Lamu

Lamu is a small Muslim Island that has no cars and a couple of small towns. We stayed in the town on the northern tip of Shilla. We stayed here for about five days. I could have stayed much longer. We stayed the first night at a place in which an artist lived. Only painted donkeys and then committed suicide by jumping of the balcony. Needless to say, we moved somewhere else the next night. That first night we went to a birthday party of one of the very rich European tourists at this house up on the hill that looked a bit like a castle. There was live music, lots of alcohol and really random interesting people to talk to.

We spent our days on Lamu, swimming, drinking Old Pals (best drink) eating samosas and just simply relaxing.

There are a group of guys that live on the island and are fishers but more accurately, beach boys. They hang out, go sailing, drink and swim. They are a very friendly bunch. I really could not walk past them without stopping to chat. This is where the phrases, Hakuna Matata(no worries) and Poli (slowly) were drilled into my head. I was constantly reminded to slow down and relax. Being quite it was a constant worry that something was wrong and most of these guys would make huge efforts to get a smile.

Lamu is also where I found out that my bag was stolen from Nairobi. It was hard to stay mad in such a beautiful place, and I believe it allowed me to handle the upset with a certain level of grace. However, the fun had to come to an end. With no ATMs on the island we soon ran out of4 money. I had to get back to Nairobi to meet Kelsey and Malia. I was told by several to stay and tell them to get on a flight straight to the island...didn't think that would go over well. The boys did not want to leave, so I took a flight. flying out was sad but rain had moved in so I was able to say good bye.

Old Pals:

Double shot of vodka
Single shot of bitters
Soda water
squeeze of fresh lime
ice cubes

and a sugared rim

written by

crAsh13 on August 20, 2007 from Lamu, Kenya

from the travel blog: East Africa in 2007

tagged Lamu and Kenya

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Lamu, Kenya

Heading South?