Attractions in Lamu County
11. Kipungani Ruins
At Kipungani, on the southwest side of Lamu Island, are a ruined mosque, some tombs, and scatters of pottery. The mosque stands to its full height, though in bush; it was probably a three-aisle “southern” type. The mihrab was wide and deep, and appears to have been removed from the mosque. At the south end of the mosque was the cistern for ablutions, fed from a five-sided well southeast of the mosque. There are two tombs at the edge of the sea at Kipungani, of which one is a large square tomb with probably seven-riser step ends. The seaward side of this tomb has collapsed, and only the northeastern corner of a tomb that once abutted it to the south still remains. Kipungani is also home to Kipungani Explorer, a secluded ocean-facing which contains 13 spacious bandas that sit at one end of Kipungani Bay. “The bandas are built entirely from local materials, with mkeka palm floors and makuti thatch roofs woven by the natives of nearby village”, from where guests can enjoy its palm lined shaded 600-ms beachfront.
12. Kizingoni Beach
The beach at Shela, where Peponi Hotel stands, is now well known. But there are other great stretches of golden sands in Lamu, at Kipungani and Kizingoni, reachable by sailing dau. Kizingoni Beach, just south of Kipungani, is served by Kizingoni Villas; all fully furnished in colonial Arab Swahili style – with tropical hardwood furniture and attractive fabrics, fittings and fixtures sourced from Lamu, Kenya, Morocco and the Far East, and the Kizingo Lamu Island Resort.
13. Old Town Lamu
As one of the oldest Swahili settlements in Eastern Africa, Lamu Town, of coral-timber-build houses with seaward facing verandas and carved doors, bringing in one Arabian, Indian, Swahili and European styles, has now been continually settled for over 700 years. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001, it is widely known for its narrow labyrinth streets modeled from old Arab ‘mtaa’ town configuration. Although the 20th Century has reached Lamu Town by way of technology, it is certainly not much in evidence and its outlook has hardly changed since the 18th Century when it thrived. Travellers to Lamu Island and its surroundings, usually for a weekend getaway, in their few moments in Lamu can scarcely comprehend let alone participate in the umpteen centuries old traditions. Still and all, most succumb to the rich culture and fascinating sights.
Lamu Town consists of three parts: the old town west of the main street where the Swahili stone houses are found, the 19th Century additions of Indian styled builds along the promenade, and the impermanent mud and wattle part mainly to the south where the poorer families live. The first and second parts meet at the main street running north-south and has over a hundred and fifty shops. Opposite the main jetty, south of the stone town, is a large piazza bound by the early 19th Century fort on the west and the lawn’s market on the south. Just north of the fort is Pwani Mosque which claims its origin to 1370. All in all, the town stretches between the sea to the east and a low range of hills to the west for a length of about 1.3 kms. Its maximum width occurs roughly at the middle where it measures 300 ms. To the north and south of this point the landward edge sweeps gently seaward, giving the town the shape of a segment of a circle.
14. Lamu World Heritage Site
This is comprised of a collection of buildings on 15.6 hectares in Old Town Lamu, with Lamu Museum, Lamu Fort, German Post Museum and Swahili House being the main attractions. “The buildings on the seafront with their arcades and open verandas provide a unified visual impression of the town when approaching it from the sea” – UNESCO. Lamu has maintained its social and cultural integrity, as well as retaining its authentic building fabric up to the present day. Once the most important trade centre in East Africa, Lamu has exercised an important influence in the entire region in religious, cultural as well as in technological expertise”. One of the criteria for its elevation to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in 2001, was “the architecture and urban structure of Lamu graphically demonstrate the cultural influences that have come together there over several hundred years from Europe, Arabia, and India, utilizing traditional Swahili techniques to produce its prominent culture”.
15. Lamu Museum
The double-storey medieval Lamu Museum, originally constructed in 1892 as a fort and later reestablished as a museum in December 1971, collects, preserves and expositions the fascinating history of Lamu Island. It provides very useful assistance for travellers to the Lamu Archipelago through illustrious stories of Lamu’s history from its trade era to present. It has a great memorabilia library, and multiple festivals hosted routinely on its courtyards. It is in possession of about 1,000 pieces of Sassanian Islamic pottery collected mainly from nearby island towns like Kipungani. Lamu Museum is located about 200 ms north of Lamu Fort along the town’s main seafront street, that’s easily accessible on foot.
16. Lamu Catholic Church
Although Lamu is by and large hegemonized and influenced by Islam, with no less than 20 mosques, it is not, however, a closed society as embodied by Lamu Catholic Church at the heart of town. Completed in 1972 adjacent to Lamu Museum, Mary Mother of Jesus Church, more proper Lamu Catholic Church, is now an authenticated heritage of Lamu. In concomitance with the local outlook and to maintain architectonic harmony, it adopts the localized architecture and delightfully blend in with the landscape of the ancient town. It is located along the main ocean-facing street in between Lamu Museum and the Yumbe House.
17. Swahili House Museum
This is situated close to Lamu Museum and is visited on consecutive terms with Lamu Museum and the German Post Office Museum using one ticket bought at Lamu Museum. Established on January 8th, 1987, the reproduction of Swahili House Museum was fitted-out and revamped to facsimile and demonstrate the local Swahili architecture for the benefit of travellers. It depicts both the form and function of a typical Swahili house. The stone-built house of Lamu is a self-contained building housing all living and sleeping areas that a large family and its domestic staff require. It stands on a small plot averaging less than 250 m2 in area, and except for the internal courtyard, it covers the plot entirely, giving a coverage ratio of over 75% per floor. Most existing houses in Lamu are double-storeyed, often with an additional penthouse. The ground floor is, by tradition, the staff quarters and the first floor contains the rooms of the owner and family. The entrance to the house is through a porch daka about 3 ms wide, raised one to three steps above the level of the street and more often lined with stone seats.
The daka has two carved doors, usually double leafed, one leading to the ground floor, the other to the first floor. The door leading to the first floor opens to the staircase which half-way up gives access to a sabule or guest room. This is not a constant feature in all houses; it is sometimes placed at ground floor, accessible from the daka through a separate external door. The staircase ends at a covered landing (tekani) overlooking an open rectangular courtyard (kiwanda). This is the nucleus of the house where most of the daytime activities (play and laundry) take place and around which the rest of the spaces are organized. Opposite the tekani is another verandah serving as the family’s work space, attached to which is a bathroom and toilet. The third side of the kiwanda very often has a staircase leading to the penthouse where the kitchen is placed. The other room are more private spaces used as bed-spaces partitioned off by curtains or walls. In larger houses a fourth space, nyumba ya kati, is sometimes also provided. It may lead to an extra room (mtatato) which spans the street in the form of a bridge, wikio.
House walls are built of uncoursed coral in lime mortar. Roofs and floors are of thick coral supported on wood joists at close centres, rarely more than 30 cms. Rooms conform to a constant module which limits their width to 2.7 to 3 ms.
Abiri Kenya 