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Ali Barbour's Cave is thought to be between 120,000 and 180,000 years old. Situated about 30km south of Mombasa and 200m back from the high water mark, it compromises a series of interlinking chambers at depths of up to 10 m below ground level. It is part of a vast cave complex which penetrates miles inland as far as the original coast line. The cave is exactly as when it was discovered, except the chamber housing the kitchen and toilets which had to be modified for functional reasons. In the Restaurant only the stone floor has been added together with furniture and fittings, lighting and sound effects. The natural holes in the roof crust are open to the sky, protected in bad weather with sliding covers. |
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Take your time, look around and enjoy your meal... Our cuisine is typically international and we specialize in seafood. We are open for dinner only and closed on Christmas Day. There is also a bus available to collect clients from anywhere on Diani Beach. During the season it is advisable to book tables in advance by contacting our office on Tel 254 (040) 3202033 and 254 (040) 3203003 Dress: Long trousers for men. |
| A triangular makuti umbrella soars over the cocktail bar and reception
areas supported by a single blue gum pole over 50 feet high (nearly
20 m). It is thought the cave owes its origin to a subterranean solution beneath the water-table and was subsequently breached and then modified by dramatic changes in the sea-level, tidal and wave action, and engulfment of surface streams through the ages. The cave was formed in coral reef limestone which grew up from the sea floor in, what the geologists call, the Middle Pleistocene Period, perhaps over 400.000 years ago. At the time the sea level was over 100 feet (30m) higher than it is today and the cave was submerged some 60 feet (20m) below the surface. The cave itself developed some 250,000 |
years later in the Upper Pleistocene Period. Nothing much happened
for the next 15,000 years or so until it was converted into a restaurant
in 1983. The interesting geological features to be found in the cave include stalactite formations, fossil shells, corals and flow stones. The finest coral examples in the cave are located in the serving area where massive corals, stalactite flowstone drapery feature together with a beautiful fan-shaped formation high up in the north-west corner. The restaurant also displays many corals, particularly on the north and west walls, including a large colony on the buttress leading into the main dining area. In the sunken dome chamber at the end of the restaurant, small stalactites hang from the roof and coral "twigs" appear in the east wall together with thick calcite bends which appear to represent cross-sections through large shells, perhaps giant clams. |
| Flamboyant | 40
Thieves Beach Bar | The Cave Restaurant Baobab | Desert Rose | The Gazebo |
| Tracy
Barbour Flamboyant Ali Barbour's Ltd PO Box 53, Ukunda 80400 Tel No. + 254 40 3202223 / +245 40 3202033 D/L: +254 720 843585 Fax: + 254 40 3202223 E-mail: tracy@alibarbour.co.ke or flamboyant@alibarbour.co.ke |
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