Lamu Island as serene and sunny as ever

While Lamu Island gets lumped with all the chaos, crises and violent confusion hitting the rest of the county, the island itself still stands unscathed and unbelievably serene. It’s still got that laid back feeling of luxury mixed with local living that has drawn traders, tourists and curious world travellers to its shores for decades.

This idyllic island has been a social and geographical magnet for more than a millennium, but what especially drew hundreds of visitors to the island two weekends ago was the memorial service held in Shela village for the former owner of Peponi Hotel, the late Lars Korschen.

“People came from all over the world to attend the service,” says Andrew Gurselle, the hotel GM and a close family friend. “They came from New York, Los Angeles and London as well as from other parts of Europe including Scandinavia.”

Lars was as world renown as his famous hotel, the one place on Lamu Island where tourists were advised (in all the travel books) they had to go and visit before they stepped off the island. Inaugurated in 1967 by Lars’ parents, most people claim Peponi Hotel hasn’t changed much since the 60s, which is in keeping with the rest of Lamu since it’s often described as an island ‘out of time’, or a place where time has stood still.

I personally had the good fortune to be on the island for these celebration and was delighted to find the sun was still shining brightly from early morning until late in the day. The stars were still twinkling in the evening as the moon shimmered on the ocean surface, beckoning us to go for a night swim, something which is currently forbidden because of the curfew.

Night dip

Fortunately, if you visit Peponi Hotel after dark, there’s still a lovely swimming pool there where one can take a dip as did my artist friend Sophie Walbeoffe who found the water irresistible. It wasn’t the same as taking a night swim in the ocean, which we overlooked during a special dinner hosted by Herbert Menzer, a former restaurateur himself.

Like most visitors who love Lamu, I felt as if I was stepping back in time to an era when no motor cars were polluting the air and civilization was at the standpoint where people still had time to speak easily with one another without constantly checking their cell phones.

The few visitors who don’t care about the curfew and come to Lamu by air have an opportunity of a lifetime. While the locals of Lamu have always been warm and welcoming towards visitors, they are especially happy to see you in these times.

First, boatmen like Nasir Abdalla can easily escort you by motorised dhow to any village on the shoreline. This trip, he took me first from Manda Island past Lamu village to Shela where I landed, on my way to stay in one of the elegant private apartments built by the German contractor Herbert Menzer.

Herbert runs the bi-annual Lamu Painters Festival and had been hosting half dozen artists from Kenya and Germany for a three-week artists’ residency.

Currently constructing his fifth four-storey set of luxury apartments, Herbert has been so inspired by traditional Lamu architecture that his houses are fully equipped with modern amenities even as they retain the flavour and feel of the traditional coral brick Swahili homes.

Swahili culture

Like most of the Swahili houses and hotels I have visited, including Yony Waite’s Wildebeeste Workshop and the Peponi Hotel, Herbert’s houses all have glorious views looking out on the ocean.

But their interiors are also a sight to behold as the elegant beauty of Swahili culture can be seen everywhere from the wall treatments and stairwells to the Lamu poster beds that are invariably covered in mosquito nets and, of course, the hand-carved doors that are distinctive to Lamu.

It isn’t easy to leave Lamu once you breathe the fresh air, watch the feather-light cloudscapes and blue skies. It’s no wonder people incessantly return to the island, as the locals pray they will do once again, once the curfew is lifted.