Life & Work

Discovering an idyllic haven on Manda Island

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The Majlis Resort. Courtesy photo

The anticipated trip to Manda Island started off on a bad note as we missed our flight due to the horrendous Friday afternoon Nairobi traffic.

What should have taken us 15 minutes to Wilson Airport, took a whole hour and a half. The plane had long left by the time we got there.

We finally got to Lamu the following day, to the magnificent Manda Island - one of the islands that make up the Lamu Archipelago which includes Lamu, Pate and Kiwayu Islands.

The Majlis Resort – named after the traditional Arabic word for an area to host and entertain guests detached from the main house.

The colour white comes off as the dominant colour around the Majlis, making it feel like a continuation of the sandy beaches that surround the hotel. Majlis Resort which has been in existence since 2009 is the only luxury hotel in the Lamu archipelago.

We are settled into one of the three huge villas, closest to the beach. They have two welcoming entrances with a lounging area with five rooms downstairs and five upstairs.

When the Moccia brothers and their father first came to Lamu, this was virgin land, before their late father decided to build a family holiday home.

Later, the brothers put up this magnificent resort, which now hosts celebrities like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

This Christmas, the president of Barcelona football club Sandro Rosell is expected to visit. To rub shoulders with these royalties as a resident, be prepared to part with $500 (Sh50,086) and $1000 (Sh86,000) a night this Christmas.

We take a walk to get acquainted with the resort, and to find the ‘real Majlis’ – this is the same set-up used in Arabic homes, this one is detached from the presidential villa, it is cooler, the large open windows and doors and coral reef walls contribute to the good flow of air.

The Majlis has tried to maintain some sense of Swahili culture and nature in their construction, even the gym – jungle gym. All weights are in the form of corals, properly weighed for balance. As evening falls, we rest on the Swahili woven hammocks, as we savour the breath-taking view of the sunset.

Not wanting to miss the sun rise, I get up very early and walk to the beach. The weather is cool in the morning; we take a walk digging our feet in the moist sand, and enjoying the cool morning breeze from the now calm ocean.

After a refreshing breakfast, we take the speedboat to Lamu town; usually this trip would cost a local, a steep Sh400. The water around the Lamu archipelago is famous worldwide for sport fishing and river-creek fishing in the mangrove channels, and the best season for this is from October all through to April.

Lamu is the UNESCO World Heritage site, being the oldest and best preserved living Swahili settlement in East Africa. It boasts more historical sites and monuments than the whole of East Africa combined.

The famous narrow streets take me by surprise, it is amazing that despite the striking similarity of the buildings, one side of the street is residential and the other side is commercial, separated by 50 metres road, where we walk alongside donkeys ferrying customers and produce.

In this culture, ostentatious detail of doors is what distinguishes the different tribes – the thought and time put in detailing the curves in the elaborate doors is no small feat.

We visit the famous museum where slavery and barter trade took place, a lot of the women’s accessories have come full circle. Unfortunately, the spirit of maintaining culture with a growing population is not doing justice to the stone town as it is congested.

After a while, we have had enough of the heat and it is time to head back to the fresh breeze of Manda island for a sumptuous lunch of tuna fresh from the ocean.

After an afternoon swim and relaxation, we head into the deep waters to sail in the sunset. The view is simply breathtaking; the colour of the sun on this day is due to the eclipse that had just occurred. We spot two dolphins swimming a few metres from our boat, as we are taken down to the reefs near Shale island.

As we sail down, we pass the homes of Prince Hannover of Germany, Peugeot owner and the president of the ballet company of London.

This is truly an amazing place especially for those who want some quiet time to simply enjoy nature at its best.