Kenya's hottest holiday isle | Africa - Times Online
Apart from a tiny ambulance and a police car, there are no vehicles on Lamu - the town's alleys are too narrow for traffic. Locals and visitors alike, the latter include Princess Caroline of Monaco, Mick Jagger et al who have fallen under the island's spell, either have to walk, hire a donkey or hail a passing dhow.
Borne by the trade winds, merchants, sultans, slaves and adventurers have washed up on the little Indian Ocean island, once the fiefdom of the Sultans of Oman and Zanzibar and a wealthy trading port in its 18th-century heyday.
In the 21st century, well-heeled Western tourists are following in their wake, lured by its laidback charm, golden beaches and the seduction of the old Swahili stone town with its crumbling mansions and secret courtyards. The sheer tropical languor seeps into your bones as soon as you arrive at the tiny airport. The island is Islamic and highly traditional, but less edgy than Zanzibar and with less hassle than in Mombasa.
Lamu is usually tacked on to safari holidays on the mainland; it deserves to be a destination in its own right.
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