Lamu can be reached by two methods alone. The first is the long bus journey from Malindi, connecting to a ferry across to Lamu Island. The second is to catch the plane to Lamu Airport. You would be forgiven upon your descent for thinking your pilot was blind. Lamu airport is in fact on nearby Manda Island, and the final approach to Lamu must be done by boat across the channel. This route affords you the best view of the majesty of Lamu town and its smaller, more affluent neighbour; Shela.

Centuries of tumultuous history add character and mystery to Lamu’s picturesque, meandering alleyways, and the history is easy to see in the town’s impressive Fort, its old mosques, and the buildings themselves.

A key post on the monsoon trading routes, Lamu’s character, both culturally and philanthropically, demonstrates a rich mixture of Arabic, Indian, Polynesian, Chinese, African and European influences, and the unique fusion of animism and Islam afford Lamu a much respected status in the Islam of the East African Coast.

A trip to Lamu is incomplete without a visit to the great Dhow building town of Matondoni, and to the pristine beaches near Shela. In Lamu Town itself there are numerous sights to visit, along with the prospect of just relaxing and doing absolutely nothing but soaking up the beauty of the still widely unknown jewel of the Kenyan coast. Small, yet engaging, Lamu is a must-visit location for the inquisitive mind, and the appreciative awareness of the cultural traveller.