The Island of Lamu

After leaving Zanzibar I made my way back to Nairobi. Knowing that my Ugandan placement options were not going to happen I contacted VSO Kenya about arranging my flight back to Canada. The clock was finally going to start ticking on the end of my Kenyan adventure.

With a few weeks left to travel I realized that there wasn't anything that I desparately wanted to do. I had thought about going to Rwanda or heading south to see Victoria Falls. However, nothing had me totally fired up. Therefore, rather than spend time and money on visiting these places I decided to stay closer to Nairobi and head to the Kenyan coast. So on September 1st I flew to the island of Lamu.

What I found in Lamu was what I was hoping to see in Zanzibar. Once a secondary trading centre, Lamu also has a strong Arabic influence. Its a fairly small island with only 2 or 3 motor vehicles (counting tractors). Donkeys and dhows (small sailboats) provide the major means of transportation. There was a strong Muslim presence, as could be seen in how the people dressed, the number of mosques, and how hard it was to find a cold beer (but not impossible).

I spent 5 enjoyable days in Lamu with my main ambition being to determine which restaurant made the best fruit juice (it was the Sea Front). There was a real charm to Lamu and it was the first place I had been to on this trip where it was safe to walk anywhere at night. There was a viewing deck on top of my hotel where Iwould sit and read and enjoy the view. At times Muslim prayers were heard loud and clear over speaker systems from different mosques in different directions. It was a kind of Islamic battle of the bands.

Interestingly, there is a strong Rastafarian influence amongst the young dhow captains and crew. The memory of Bob Marley lives on here and many of the young guys had their hair in dreadlocks. I did a dhow day-trip where we sailed, fished and lunched on a beach. It was pretty clear that my dhow crew were not Rastas because of any religious inclination, but because, apparently, white girls dig it.