Manda Bay is probably the only place in Africa where you can play croquet on the beach. It lies off the north coast of Kenya in the Lamu archipelago, just 80 minutes by plane, then 30 by speedboat, from Nairobi.
At high water, the surf slaps against the sea wall below the lodge. But when the tide recedes, you can walk for miles across archetypal desert-island sands, with only wading birds for company.
This is where Africa’s first barefoot beach lodge took root, among the waving coconut palms of Ras Kilindini, the narrow horn of land that reaches out towards Manda Toto island. The lodge was built 35 years ago by Bruno Brighetti, an Italian composer and musician. He called it the Blue Safari Club — and even now, in the rainy season, elephants leave giant footprints on the shore.
Since reopening two years ago under its new name, Manda Bay has attracted the likes of Ronnie Wood, from the Rolling Stones, as well as a loyal clientele of Kenyan expatriates. Its 12 cottages are thatched with makuti (palm fronds), and each comes with ceiling fans, huge beds of polished African cedar and a shady veranda with swing beds and scatter cushions for your afternoon pumzika — the Swahili word for a snooze.
Sandy paths lead under the palms to the restaurant and bar. Food is also a serious business here, and over lunch I listened to an earnest debate about which wood is best for smoking freshly caught yellowfin tuna.
If you wish, you can hook your own tuna on a deep-sea angling foray beyond the reefs, or fish in the bay for giant trevally, a blunt-headed fighter with scythe-blade fins weighing anything up to 140lb.
WHO WOULD have thought, 30 years ago, that the Kenyan concept of the barefoot beach lodge would become a world-beater? Today, fine-tuned to incorporate a dash of luxury without compromising the original beachcomber decor and laid-back lifestyle, the idea has spread all the way down to Mozambique.
Following the 1992 ceasefire that heralded the end of the civil war, Mozambique’s pristine 2,000-mile coastline is becoming the hottest destination in the Indian Ocean — especially since Prince Harry holidayed on Bazaruto island last winter. I was heading for that same archipelago — but for Benguerra Lodge, on the Ilha de Benguerra.
The nine-minute flight from Vilanculos set the scene: a paintbox swirl of cream and emerald as we skimmed over a maze of sandbars, and straits dotted with fishing dhows.
At times, the archipelago resembled a giant aquarium. Most of its lagoons are no deeper than a swimming pool, and the water is so clear that we could spot dugongs and whale sharks from the air.
Benguerra Lodge is so deeply embedded among the coconut palms and milkwood trees that you can hardly see it from the beach. Its most unusual feature is the beach bar, fashioned from the bleached hull of a local dhow, and this is where guests gather for sundowners after days spent scuba-diving or picnicking on deserted islands.
Strung along the beach are 11 thatched chalets on stilts and a couple of honeymoon suites with their own whirlpool baths. The style is Afro-Arab, with Swahili furniture, teak floorboards, ochre walls and driftwood poles.
Here I lived barefoot for a week, in a room open to the wind. At night, listening to the gasp of the waves on the beach just outside, I felt as if I were at sea; every morning, when the maid brought my tea, I would roll up the rattan blinds on their rope pulleys and make them fast on wooden cleats, as you would a sail — then watch the sunshine flooding in.
