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Ahoy!
Setting sail on the dhow On Friday morning me and 4 of my fellow volunteers (Ali, Naomi, George and Tom) caught a matatu up to Malindi airport to fly to Lamu. Unfortunately our flight got cancelled and we ended up sitting on a bus for 5 hours! The road to Lamu is very bumpy and pot-holey and about 60 miles away from our destination we had 2 armed guards join us because of the risk of bandits and the fact that we're very close to Somalia! We arrived in Lamu late afternoon and checked into our budget hotel (GBP2.30 a night). We went out to a restaurant called Bush Gardens owned by a guy called Satan! The food was nice enough but it was
so slow! We must have waited about an hour and a half for our starters alone! We went for a quick drink in a rooftop bar called Petley's then hit the hay.
The following morning we met up with some of our other friends who had arrived earlier and boarded a dhow (a traditional Swahili sailing boat). We sailed between the various islands in the Lamu Archipelago and stopped to do some fishing for a bit. A couple of people caught
Manda Beach
Just beeeeeautiful some fish but I came back empty handed. We then sailed on towards Manda beach - a beautiful deserted golden beach that we had to ourselves! We swam in the warm sea and sunbathed for a while then boarded the boat again for lunch. The captain had cooked some freshly caught fish and made a huge batch of vegetarian curry and rice and it was all so delicious!
After lunch we sailed on for a while more through the mangroves until we reached the Manda Ruins. They weren't very "tourist-ised" and we didn't really understand what they used to be but we wandered around looking at the different old buildings. I got stung on the back of my neck by a flying thing which wasn't fun but it doesn't seem to have killed me so I think it was okay.
We headed back to the dhow and sailed for 40 minutes back to Lamu Island. That evening we went out to a restaurant called Hapa Hapa which was about three times as quick as Bush Gardens and just as tasty. Another couple of drinks in Petley's then off to bed again. Lamu is a very Muslim island so there are only 2 or 3 places that serve alcohol and there are no clubs or nightlife as such - quite a change to what we're used to in Mombasa!
On Sunday we all took a walk (or a boat for lazy people) down to Shela beach. We were all abit sunburnt from the dhow trip so we had a quick dip in the sea and then headed to a very posh restaurant for lunch (there was no other choice!). We took a boat back to the hotel as the tide had come in and the path we had walked in on was underwater! We all chilled out for the afternoon, lazing around on the rooftop of our hotel. In the evening we went out to an Italian restaurant which was really nice! Unfortunately that night, my 10 weeks of iron stomach finally broke and I got really sick. Most people had got sick over the weekend in Lamu and a couple of the guys developed Malaria (although there's a 10 day incubation period so they didn't catch it in Lamu).
We managed to blag our way onto a flight for the journey home and the 5 hour bus journey got replaced by a 30 minute flight - much better, especially as I was still feeling pretty rough. Got home about 6:30pm, showered and I went straight to bed. I'm feeling a bit better today you'll all be glad to hear but still not great. Should be fit as a fiddle by tomorrow though. 10 more days in Mombasa then 4 weeks travelling and then England here I come...!
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Fiona Massie
non-member comment
Lamu belly!
Dear Ben, Commiserations on the bad tummy,bit of a nightmare especially when you have to travel too. From your blog it seems you either sailed or hung about on the beach (LOVELY) . Had you been taken on a tour of the town you would have probably found the meat market - follow your nose!!! Then your bad tummy would have been a logical consequence of what you'd seen, The cats and flies take liberties with the wares. Why do you think Rays a vegetarian!! I went on a sunset sand dune walk one time and must have got 200 sand flea bites on my legs which got infected and my whole leg swelled up to twice its size. There is more to Lamu than the lovely beaches- we always manage to have mega adventures in Lamu...not all of which are welcome but its still a great place to have experienced. We are off to Nairobi today so will have to catch up with your blogs wehen we gwt back at the end of the month. HAVE A GREAT TIME TRAVELLING.......All the best for the rest of your trip ,,,,,Ray and Fiona