Lamu

After a night in Nairobi doing nothing more than enjoy the hot and powerful shower at the Hotel Boulevard we set out for Wilson Airport and the short flight to the Lamu Archipelago, just off the northern most part of the Kenyan coast. The airport, which is more just a airstrip with a few benches next to it, is on Manda island and is a short boat ride across the channel to Lamu town. We were met but the friendly representative from Stone House Hotel who bundled us onto the small motor boat as we fended off the advances of the many guys trying to carry our bags.

The world heritage site of Lamu town is maze of narrow lands, stone houses, wandering donkeys, mosques, veil covered ladies and intricately carved wooden doors. If you can find yourself a street without any tourists on you can start to feel that nothing has changed since the arabs settled here and Swahili cultured dominated the area. We followed our host through the narrow streets, past the donkey sanctuary to Stone House, which itself is a converted 18th century Swahili house. It centuries around a lush courtyard, and whilst the accommodation is basic, it is very atmospheric.

Traditional Swahili houses do not have any glass in the window so sitting in our room we were able to soak up the sounds around us. Most notable is the baying donkeys, which pass for cars here as the streets are far too narrow, and of course the call for prayer which wakes you up like clockwork every morning at 4:30.


There are not a huge amount of activities available in Lamu, but the real pleasure is just wandering around soaking in the atmosphere. Whilst you do get approach frequently by guys trying to sell you dhow trips, they leave you alone after a polite but firm 'no thank you', and it is considerable more relaxed than Zanzibar. There are plenty of places to stop and escape from the heat with a cold fresh juice and we even found one of the fastest internet connections we have had in ages.














In the evenings, there is a reasonable choice of places to eat, mostly specialising in seafood including the delicious mangrove crab, although only a couple of them serve alcohol. We splashed out the second night, eating at Lamu House, a very stylish hotel on the waterfront which is the epitome of modern Swahili design – straight out of a coffee table book of hip hotels.

After two nights of relaxing in Lamu, we decided we were ready for something even more chilled out, so hoped in a boat for the 15 minute ride along the coast to Shela. Shela is another old Swahili fishing village, although many of the houses have been extensively renovated thanks to large and affluent expat community. Some of the new properties along the beach opposite Shela on Manda are obscenely large. Despite this, the village is very relaxed and welcoming, with more people stopping to say jambo (hello) to you and welcoming you to the village than trying to sell you something. We were met off our boat, by the very friendly owner of Island Hotel. This place, set slightly up the hill through the winding streets, whilst more modern than Stone House was still very charming.














We spend our time soaking up the atmosphere, relaxing on the large stretch of sandy beach, enjoying the sunset from a dhow, and sipping G&Ts in the one place that served alcohol, the Peponi Hotel. This was another very stylish place, that also served an excellent dinner.














It was with some sadness we left Lamu, accompanied by a couple of cheery locals who serenaded us on the boat trip back the airport with plastic bottle drums and classics such as 'Karma Chameleon' and 'No money I die' (aka 'No women I cry').