8 - 14 DECEMBER 2011: LAMU ISLAND

8 - 14 December 2011

KENYAN COAST: LAMU ISLAND

Finally posted June 2015

Arrive in Lamu Thursday afternoon shattered by the long bus ride (200km+) on a shocking road, I’m feeling run down so really looking forward to some down time here on the island. There is the usual hassle and scramble at the port of Mokowe to travel the five kms across to Lamu. Eventually I take the slow boat on a choppy sea and arrive at a makeshift jetty on Lamu to find the guesthouse is so near and again I am the only tourist here!! This guesthouse is constructed from traditional cut coral-rag blocks and I spend up to get a bigger room that faces the seafront thus garnering a fabulous breeze and full moon view each the evening.

The island itself is still very traditional without any cars, with one or two motorbikes and two tractors that I spotted in the five days I spent there. 

 

Donkeys are the main transport for everything and they are very hardworking, confirming my opinion that you must have led an evil life if you are ever reincarnated as a donkey anywhere in Africa or the Middle East! 

First couple of days here, there was the usual hassle of touts wanting to be my friend but eventually most got the message that 1. I didn’t want to go for a dhow trip, 2. I didn’t want to go sailing at midnight and 3. I was not looking for company to drink palm wine at midnight on a boat with a local bloke. Lamu life was then reasonably peaceful for me as I wandered the streets. 

There are wonderful museums, traditional carved doorways, mosques, a fort, the seafront full of anchored dhows and the jetty which is continual hive of activity, a water based bus station really. 

I telephone Khadija, the Girl Guide Commissioner here and we meet together at the post office. She is lovely to chat with, but very busy and I assure her that I am happy to wander about ‘unguided’ and I give her my telephone contact if she wishes to catch up again. 

 

Parting ways I continue my walking though the town – even though you walk down the same streets, there are different stores opening, different folk shopping and a different time of day all make it so interesting to wander about endlessly.

When I travelled over to Lamu, there was a large contingent coming for a wedding and as part of the preliminaries on Saturday the main street gets taken up with a group of drummers accompanying a ritual of ‘faux’ fighting. A large crowd gather to watch and local men join in what looks like a men only affair but the women are very eager to check out the ‘talent’ who are showing off their prowess at this sport. Eventually the male bridal party arrive and compete to much laughter as the older men are out of shape compared to the young locals. Sunday morning I met a couple of US navy boys at my usual ‘morning tea’ restaurant. We swap pleasantries and they tactfully enquire if my government has lifted its travel bans yet, meaning why on earth do stupid tourists ignore government warnings that are issued for their own safety? I explained that I had been away for a while now and had also taken the precaution of telephoning the guest house ahead of arriving who had assured me that it was very quiet here with a lot of security, so I made the decision to visit Lamu for a few days, in light of having previously visited Zanzibar and Mozambique Island. I asked them not to tell ‘my government’that I was here and they also agreed that there was plenty of ‘presence’ about, making it more secure now than when folk were kidnapped last month. I spent my last day on this idyllic island asking many women if they know of anyone who can decorate my hands. Eventually I get a good lead and head into the backstreets to find a young woman who agrees to ‘do’ my hands, after establishing that I didn’t want my feet ‘done’ too. 

We agreed to a good price and I admired her gorgeous decorations. Firstly, the intricate design is traced out using with black henna and after an hour or so, when that eventually dries, highlights including my fingertips are coloured in with brown henna. In all about three hours of sitting about in this lady’s yard, but the end result is so worth it –she did a fantastic job and I love it.

Tuesday morning brings an early boat ride to the mainland then the long, bad road to Malindi, although going back today the trip does seem shorter? After arriving I leave my pack at the bus office and wander around for some window shopping and good coffee at the Italian café before walking by the beach for a leisurely lunch with the rest of the mzungus. Only a couple of hours to fill in so I pick up my pack and find the next bus office, melting in the humidity here and watching tv. I have to tell you about the Mexican and Indian soapies on the teev here – they are dubbed in English and are hilarious to watch with their very trite storylines. One time I was asked what I wanted to watch somewhere and I asked about a 7pm Mexican soapie – they had never heard of it. They then switched stations to the exact show and I said ‘but that is it!’ to which they replied that ‘but it is not mexican, it is in english.’ Another highlight is the dentyne chewing gum ad, featuring Lou Reed’s ‘Take a walk on the wild side’ for the soundtrack – quite surreal and I end up with that song in my head for quite a while after seeing that ad! Soon enough the lovely Modern Coast bus arrives and I have my VIP seat again for a great overnight journey back to Nairobi. Arriving early morning, I know a good café upstairs here in Accra Rd that I’ve tried a couple of times and this morning they don’t disappoint for breakfast, with a great fruit salad and a good cup of ‘heavy’ tea – just why it is ‘heavy’ I will never know. Reading the papers and watching morning tv, I notice a Tuskys supermarket across the road from the café which reminds me that I am still on the lookout for flea powder. I don’t really fancy my luck but after leaving my pack at the ‘parcel counter’ I ask at the pharmacy and she directs me to a pharmacy down near the railway station. On a whim I head into the supermarket proper, ask a couple of chatting store boys and he takes me straight to a shelf with flea powder in stock!! BINGO!! I cannot recall how many places I have tried for flea powder and had just about given up so now I am definitely on a high – I managed to accomplish getting the two items I wanted here in Nairobi, flight socks and flea powder!! Quite exciting really. From town it’s a quick taxi ride to the airport at this time of day and I sit at their good outdoor café getting this diary up to date and utilising one of the cleanest public toilets I have come across in a long while! I meet Kat from Turkey, who arrived from Ethiopia two weeks ago and she confirmed the need for flea powder there so I’m pleased that I found some today. She is lovely to talk to and travelling with a large camera. I explained that I had a small camera but I’d noticed spots appearing in all the photos I am taking and Kat says its dust inside the camera and I’ll have to photoshop all the photos! BAH! But its lovely to meet very pleasant folk travelling around hereabouts and our time passes quickly here at the café before it’s my time to check in and head to Ethiopia, my last country in Africa on this trip.

The Kenyan coast has been a lovely couple of weeks and with more time I could easily have stayed longer – sun, sand, history, and the exotic Swahili culture resulting from Arabia, India and Africa trading together over the centuries, long before European colonisation began. Spice plantations, slave trading, rebellions and intermarriage have all contributed to the blending of ethnicities in this part of the world. Add in the fact that the tourist high season here has definitely taken a hit from the travel warnings being issued making a visit here without the crowds, a definite privilege. I leave Kenya rested and ready to speed through Ethiopia before making my way home to Australia in the new year.

FACT: Lamu has had a donkey sanctuary for more than 25 years, taking care of the animals that remaining the only form of transport for many decades through the Lamu archipelago. There are an estimated 50,000 donkeys on Lamu Island, used to carry building materials and commodities for local traders.  Sick donkeys are taken to the sanctuary for treatment and a free deworming project has just been launched.  Founded in 1978 by a visiting British vet who became concerned by the poor condition of the working donkeys, the sanctuary now has six satellite clinics on other islands along with a retirement farm for elderly donkeys that are fed and treated until their deaths. There is also a program to educate residents and farmers on how to care for their animals, as they are often overloaded due to ignorance of basic animal welfare.

FACT 2: There is a massive port project proposed for Lamu, another reason for Kenya to be keen on securing this area. It will ultimately sever South Sudan and Ethiopia however this project has triggered a wave of land acquisition by investors. However locals who traditionally do not have land titles to their family lands fear that they will lose out in the land scramble that is happening. This is leading to a natural perception that the port will be another opportunity for the government and big business to make a killing while ordinary people are sidelined.