With direct flights from Nairobi, it’s super easy to reach Lamu Island – and even easier to fall for it. It’s oh so quiet. Lamu’s bougainvillea-draped streets are too tight for cars. Aside from the odd motorbike engine, the soundscape is one of clopping of donkey hooves, shushing waves, and the occasional chatter of passing voices in the narrow lanes below your villa’s open window. Throughout the day, the call to prayer echoes through the alleyways from the island’s mosques.
Bella Shela
Shela is a little village in the easternmost corner of the island. It has a long, often empty beach, with a tiny fort at the top, and a smattering of souvenir sellers around the little fishing harbour. It’s also home to the famous and long-established Peponi Hotel. It’s something of a gathering spot for visitors – not least because it’s one of the few places serving alcohol. At Christmas, it can feel rather like a British boarding school reunion.
Just chill
Board a white-sailed dhow boat – surely the most romantic form of transport – for a candlelit seafood dinner on the water. Wander the warren of alleyways. Take a yoga class. Read. Snooze. Time passes differently here – don’t fight it, embrace it.
