I stayed for two nights in a renovated traditional house along one of the narrow alleyways of the Old Town of Lamu. I enjoyed being woken up by the call to prayer (this is a conservative Islamic society) and having a hearty Swahili breakfast in the morning. Due to the thick walls, my room was quite dark all day, but a breeze and vitamin D (handy for the muslim ladies who in the past weren’t allowed to get out) is provided in these houses by the interior courtyard, open-air sitting areas and a rooftop terrace. It wasn’t easy to get into such a house in the past – there’s a massive wooden front door plus an attached waiting area outside (pictured). Many such houses still exist in the Old Town, often bought by foreigners since they are too expensive for locals (not only the purchase but also the renovations and the upkeep).

I walked the town’s streets many times, once also with a private guide. The starting point is the central square, which lies behind the white ‘Welcome to Lamu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site’ arches and in front of Lamu Fort. The fort was built at the coast, but there is now a block of buildings and a corniche in between on land reclaimed from the sea during the British period. The square is a popular meeting place and there are benches all around for (mostly) men to linger about. 

From here you can walk into the two connected parts of the town, the newer (late 19th century) one with stone buildings and the older one with mangrove timber/mud/coral masonry. Transport still is done mostly on foot, although donkeys are put to work to carry heavy loads. There are some motorbikes and tuktuks as well. I noticed that the small alleys looked fairly clean – the guide told me the city cleans them, and there’s also the natural force of rainwater that flows down from the hill to the harbour. All streets have small canals attached. The streets are also home to many stray cats, which often appear poorly cared for. People tolerate them because they catch rats, which can be a problem in the old houses.

There’s a Covered Market in a rebuilt structure. They sell mostly fruits, vegetables and (according to my guide) “third-rate fish” (the best of the daily catch goes directly to restaurants or the mainland). On the island, only mangoes and coconuts are harvested, so most of the produce in the market is imported.

The town is also said to have about 40 mosques. Most people are Sunni, but there are some Shia and Wahhabi mosques as well. We went to see the oldest mosque in town, the Msikiti Wa Pwani. Like many others, from the outside it is hardly recognizable as a mosque. There’s no visible minaret. In the newer part of town lies what is today’s main mosque. It has a well-regarded madrassah as well, which attracts students from afar (the teachers are Egyptian). Local customs are slowly modernizing a bit, and you will see plenty of women in the streets nowadays, though many of them are fully covered wearing a niqab that includes the face. Tourists are also requested to dress modestly, which means at least covering their shoulders and knees.

The Lamu Museum can be found on the Corniche. It’s set in a very pretty seafront building, with arcades and a veranda. Like the museum at Fort Jesus in Mombasa, it was renovated not long ago with the Omani government as the sponsor. The Omanis probably want a bit of their former empire back, as the links between Oman and the Swahili coast are highlighted. Also, the Omani Sultan(s) and Omani forts are glorified on the museum’s top floor.

Overall, I liked Lamu. Despite the foreign ownership of many of the traditional houses, it isn’t really gentrified, restaurants and guesthouses are modest and life just goes on like it always has in its narrow streets.