Kijani House Hotel
Kijani House is a small, very exclusive and charming hotel overlooking the entrance to the Shela Channel on the island of Lamu. In its large tropical garden and around the two fresh-water swimming pools you will find real peace and relaxation.

The veranda of your spacious en-suite room, furnished with coastal antiques, is the ideal place for planning exciting safaris to experience the fascination of Swahili culture.

You can also work up an appetite walking from the gardens and along the 12 km Shela Beach, returning to an exotic selection of seafood, Swahili dishes and a touch of Italian cuisine in the Kijani Restaurant.

Name: Kijani House Hotel
Number of rooms: 10 - all with attached bathroom
Capacity: 24 beds
Safe: Yes, in each room
Restaurant: Yes
Bar: Yes
Pool: Yes
Credit cards: Visa, Master Card, Euro Card

Rooms
Each room has a bathroom and has its own balcony or veranda facing the garden and the sea. The rooms are spread throughout the garden in three separate small traditional Swahili buildings - formerly private homes - with walls made of coral, boriti ceiling and makuti roofs.

Food
The kitchen offers all types of fish, lobsters, crabs and prawns fresh from the sea, along with meat and fresh vegetables, together with African and Italian specialities.

We bake our own bread, produce marmalade and yoghurt with the fresh product from our small farm on the island, which also provides eggs and honey.

Introduction to Lamu (from Kijani House website)
One of the few unspoiled spots is Lamu, and it is very likely that it will remain so for years to come as the only practical way to reach this enchanted isle is by aeroplane. In Lamu you find a vibrant society in harmony with its traditions: Lamu people are dubious of the merits of what we term 'Progress'.

When a telephone line was established in Lamu some years back, one Arab told the proprietor, "Never mind, the elephants on the mainland will soon knock the poles down." This does in fact periodically occur.

Life in Lamu has a distinctly Arab flavour; the ladies scurry down back streets wearing buibuis (black cloaks which cover them entirely) and yet they are prone to shadowing their dark eyes with kohl and have been known to cast amorous glances from the folds of their buibuis towards favoured admirers. In the evenings the aroma of thick Turkish-like coffee permeates the atmosphere; old men sit together philosophising on the front steps of their houses, and little boys chase one another, darting in and out of the quaint shops that line the main street.

The restaurants of Lamu bustle with business. Bajun fishermen tell tales to one another while they enjoy heaped plates of rice. Night-time is delightful, and everyone takes advantage of the cool breezes that blow from the Indian Ocean. You may even see the aristocratic shariffs (blood descendants of the Prophet Mohammed) taking a stroll, dressed in long white robes called kanzus and carrying walking sticks. They are as distinguished as the black-suited and bowler-topped gentlemen of Fleet Street; but rather than having stocks and bonds on their minds, they are more likely to have some problem involving the interpretation of one of the Prophet's sayings.

History
A thousand years of trade, settlement and Islamic expansion have left ruins up and down the East African coast. In the 2nd century the Greeks knew of this coast and called it Azania. Later, in the 9th and 10th centuries, Arab and Persian traders and settlers called it Bilad-al-Zenj. Their small settlements grew into fiercely independent city-states which brought forth a distinct Arab-African culture called Swahili.

The buildings in Lamu's historical core date from the 18th century, though both folklore and archaeological evidence point to an older settlement just south and possibly also north of today's town. Lamu flourished in this period and her traders grew rich exporting ivory, mangroves, oil seeds, grains, cowries and tortoise shell. Their dhows sailed to Arabia and India and brought back coveted oriental silks, spices and porcelain. Along the beach between Lamu and Shela you still find pieces of Chinese blue and white porcelain.

Lamu continued to prosper in the 19th century under the protection of the Sultan of Oman, who built the Fort around 1820. As the last century drew to a close the town gradually declined. One hundred years later the streets and the buildings remain to tell the Lamu story: only they are not empty monuments, but a living town.

The streets and buildings
The streets of Lamu are narrow, cool and quiet. They are surprisingly intimate spaces enclosed by massive stone buildings whose thick coral rag walls give the town its distinct colour and texture. It is not a town of landmarks and monuments - the Fort alone stands out. Religious and domestic buildings are difficult to distinguish from one another. Both are simple with few openings and neither has any exterior decoration except for Lamu's characteristic heavy carved doors.

Lamu mosques do not have minarets; virtually the only outward sign is the collections of sandals on the steps at prayer time. From an architectural point of view the most interesting of the coral stone buildings are the 18th century traditional Swahili courtyard houses. Inside, these houses are extravagantly decorated with rich and masterfully carved plaster ceiling friezes, wall panels and complex wall niches, and beautifully carved trifoliate arches. The art of carving plaster was perfected more than 200 years ago, yet many examples may still be found in the old town. One of the loveliest is in a "Little House" owned and restored by the National Museums of Kenya. The "veranda" houses which line the seafront promenade were built later, around the turn of this century. The National Museums has also restored one of these houses and turned it into the Lamu Museum, one of the finest small museums in Africa.

When in Lamu
Lamu is a traditional Islamic community with over twenty active mosques in the town and most women veiled in public. Visitors are welcome but they are asked to observe and respect local custom. Foreign women are not expected to put on a buibui, however, beach attire should not be worn in the street. Topless or nude bathing is considered an affront. Alcoholic drinks can be purchased in hotels but they should not be consumed in the street, on the seafront, or in any other public place. Whether you travel overland or by air, the final leg of your journey to Lamu will be by ferry boat. Various private airlines fly scheduled services from Nairobi, Mombasa and Malindi to Lamu's small airport on Manda Island. The bus from Mombasa takes about seven hours, a long and dusty ride as the road north of Malindi is not paved. The road journey is definitely not recommended and the daily air services are infinitely preferable. Also during the rainy seasons, November, May and June, the road may become impassable.

Sightseeing and Excursions in Lamu

Lamu Museum
Any tour of Lamu is best begun at the Lamu Museum which provides an excellent introduction to the town and the region, both past and present. The exhibits include the material culture of the archipelago, ethnographic tableaux of neighbouring coastal peoples, as well as a collection of maritime artifacts and model dhows. After this orientation you are ready to amble through the streets, set sail for nearby ruins, or just go fishing.

Lamu Fort
The Fort is a cultural and community centre housing maritime and natural history exhibits, a public library, conservation studios, a museum shop, and a restaurant and café specializing in Swahili cuisine.

Shela
Shela is a 45 minute walk south along the beach. Once around the point beyond the village and Kijani House, the dunes and the beach stretch for seven deserted miles. There are interesting ruins at the back of the village, though Shela's most prominent landmark is its Friday Mosque built with a conical shaped minaret in 1829.

Takwa
The ruined town of Takwa lies across the channel and up a narrow mangrove creek on Manda Island. It can be approached only by boat and only on a rising tide. You can hear the ocean over the dunes in this lovely place as you wander among fabled baobab trees and the remains of a 16th century Swahili town. Visitors who do not wish to spend the night will have to take a quick (approx. 45 minutes) tour so as not to miss the outgoing tide. Be sure to see the Mosque with a pillar over its fine qibla, and also the pillar tomb. Takwa is a national monument administered by the National Museums of Kenya. A camping site is provided.

Matondoni
This village is about 2 hours from Lamu whether by foot or by mashua, a small sailing dhow. Sailing time depends on the monsoon and the tide. Matondoni is known for its shipwrights who build the traditional lateen rigged dhows, both the large jahazi and the smaller mashua.

further afield
Destinations further north entail passage through the shallow Mkanda Channel and must be carefully timed with the tide. The north side of Manda Island together with Manda Toto, a favourite fishing and snorkelling spot, makes a nice day trip. Visits to Pate Island usually require staying overnight. There are no facilities and the mosquitos are vicious, so be prepared. The most important settlement on the island is Lamu historic rival, Pate Town. There are many ruins here but the most spectacular is the fort at Siyu in the middle of the island.

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