Unforgettable little Lamu!

Here I am, seated on a white sand beach, minimal clothing, sun kissing my bare skin with enjoyable abandon, fresh tamarind juice rested on my left hand side, summer vacationers strolling by, rocking my stunners with a gaze glued at the sand dunes on the other side of the ocean. It is hard to believe I am here, living the life that had only been a fantasy for months - as I envisioned it on my office computer!

Welcome to Lamu. That picture right there was of me recently at Manda Beach, one of the fancy beaches on the small island in neighbouring Kenya. Replaying this holiday in my head still lights me up.

Ambience
The setup of Lamu Island is similar to that of Stone Town, Zanzibar. You will find quite similar architectural set up, the narrow walkways, street food, lots of seafood, and quite a number of beach boys offering to take you around. However, unlike Zanzibar, you will barely see a car - in fact we only saw one car, which apparently belongs to the governor. Donkeys are the main mode of transport on land here.

And nice as they are, the people of Lamu are quite conservative, considering it is largely Muslim, your dress code matters. If you are here on holiday, you will likely be carrying around holiday clothes but you cannot walk around in sheer or short shorts. It is advisable you have a wrapper and once you are far from the judging eyes, you can take it off. A little inconveniencing but from my travel experiences, it is only fair to respect host cultures.

I stayed at Jamala Guesthouse about five minutes-walk from the main pier. It is built like a castle. The lushness of tendrils running across the pillars with paintings dotted on sections of the wall was inviting. Before even seeing the hotel room, I was already certain I was the missing fauna in this flora.

On the first evening of checking in, Badji, the manager, took us to one of the main attractions in Lamu - the floating bar! I was beyond fascinated and to measure the level of my fascination, you may only need to know that I was at this bar for every day that I spent in Lamu. For its doubled price on adult beverages, you will care less.
On one of the days, I had a chance to go tubing - thanks to three amazing girls at the hotel. When they suggested it, I was quick to offer camera services because the idea of getting strapped lying back down on a tube being dragged at 60km/h by a speed boat did not spell F.U.N to me - I was not here for reckless behaviour! So as they strapped up, I life-jacketed up and played co-captain of the speed boat. Camera in hand, I watched on as the girls screamed and yelled when the boat rode them in rivetingly bumpy sways. Occasionally they raised a hand - hard to read - was that an SOS or just fun?

I would find out 20 minutes later when one of the girls, in the middle of the ocean, unstrapped herself and asked that I get on. Was she insane? Turns out I did not look as scared enough.

Well, If Liz - the coward of the three - was doing this, maybe it was not as bad. Alas! I must have peed on myself in the first three minutes but the ecstasy and thrill from this experience left me wondering why I had no been on this thing much earlier.

Among the things you can do in Lamu is the boat rides to Shela Island, also known as Lamu’s little Europe; where the affluent live. Ride to Manda Island - call it Lamu’s Beverly Hills, where you will find the fancy hotels and lodges, go snorkeling in the blue waters of Manda Toto Beach, enjoy a two-hour sunset cruise, hike the sand dunes in Shela or go camping on one of the deserted beaches. For a town so small with about 100,000 people, the memories of Lamu left me with a big O - best beach town so far!