. Open seven days a week: 10am-noon; 2pm-5pm. V isit www.bioken.com .
• Gede Ruins: Entrance R55 (KES500) for non-residents. V isit www.museums.or.ke .
• Malindi Marine Reserve Park entrance R140 ($15) for non residents. E -mail malindimarine@kws.go.ke or visit www.kws.org/parks .