Travel and Personal

Lamu - Paradise Island

By Dweep Chanana ⋅ February 16, 2006 ⋅  Email this post ⋅ Post a comment

Leave your worries at the airport. Relax. Airport transfers by dhow.

Lamu is that kind of place, where you do not dictate the pace of your life. Everything the Rough Guide says is true. Life moves at the pace of a dhow or donkey. Pole Pole – Kiswahili for ‘slowly slowly’ – is an oft repeated phrase. It is the kind of place you will either love or hate. Rushing is pointless, relaxing essential.

This is an island off the north Kenyan coast, part of the Lamu archipelago. The airport, on Manda island, is across the Lamu channel – a 10 minute dhow ride. The town itself, on Lamu island, is one of the oldest pre-colonial remnants of Swahili coast culture – a culture no longer found on the mainland.

Game theorists will love this place for its low crime rate. Historians will like it for what is preserved, and what is not. It is an interesting example for social scientists too – on how the tourist lives in seeming harmony with Islam. Seeming, because cracks are appearing. Money can corrupt, but a bigger influence is the arrival of women here to have a good time. The levels of testosterone in the air are unmistakably high, and I wonder how the local women react to the competition?

As an Indian I was especially intrigued by the influence India has here. Kiswahili has several Hindi words, but here the influence goes deeper. One of the most heard radio channels played Indian tunes only. Every video store had a wide selection of Indian movies. The locals, it seems, have seen so many that they can even understand Hindi! The influence is not obvious, however, as is that of Bob Marley – the young braid their hair and display him on their dhow.

Islam here is not very conservative, thankfully. King Fahd did build a huge hospital here. The women wear burqa, and will quickly cover their faces at the sight of a camera-totting tourist. Yet, children sing in the mosques. The doctor at one of the medical clinics was a woman – dressed in black but highly competent. Local culture dictates tourists – particularly women – cover their bodies, avoiding shorts or sleeveless shirts. Yet, ever so often an insensitive tourist arrives, and is not harassed.

That is not to say tourists are not troubled. From the moment you land at the airport, an army of ‘beach boys’ – really men – surround you with offers for everything. They can be useful – to find a hotel, organize a dhow trip, take a city tour – but use your own brains. They only want the money.

Where to stay? If money is not a consideration, the only places to stay in town are Lamu World (a small place with character), followed by Lamu Palace (a large establishment with none and a disappointing restaurant). If you came for the beach, you might however, want to head to Shela Beach. A 30-minute walk from town, the more upscale hotels are coming up here or across the channel on Manda Island.

The joy of Lamu is not to be found just on the beach. It is in getting lost in the winding streets of old town, and walking the packed streets at midnight - unconcerned about safety. Turn a corner and you meet a donkey with a grown man on it. Meet little children, screaming jambo as you walk by. Sit at a cheap seafront restaurant and enjoy an excellent fish kebab. Mostly, feel the breeze. Wake up to a cock crowing and a donkey baying. Watch the moon rise and the tide come in. Listen to the sounds of the city and its people.