Kilifi Creek, KenyaOur StoryBorn from travellers, dreamers & changemakers
How two best friends, a creek that glows at night, and every soul who ever passed through built a home in Kilifi.
Kilifi, Since 2012
Two best friends, one long road
In 2012, two best friends — Romain, a marine biologist dreaming of a world in better harmony with people and nature, and Thomas, devoted to social change, community-building and peacemaking — set off overland from Ethiopia toward Cape Town. They stumbled upon the emerald waters of Kilifi Creek and the warmth of the Giriama people of Fumbeni — and never looked back.
How It Grew
A nest, not a hotel
So we built the dorm around a tree
Built Around Nature
The idea was never a hotel — it was a nest for the local community and travellers alike, built around one simple question of optimism: how do we design the world we always dreamt of? We work around nature rather than making nature work around us. Houses raised from local soil instead of concrete, roofs woven from palm leaves, and a dorm that bends respectfully around a living tree.
Sustainability in every decision
A Daily Practice
Productive permaculture gardens designed to leave the soil richer year after year. Compost, rainwater collection, plant-based greywater filtration, eco-building. We call it an experimental model of environmentally and socially conscious living — a daily practice of living in better harmony with nature.
The Name Carries the Dream
We are all Distant Relatives
Inspired by Nas & Damian Marley’s album, the name says it all: every single one of us is related — one big family that has been waiting to reconnect and learn from one another. So we made a space that is radically welcoming, whatever your nationality, wealth, skin colour, religion, age or orientation — with a bed for every budget, so everyone can afford to come stay and mingle.
The Community
Built by every soul who passed through
The beating heart of Kilifi
Under the Stars
Distant Relatives became the original gathering place — locals and travellers from every continent debating how to make the world a little better, and having fun in the process. Generation after generation came through, and many never quite left. They planted trees, taught workshops, played music, started people- and planet-positive projects, fell in love, and made Kilifi their home.
Another way of living is possible
Living Proof
Artists, sailors, permaculture farmers, eco-builders, chefs, dreamers of every kind — each one adding their own unique and beautiful layer. At a time of growing social divide, this humble coastal shamba is our quiet proof that another way of living is not only possible — it is simple, glowing with diversity, and obviously joyful.
The Experiment Is Never Complete
Welcome home
We always need another layer, another teacher. Which is to say: we quite simply dream of welcoming you, and your unique, beautiful self.