Hi We stayed at Shelly Beach Mombassa. It was fabulous.
First carry a bag of £1 coins around with you, from landing at the airport to the arrival at the hotel we spent a fiver, £1 to the toilet attendance who pass you the loo rolls, the security who pass you through the xray, the van driver who loads your luggage, the reception at the hotel then the boy who carried our luggage to the room. We were all inclusive and those people work solid 7 days a week 14 hours a day one week on and one week off. Get friendly with the staff and they will take you to their village and their bush bars, local beer Tusker, lovely. worked out at 50 kenyan shillings, the exchange rate was mad, we went to mombassa to draw some money out of the bank it spat out loads and loads of notes, talk about panic it was hilarious, the local driver was "mama Papa, get in the PeerJot very quickly!!! (peugeot) Akuna matata (Thank you) Jambo (Hiya) Mama (you) Papa (Him). Take loads of cheap T shirts and just cheap English stuff, anything to do with football, Mombassa has a football sponsored by a millionaire from Blackpool, and they all love Man United. Take lots of pencils, crayons and drawing books, your heart will break you will want to give them the world, our luggage was nearly empty coming back of our clothes but full of useless trinkets, do not be conned by the beach boys/girls they will annoy you and chase you if they have a carved elephant for 7 it will be 5 up the beach. the Sea safari was great you walk out to the reefs, organised trips were brilliant and very safe, we did a tamarind dow boat trip at night it was fab, and a dolphin dow trip another day to a private island. All in all a fantastic holiday. But just be aware of all the sad stories like every county there is always a sad side, homelessness, poverty, and violence etc, but stay within the confines of the complex and if you do go out be with other people. Have a fab time xxx PS do not drink the water and do not take the ice - Beware of mombassa botty, lots of diacalm needed unless you constitution is that of a pig!!
Just read yours again, there is so much to do regarding the kids, wether its water sports or playing in the pools, Everything was all inclusive, we took £100 cash in the first instance and the only reason we took out more the second week was for pressies and duty free, it really is cheap to eat out, but the hotel food was fab, three times a day three courses. take lots of mozzy spray - we tipped the bar boys and the hotel waiter who looked after us so well, and the maid who did our bed everyday with some fab designs in rose petals. God I could go on it was fab - The claw of Africa will drag you back!!