Things to do in Lamu
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Dhow Trip
Taking a Dhow Trip is almost obligatory and drifting through the mangroves is a wonderful way to experience the islands. You'll be approached by touts and would-be captains almost as soon as you arrive, but it's worth shopping around to find a captain you like and a price you're happy with. Prices vary depending on where you want to go and how long you go for. Groups of more than five aren't recommended as the boats aren't very big.
Solo travellers joining an existing group to make up numbers will often be offered a great price, on the condition that they don't tell their fellow passengers how much they paid. As this generally means the others paid the extortionate asking…
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Olympic Restaurant
Further south near the waterfront woodyards, the Olympic serves the usual favourites. It's less popular than its more central rivals, but no worse off for that. The owners are very friendly and it's a favourite with a slightly older crowd.
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Hapa Hapa Restaurant
Advocated vehemently by its regulars, this waterfront eatery is a bit more informal and African under its low thatch than your average.
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Lamu Museum
Housed in a very grand Swahili warehouse on the waterfront, the Lamu Museum is an excellent introduction to the culture and history of Lamu Island. It's one of the most interesting small museums in Kenya, with displays on Swahili culture, the famous coastal carved doors, the Maulid Festival, Lamu's nautical history and the tribes who used to occupy this part of the coast in pre-Muslim days, including the Boni, who were legendary elephant-hunters. There's a bookshop that is specialising in Lamu and Swahili culture.
The pride of the collection are the remarkable and ornate siwa (ceremonial horns) of Lamu and Paté, dating back to the 17th century. Lamu's siwa is made of eng…
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Swahili House Museum
If the Lamu Museum stokes your interest in Swahili culture, this beautifully restored traditional house tucked away off to the side of Yumbe House hotel will put you firmly back in the past.
Inside Swahili House Museum you'll find a recreation of a working Swahili home, with cookware, beds and other furniture. The attendant will give you a whistle-stop but informative tour in between small talk, including some fascinating descriptions of the regimented lives of Swahilis in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Traditional Swahili homes were built along rigid social lines, with separate quarters for men and women and audience halls that allowed men to receive guests without infringi…
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Bush Gardens Restaurant
The Bush Gardens is the template for a whole set of restaurants along the waterfront, offering breakfasts, seafood - excellent fish, top-value 'monster crab' and the inevitable lobster in Swahili sauce - and superb juices and shakes mixed up in panelled British pint mugs. Somehow just about every traveller on Lamu ends up here at some point, and it remains a great meeting point and a firm favourite with repeat visitors. We hear the samosas are quite good, with a squeeze of lime of course.
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Lamu Fort
The bulky, atmospheric Lamu Fort squats on Lamu's main square like a weary intruder among the airy Swahili roofs. The building of this massive structure was begun by the Sultan of Paté in 1810 and completed in 1823. From 1910 right up to 1984 it was used as a prison, and it now houses the island's library and some lacklustre displays on natural history and the environment, which a guide will show you around. The highlight is scaling the ramparts for some sweeping town views.
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German Post Office Museum
In the late 1800s, before the British decided to nip German expansion into Tanganyika in the bud, the Germans regarded Lamu as an ideal base from where they could successfully and safely exploit the interior. As part of their efforts the German East Africa Company set up a post office on Kenyatta Rd, and the old building is now the German Post Office Museum exhibiting photographs and memorabilia from that fleeting period of colonial history.
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Donkey Sanctuary
With around 3000 donkeys active on Lamu, Equus asinus is still the main form of transport here, and this sanctuary was established by the International Donkey Protection Trust of Sidmouth, UK, to improve the lot of the island's hard-working beasts of burden. The project provides free veterinary services to donkey owners and tends to injured, sick or worn-out animals; there's even a small ambulance for donkey-mergencies.
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Civil Servants' Club
Even bureaucrats need to let their hair down - the Civil Servants' Club is virtually the only reliable spot for a drink and a dance at weekends, and occasionally plays host to big names like the Ogopa DJs. It's small, loud, rowdy and great fun, though lone women should run for cover and the harbour wall outside is a potential death trap after a few Tuskers.
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Whispers Coffeeshop
In the same building as the posh Baraka Gallery, this is a great place for an upmarket meal, a freshly baked cake or a real cappuccino. There's a lovely palm-shaded courtyard and simple meals such as pasta, fish and chips and pizza are available even during Ramadan, though it closes in low season.
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Mangrove Centre
Facing the main jetty, you'll find a video store and an informal cinema behind the eating area here, though sadly you can't watch the films as you eat. The restaurant does a lively trade at lunchtime, and it's handy for a juice while you wait for a boat, or while you find your feet on arrival.
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New Minaa Café
On the road towards the Riyadha Mosque, this busy, clean rooftop café serves Swahili favourites such as beef kebabs, maharagwe (beans in coconut milk), chicken tikka and samaki (fried fish). It's cheap and popular with both locals and travellers.
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Lamu Dhow
Multi-day dhow trips head out to Paté or the still more remote island of Kiwayu. When it is properly up and running, Lamu Dhow will offer luxury trips with accommodation actually on board a massive vessel.
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Bosnian Café
One of several dirt-cheap local canteens at the far end of the main street that set up takeaway stalls in the evening, selling samosas, chapatis, mishkaki (kebabs), chips and the like.
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Zinj Cinema
Lamu has several small cinemas, all screening Bollywood blockbusters and big football matches. The Zinj Cinema, at the southern end of town, is easy to find.
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Full-Moon Dhow Cruises
For something a bit flashy, Peponi Hotel, at Shela, offers Full-Moon Dhow Cruises including drinks, wine and a lobster dinner.
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Police Administration Club
The informal disco at the Police Administration Club is an option, though for some reason it's only open during school terms.
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Lamu Museum Information Centre
The Lamu Museum also has its own library and Information Centre just down the waterfront, supported by the American Embassy.
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Baraka Gallery
For upmarket souvenirs from all over Africa, Baraka Gallery has a fine selection, but stratospheric prices.
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