
Lamu Island of Kenya
Lamu Island of Kenya : Lamu Island which is also a port city is an island off the shores of Kenya in the Indian Ocean which is 150 miles from Mombasa. It is within the county of Lamu which borders Somalia . Lamu was founded in the 12th century and it is longest and preserved remaining settlements of the swahili people traditions in East Africa that remains. The island has always remained a preserved cultural town for over seven hundred years since its establishment. The island is also rich in Islamic religion and way back before the birth of prophet Muhammad many people from various countries migrated to the Island of Lamu. These people included Traders and Sailors from the Arabian peninsula, China, India and South-East Asia who travelled across the Indian Ocean all the way to Lamu island. The Swahili language also known as Kiswahili is the most stolen language in the Island. The island has several social classes ,which the people living in the island are grouped into. The several social classes are as follows: the indigenous people (wenyeji), foreigners (wageni), Arabs ( Waarabu) and the Africans ( Waafrika).
These groups each had their unique way of identifying themselves based their social status a d different dialect. The Swahili culture is not a single culture neither is it a way of life but a mixture of different cultures from European, African, Arab and Asian traditions. The Lamu island has remained a diverse islands because many Sailors a d travellers visited it while on Kenya Safaris.
Lamu Island is so unique that residents are forced to walk on foot or by donkey to get to where they are going. The weather in the region is generally warm ranging from about 23 and 33°C. The island is experiencing the warmest weather from December to April and coldest from May to July. A port was founded on the island by Arab traders in as early as 14th century when the panic mosque was built. The island prospered so much with the slave trade. The Pate island became a local power and the slave market was stopped by the British in 1873. It also became part of Zanzibar in 1890 and remained part of it until Kenya was granted independent from the Great Britain in 1963. They started developing tourism from 1970s with swahili architecture and traditional culture.
The Lamu coastline is made mainly of sand dunes, which cover the Shela aquifer which is the source of main source of water.
Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET)
The corridor project is also known as Lamu corridor is one of the major transport infrastructure projects in Kenya. If completed the country’s second transport corridor with the other being Mombasa- Uganda transport corridor that passes through Nairobi and much of the Northern Rift. The construction main components are ports, pipelines, roads, railways and its first berth was completed in October 2019.
Lamu Archipelago
The islands are located in the Indian Ocean ,close to the northern coast of Kenya. The islands lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga . The major islands and the largest are the Pate Island, Manda Island, and Lamu with the smaller islands which include Kiwayu which lies in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve and Manda Toto. The largest town in the Archipelago is Lamu Town which is found on the Lamu Island. The town is one of the World Heritage sites in Kenya.
The Archipelago contain several archaeological and historical sites such as Takwa and Manda Town both of which are found on Manda Island and Shanga found on the Pate Island. There are some accounts mentioning the sinking of Chinese ships of Zheng He’s fleet near Lamu island in Kenya in 1415. The survivors settled in the islands and married local women. This has been proven by archaeological finding in the area with further DNA test showing that they have Chinese ancestry.

Pate Island
It is the largest island in the Lamu Archipelago which is located between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga. The Island is almost surrounded by Mangrove, Pate has for years transition from being agricultural community into a specialised urban trading society. The Islam spread down the Kenyan coast from the Horn of Africa in what would be known as Swahili culture. Pate is an African town frequented by trading Arabs, Persians, Indians and Others. The Swahili port of Pate competed with Lamu and Takwa for economic dominance and flourished in the 14th century. There is public transport provided by few mini buses which are popularly known as Matatus. The main administrative centre of the Island is in Faza where it has a police station.
Faza on the North Coast known as Ampaza by the Portuguese. It was destroyed in 1587 by the Portuguese in revenge for supporting notorious privateer Mir Ali Bey who played key role in ousting the Portuguese in Muscat. They arrived from Goa with 650 men and unleashed their fury in Faza killing everybody they could find, including the local sheikh. They then preserved his head in a barrel of salt which is in display in India. The Portuguese then built a Chapel but nothing remains of it.
Manda Island
It is an island of the Lamu Archipelago of Kenya which is known in the 9th century ports of Takwa and Manda Town. The island can be accessed by ferry which links it with the ferry to Lamu and is home to Manda Airport with Manda Toto island lying to its west. The island is separated from the Mainland by the narrow Mkanda channel.
The Manda Town ruins which are on the Northwest coast of the Manda Island were first explored by archaeologists Neville Chittick in 1965.
Kiwayu Island
Kiwayu also known as Kiwayuu is a small island found on the Eastern part of Lamu Archipelago in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve in Kenya. The islands main economic activity is Fishing, with it having one school ,one well but no clinic on the island. The main tourist attractions and activities that one can engage in are the tidal pools Snorkelling and the diving pools on the eastern side in the Indian Ocean.
The nearest hospital facility on the Lamu Island is found on the Lamu town. The travel from Kiwayu to Lamu is 7 hours when using a Dhow and 2 hours by Mirror boat.
The best time to visit Lamu Island
Lamu is one of the major tourist hub, which is a fabulous place to visit any time of the year. It is recommendable to visit Lamu during the dry seasons that begins in July and ends in October and also the season of January through February
