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Published: March 6th 2007
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Approaching Lamu Town
Trying to find a parking space The Kenyan coast was somewhere to while away the time in between trekking up Kilimanjaro and meeting mum and dad. I didn't expect it to become my favourite part of the whole trip. I was already fond of the East African coast after visiting Zanzibar in 2001 but that was mainly because I had never been anywhere tropical before. Given the pure white sand that crunches like snow, the excellent diving and the fascinating little towns and ruins, you have to be thankful that the holiday companies restrict themselves to Malindi and Mombasa and the rest of the coast is unspoilt.
The island of Lamu lies just off of Kenya, up toward the Somalia border. To reach it you take a hot, cramped bus for about six hours along an awful road, before jumping aboard a tiny boat which the warm Indian Ocean regularly spills in to since you have double the intended capacity of passengers and cargo.
If it sounds a bit risky to be travelling up near the border with Somalia following the recent Ethiopian invasion, the area is actually safer now. The Kenyan army deployed troops in the border regions to prevent any wanted Somalians from
A Wecome Breather For Dobbin
The donkeys are worked pretty hard here but I'm sure they prefer it to carrying screaming kids along Blackpool beach slipping into Kenya. Therefore, what was a bandit prone stretch of road is now heavily policed.
Arriving in Lamu town you could be forgiven for thinking you had gone back in time. Indeed it is said that the town is a living remnant of the Swahili culture that once dominated the entire coast.
The shore is bustling. Traditional wooden dhows bob about in the shallow water as fisherman mend nets and men unload boats onto waiting donkeys. Seeing as there are no roads here there are no vehicles. Donkeys are preferred for transporting people and goods throughout the town.
Away from the shore, ancient houses, all built from coral blocks, loom above the alleyways that snake through the town. Many of these eighteenth century buildings look in dire need of repair, but this just adds to the character of the place. Most have huge and solid yet intricately carved wooden doors and ornately carved plasterwork. It is very easy to get lost amongst the labyrinthine alleyways and I intentionally did so on numerous occasions and you can rely on stumbling across something interesting. Old mosques, carving workshops or schools full of children chanting from the Quran.
The Front Of Our Pot Powered Dhow
I didn't expect Rastafarianism and Islam to be compatible The island is distinctly Islamlic with a high percentage of women completely veiled in full niqab. Given the debates that were going on in Europe before I left about the place of veils in society, it was refreshing to witness the attitudes of people here. When you see a veiled women shouting at her husband and pulling him down the street you see that the person inside is not oppressed. And when you see two girls walking hand in hand, one in shorts and vest, the other completely covered, both giggling with tourists, you realise there is no reson why we can't all get on. They say that Lamu people are so laidback that they have an easygoing attitude towards all faiths and habits. But it isn't easygoing, its just respectful.
It is right that the island is very laidback. Horizontal almost. I met backpackers who had been here for weeks. When I asked what they had been doing most struggle to answer. You get caught up in the slow pace and find yourself sitting for hours in the main square or by the shore, watching the world happen. And you will probably be sitting next to the same
Dhow
These traditional Arabic ships have been plying the coast for hundreds of years old man who was sat there yesterday and who I bet is sat there right now.
The obligatory tourist activity on Lamu is to take a trip on a dhow. These ancient little wooden sailing vessels are the reason the town is here. The Arabs first brought the boats here for shipping spices, slaves, whatever they could get there hands on, all over the Indian Ocean. Nowadays most are used for fishing and the odd one for giving tourists sunburn. Out at sea all day in a boat with no shade following weeks in the mountains led to my back turning a magnificent shade of rouge. Its gone brown now though after shedding a few layers.
The only other thing I wanted to do while on Lamu was walk to Shela Beach. Not many do it seeing as it takes about an hour and it is very hot here. Upon reaching the beach I would have walked days to get there. The powdery white sand stretches 16km and there was never more than a dozen people on it. With sand dunes and palm trees on one side and the impossibly blue ocean on the other it easily makes
Walking The Plank To Squeeze Out An Extra Few Knots
The dhow in the previous photo had beaten ours in the round island race last year. There was no way it was beating us back to town. it into my top five in the world. The only activity is dhows plying the channel and donkeys being loaded with sand for building in the village.
Unlike a lot of places that I have travelled, I wasn't sad when I left East Africa. I only get sad if its a place I have loved and know that I will never return. I have now travelled around these parts twice and know that there is still so much more to see. When I said "see you next time" to waiters or airport staff, I actually mean it.
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Gabriela
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lookinf for
a blog travel diary etc, I found this one, and I found ur pics. Great! Just great pics. Thank you.