Leisure & Business Travel

LAMU ISLAND

Lamu Island is a part of the Lamu Archipelago of Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast. A port was founded on the island of Lamu by Arab traders as early as the 14th Century.

The island prospered on slave trade. After defeating Pate Island in the 16th century the island became a local power, but it declined after the British forced the closure of the slave markets in in 1873.

Tourism to the island developed from the 1970s, mainly around the 18th century Swahili architecture and traditional culture of the local Bajun people.

There is one town Lamu Town (a World Heritage Site) and three villages namely Shela )is a village about 2 miles from Lamu Town), Matondoni (reknown for the building and repairing of traditional dhows) and Kipungani (a small village on the South West coast of the island).

There are no motorized vehicles on the island, instead transport is either by boat, on foot or donkey ride. Excursions in Lamu include village walks to historical sites and dhow building sites, dhow trips, deep-sea fishing and snorkelling.