Lamu Island
In the past centuries, Lamu was one the biggest trade places for slaves, ivory, mangrove wood and turtle shells. The exportations were mostly northbound traffic towards Oman. In the late 17th Century, the old Empire was extending down to all the East African coast and spreading Arabic culture from Somalia to the North of Mozambique, chasing the successor of Vasco De Gama. Hence, Lamu Island and all the other islands constituting the Archipelago are considered as one of the first settlements of Swahili along the coast and frequently called “the Little Zanzibar”. As descended from Arabic people, the population is largely Muslim. The people are mainly from the Bajuni tribe, call themselves Swahili (which means coast in Arabic) and speak the language Kiswahili’ in its purest form.
The strong heritage from Oman is still very present today through the people, the architecture, and design of boats. Today, Lamu’s economy is mainly based on fishing, tourism and wood craft.
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If you are interested to learn more about Lamu here are some interesting ressources :
The archipelago is divided into 3 main areas :
Lamu town, Shela village and Manda Island.
You can easily travel from one to the other by walking, sailing or even donkey riding.
Below you will find our advice and favorite places and activities to brighten
your Lamu’s experience.
Lamu Town
With its fragrant labyrinth of tiny streets, stone houses, intricately carveddo or ways Lamu Town concentrates the island's economy, administration and markets.
From the jetty you will directly arrive on Lamu’s main square, where Old Lamu Fort stands under a really aged baobab. It is part of the five Lamu’s thematic museums - sea front Lamu Museum is the flagship one.
From the main square’s you can enjoy and discover souvenir shops, cabinet makers' workshops and fabric shops.
After a long walk getting lost between coral and mangroves Swahili buildings Baraka Gallery with his Whispers Cafe or Lamu house are the perfect spots to escape from the crowd !
Our favorite spots
Restaurants : Whispers Cafe or Lamu house
Boutiques : Baraka Gallery
Markets : Fort Market
Museums : Lamu Museum , Lamu Fort and Donkeysanctuary
Shela Village
On the south-east edge of the archipelago you will find the peaceful fisherman village of Shela.
Surrounded by dunes, Shela is the perfect spot for a swim on its 12 km white sand beach. As the social nerve center of the island you will easily find your way for a drink or restaurant and enjoy shopping in local boutiques.
Shela’s ocean wind sheltered harbor hosts fishermen and sailors and with their dhows they can take you for a lovely sunset cruise within Manda’s mangroves or snorkeling day at Manda Toto.
Our favorite spots
Restaurants & Bars
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Boutiques
Aman, Africa Corner, Ali Lamu and Lulu Stories
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Relaxing Time
Natural Lamu Beauty Spa and Banana House And Wellness Center
Best activities in Shela
Sailing Activities
Day-trips - Dhows can take you for a full day trip to Manda Toto where you can do snorkeling on coral reefs or to Kipungani to enjoy its wildness and visit The Cabanas if you want to have lunch.
If you enjoy walking, you either can go or come back from Kipungani by the ocean shore according to tide - approximatively 12 km walk.
Sunset cruise within the mangroves or in the channel between Shela and Manda is definitely a must during your stay!
Channel swim
For the ones looking for challenging physical activities, you can ask a boat driver to follow you while cruising the channel swimming.
Other sea activities
Peponi hotel offers wind surf, water ski, kite surf and deep-sea fishing. Banana House hosts yoga classes and organizes the Lamu Yoga Festival every October.
You can also do kayak within the mangroves or snorkel along the coral reef.
Manda Island
Located across the channel, Manda Island is one of the biggest islands of the Archipelago but due to no natural water resources on the island, settlements are rare in comparison to Lamu Island.
Manda Island, also called Kitau, is a nice alternative to Shela’s beach reachable by boat in 15 minutes from the Shela jetty. The beach and walk to Ras Kitau (Ras means ‘point’ in Arabic) is also a great option for sunset downers but do not forget to book a boat for your trip back!
As one of the first places of settlement in the Archipelago, Manda hosts ruins of Takwa city - reachable by boat through mangroves channels. You can pursue your trip with a nice ocean shore walk to Ras Kitau (around 2 hours).
The Majlis hotel is a good option to enjoy a nice sunset.
If you are looking for unique experience we recommend you to go for a a lunch trip to Manda Bay (45 minutes of speed boat from the house)