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UKUNDA |
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Until a few years ago just a village on the highway, UKUNDA is now a
scruffily burgeoning town and the main service centre for the resort
hotels, strung out along the Likoni-Lungalunga road, with a post office
(Mon-Fri 8am-12.30pm & 2-5pm), Total petrol station, a couple of places
with internet access (BTS near Casino Pub , for example), which is
cheaper than at Diani Beach, branches of KCB and Postbank (both opposite
Total) and hundreds of dukas . Only marginally touched by tourism,
Ukunda has a life of its own, not all of it pleasant: the sprawl is an
increasingly deprived area, and along with Likoni was a major centre of
the ethnic violence that swept the region prior to the 1997 elections,
in which some 100,000 "up-country" people were forced to flee. Still, if
your holiday isn't otherwise adventurous, it's worth a visit to see
something of Kenya a little less unreal than the strip.
If you need accommodation in Ukunda (and if you're on a budget, you
could consider staying here and simply catching matatus down to the part
of the beach you want), there are several cheap B&Ls , the best of which
is Corner Guest House (PO Box 855; no phone; under Ksh500), just north
of the junction for the beach road. Quieter is the family-run Combatto
Lodge , 1.5km north (PO Box 16 Ukunda tel 0127/2571; under Ksh500), with
reasonable B&L-standard rooms, awful mattresses, fans and a dozy bar.
Located 400m back towards the junction, a more expensive option and the
only one with a pool is Hotel Rock Paradise (PO Box 1266 Ukunda tel
0127/3492; all s/c Ksh1000-2000), though at the price you should be able
to find a cottage in Diani itself.
For nightlife , almost anything here comes as a shock after Diani's more
urbane delights. All the bars can seem (and sometimes are) pretty rough
places, so go with a Kenyan friend if you can. Currently, the best are
Jambo Nightclub , which has a DJ and a lively crowd; the more mellow
Juhudi Club , set back from the main road, 600m south of the beach road
junction, just before Total; and Casino Pub , just south of that.
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