LAMU is GREAT

We are back in a noticeably (and thankfully) cooler and wetter Nairobi (did you know Nairobi is at 1,660m? and that the rainy season is about to begin? huh?) from two weeks in Lamu. Lamu is GREAT! It's all true.

A tropical island with a bit more culture, you can survive quite nicely for not very much - there are places for under $10 a night inc breakfast and that's not going anyhwhere near the budget stuff.

It was really hot (32-36 Cent) and we both burned. We stayed in Shella (40 mins walk/10 mins boat from the town, quieter and a bit more "high end" generally) for 10 days and spent 4 days in Lamu town, which nicely coincided with the Maulidi festival, celebrating the birth of Mohammed.

In the last two weeks we have:

- made a 12km white sand beach our own (well a patch of it anyway)
- seen more donkeys than ever before
- ingested more fresh fruit and fish than one perhaps should(?)
- sailed in both Swahili and Mozambique style dhows - the sails are an amazing design
- closely followed dhow races
- gone snorkelling
- discovered that I can still windsurf - yay!
- watched young boys do crazy dives off the jetty at high tide, into ridiculous currents
- met a bunch of nice people
- got really quite excited by some religious islamic music - had to get hold of a copy of the cd
- watched and listened to some relentless live drumming, very like some techno
- gone through the most rudimentary airport security ever and flown back to Nairobi in a 14 person plane

The only way to get around Lamu is by foot, donkey or boat. Fishing and tourism are pretty much the only work options for residents.