It’s the day building up to the super moon and dictating the mood of the waves. At sunrise, the beach is spotless white with the reef exposed, inviting one for a walk to it beyond which lies the deep ocean.
We’re at Sonrisa on Galu Beach, with the beach to ourselves and a clear horizon where the aqua ocean meets the blue sky.
There’s every reason to smile at Sonrisa, which means “smile” in Spanish. Perched on a low cliff, it is away from the crowds that give you the coveted space to unwind.
Designed by Iwona Strzelecka, an engineer from Poland who fell in love with Galu while on holiday in 2006, the place has transformed into a peaceful spot.
“The villas are a mixture of home and contemporary comfort,” explains Antonia Okwala the manager. “It is small, private and relaxed, and you don’t get bombarded with too much.”
It fits her description. With a long driveway, the gate opens to a spacious green space dotted with mango and palm trees with two villas, a family home with a private pool and an ocean view apartment, all white washed against the elemental shades of green and blue.
Up two steps onto the porch with the signature Swahili baraza perfect for breakfast and a hammock to daydream on, the glass doors open to a sunlit living room with a kitchenette. There’s a fresh loaf of bread sitting on the side table and Okwala has an answer to that.
Inside a villa at Sonrisa Villas.
Photo credit: Pool
“We want you to feel at home. You can make your own breakfast whenever you want. We stock the kitchen with fresh bread, eggs, milk, tea and coffee or you can eat at the restaurant.”
It’s a great concept, and we don’t have to wash the dishes after.
And when you want to retire for an afternoon siesta or call it a night, the bedroom is a simple affair with a double bed and dresser along simple lines complete with an adjoining shower room. Simply perfect.
The sun journeys through the sky, turning morning into afternoon and by the beach front the waves begin to rise, swallowing the powder white sand strip.
“You can literally walk into the ocean at high tide to swim,” says Okwala.
It is true, with the water warm on the skin to enjoy a swim in the world’s youngest ocean – the Indian Ocean, that for centuries dictated the dhow trade powered by the monsoon winds and waves.
Taking refuge from the sun and wind, the restaurant offers a calm spot from where to watch the fishermen in their wooden canoes battling the raging sea to return to shore.
And then the sky begins to dim, heralding dusk.
It’s too nice to wander away – so we dine on freshly caught crabs by the local fisherman, cooked in cream and infused with herbs to finish off with homemade coconut ice cream that’s a must have under the dark sky with the Scorpion unfurling its tail out of the ocean and wandering further into the sky, reflected in the curve of the swimming pool. The night birds sing to the symphony of the waves.
The following night brings on the full spectacle of a gigantic supermoon rising out of the ocean. In a word –breath-taking.
The pool area that overlooks the ocean.
Photo credit: Pool
An orange orb with waves rising higher beneath it, we are spell bound by the ethereal show of the full moon orbiting the Earth at its closest.
But this one is even more special. It’s a supermoon blue moon which we will not see for another two or three years.
You can enjoy the many water-sports – kite surfing, deep sea diving, snorkelling where the reef boasts some two hundred species of reef fish. Also, you are spoilt for dining out at nearby Diani. What’s more, you can take a sunset sail on Kongo river in a local canoe, and explore the natural life.
August brings the humpback whales migrating up our way and the whale sharks from November to January. Enjoy the company of the rare Angolan colobus monkey, visit Kaya Kinondo or Diani the ancient sacred forests of the Mijikenda people and further to Wasini island and the Kisite-Mpunguti marine reserve for all things oceanic, or on safari to the Shimba Hills National Park to see the rare Sable antelope and at Mwaluganje reserve for the elephants.
