Lamu, Kenya Reviews and Ratings

but delicious tasteLamu about a two hour propeller plane ride from Nairobi is not Honolulu it's not Haganta Guam and it's not even Mombassa. It's better.From the precarious boat ride from the airport across the straits in Manda to the giant (size of an american football) mudcrabs followed by cold Tuskers at Petley's to the eerie and hauntingly beautiful call to prayer in the morning this place is everything i didn't know it was.Do not come here if you are looking to sit in an airconditioned room watching baseball or if you don't like donkeys leaky sailboats or crowded streets.Do come here to witness and be part of what the swahili coast was 100 years ago. Lamu was often the last glimpse of home for tens of thousands of Arabian bound africian slaves for hundreads of years up until almost the dawn of the 20th century.The \streets\ average about a meter wide and are filled with donkeys and street life i'd only seen in movies. It's cheap (hotels are about $25 american /nite) the beaches are beautiful (take the boat over to manda beach and stay all day) the people are nice although often stare unabashedly at us american white folk (Muzunga) out of curiousoty and i was asked several times point blank \give me money white man\ - to which i politely replied \no\.if you have the money stay on the island's much more affluent southen town of Shela it's about five to ten times more expensive but 50 times more worth it.Take a Dhow ride ask for the crew of the \Calimari\ expect to pay about $30 a day for the crew to take you to manda and back with some liesurely sailing in between.This is a muslim island but there are a few places to get drinks. Spend the day at shela beach followed by a cold beer at the peponi beach resort and end your day at Petly's - an english pub with a swahili feel - for an ice cold tusker. Whiskey and hard liquor are at premium prices stick with the Tusker whitecaps and guiness for your best alcohol bang for your buck or euro.