Lamu: Fall under the timeless island's spell

Omar beckoned with a sweep of his arm: "Come, come!" And with that he disappeared around a corner and out of sight again. I trailed him as quickly as I could, but he had vanished. Left or right? The tangled alleyways of Lamu Town served only to confuse and disorient me. The town had looked as small as its transport inventory implies (one car, one donkey ambulance, no roads) when our boat pulled up at the docking jetty of the island's main port that morning. Yet, like a hall of mirrors, once I ventured into the web of passages it seemed to expand with every corner I turned.

As I stopped to compose myself in an airless alley, my guide Omar's beaming face reappeared and we continued on our way, deep into the heart of the town. Some passages were barely wide enough for overtaking people; add the town's itinerant donkeys to the equation and you can imagine the tailbacks. On either side of us, thick-walled, lime-plastered houses soared towards a ribbon of blue sky above. These 600-year-old coral stone buildings form East Africa's oldest and best preserved Swahili settlement, now part of the Unesco-recognised maze.

Like the shell of a pearl oyster, the rough but resilient exteriors conceal beautifully ornate interiors. A step beyond a wooden door might lead you through to a sun-drenched inner courtyard, hung with jasmine and frangipani, or splashed with tropical fronds. Such delights awaited us at Baytil Ajaib (whose name appropriately means "house of wonder"), a gem-sized guesthouse folded deep within the town: the restoration project of Paul Weaver, an American who in recent years has made Lamu his home. Dainty glasses of chilled passion fruit juice were proffered as we slipped off our sandals at the doorway and entered the shaded haven of the courtyard.

Lamu lies just two degrees south of the equator, a small hunk of land hovering just off the north Kenyan coast, and the sunlight can be intense – yet the thick-walled rooms off the courtyard were wonderfully cool without so much as a beating fan.

Baytil Ajaib is a fine example of the town's architectural heritage, which has been enriched by centuries of trading and settlement. Lamu was first established around the 12th century, when spice was a major currency among coastal trading posts. Its strategic position meant that the Portuguese took notice and landed in the early 16th century. They took hold of the island and the slave trade soon became the main economy. However, most significant was the arrival of the Omani Arabs, who ousted the Portuguese. Under the protection of Oman, art, architecture and politics flourished. Grand homes were built, displaying their occupants' wealth and magnitude.

Lamu's Swahili architectural heritage has been well preserved. Inside, rooms are arranged around an open courtyard, with equal prominence given to indoor and outdoor space. The simple layout is embellished with delicate plasterwork, ceiling friezes, wall niches and carved wooden doors. At Baytil Ajaib, Weaver has meticulously recreated this tradition with the addition of vast hand-carved four-poster beds, delicate pottery, colourful fabrics, well-worn rugs and wooden tables with inlaid pottery.

Weaver is just one of many people who have come under the Lamu spell. Subira House – owned by a Swedish couple – and Baitil Aman, a restored royal house, are two more examples of Swahili houses that have been lovingly reconditioned. Meanwhile, photographer Katy Barker has the lavish Dhow House in neighbouring Shela. But to wander round town, you'd never know these places existed until a door is opened to you.

One of the most appealing facets of Lamu is that there's no feeling that a segment of the coast has been set aside and brushed up for tourism; restoration projects are fairly discreet and everything seems to intermingle quite happily. Yet there are still frequent reminders that Lamu – in particular the suburb of Shela, just south of Lamu Town – is a money-magnet. A steady trickle of speedboats from the harbour transports elegant visitors to their equally elegant holiday homes. Royalty and celebrities have been coming here for years. Princess Caroline of Monaco has a cluster of houses in Shela, and Gillian Anderson married her second husband here. But while visitors are warmly welcomed, showiness isn't. I was politely reminded that Lamu is a "conservative society" by a hand-painted notice at the top of the port steps – women are expected to cover up. Behind the hoarding, a group of women sat impassively on a step, only their eyes visible through the traditional buibui black robes. Moments later, a boy jumped out at me bearing a huge plastic spider. Screams from both parties were politely followed with a cheeky smile and karibu, or "welcome".

Lamu is a Muslim society, with around a dozen mosques scattered among its 500-or-so houses. A capsule of the culture is presented at the lovely Lamu Museum, a waterfront building that has in its time served as both a fort and a prison. It now houses calligraphy, manuscripts and ornamental drawings by Muhamadi Kijuma, a local poet and scribe, as well as carved wooden doors representing Omani, Lamu, Gujarati and Zanzibar styles, and rooms depicting a traditional Swahili kitchen and marriage room, complete with utensils and wedding attire. As you pass through the breezy rooms, you gradually piece together the myriad traditions wrapped up in the island – and you begin to get a sense of what Swahili culture actually is.

More cultural distractions can be found on the western tip of the island at Kipungani, 16km west of Lamu Town. It's also where you find real coastal bliss. From Shela, Kipungani is either a four-hour walk along the near-uninterrupted beach or, if you're staying at the rustic-chic Kipungani Explorer Resort, a half-hour boat ride away.

I'd opted to travel by water, and so was taken on a brisk journey down the Mto wa Kipungani Creek. We shuddered across the waves, salt spray blasting my face as I sat at the prow, past the protected mangrove forest that runs almost the entire length of the island's north coast, the Kenyan mainland just on our right. It was low tide and the eerie mangrove roots were exposed on the mud flats, dhows laying skewed to one side in front. We passed the village of Matondoni, the centre of Lamu's dhow-making industry. These wooden vessels, a relic of Lamu's Arab trading legacy, add to the island's romantic appeal; out at sea, their billowing lateen sails capture the wind as they coast through the water.

We pulled up at Kipungani and – hair dishevelled, sunglasses coated with salt –I paddled to the shore.

The "barefoot luxury" concept could have been coined with Kipungani in mind. u o Guests are assigned huge bandas: thatched cottages constructed by local villagers from local timbers and makuti (palm thatch). Electricity is limited to the evenings; the emphasis here is on low-impact tourism. The neighbouring Kipungani community provides most of the hotel's staff. In return, the hotel has provided funds for the village's surgery and hooks guests up with villagers for guided tours.

My guide, a softly spoken young man named Islam, took me through the village to meet the women who weave the makuti thatch for the hotel, via gaggles of knee-high children who shouted "jambo" then recoiled with bashful smiles. We stopped to watch men building a dhow, heating wood to make it pliable and stuffing the gaps around nails with cotton. We picked our way through chickens and hens, past donkeys and cats (and a 300-year-old mosque in the throes of renovation), to Islam's house, where his wife was preparing an evening meal with their four-month old son asleep by her side.

Unlike so many tourist developments, the Kipungani Explorer seems to be having a positive effect on the local community. Crumbling clay houses are slowly being replaced by solid coral and lime structures, the surgery has a full-time doctor and supplies of medicines, and there's also a school, funded by visitors.

As I made my way back to my banda, the wind began to whip up the Indian Ocean and the sky sighed with the onset of dark clouds. The sweep of sand that curled its way back to Shela was blissfully deserted, apart from a young boy riding off on a donkey. Rain began to fall, yet little about the scene altered: there was no dash of sunbathers back to shelter. I settled in on the suspended day bed on my veranda, where tea and cake were waiting. The stars began to peek out from behind the breaking clouds. I had come under the Lamu spell.

Kenya and Obama

In an unruly garden with a few chickens, a patch of maize and some mango trees lies the grave of Barack Obama Snr. A concrete tribute with yellow tiles, it is looked after by his stepmother, the woman that the new US President-elect calls Granny Sarah.

Obama's father died in a car crash in 1982, which brought the young student here for the first time. There's a picture inside the house of him grinning and carrying a sack of maize to market.

The tropical hamlet of Kogelo, a tough hour-long taxi ride from the northwestern city of Kisumu on the shore of Lake Victoria has become a place of pilgrimage. The boisterous 87-year-old Sarah Onyango has had to have a fence built to keep out the wave of wellwishers. Obama's victory was greeted with greater euphoria here than even Chicago. Everyone here is either an Obama, or a cousin or a friend of the leader of the free world.

The port city of Kisumu is worth seeing if only for the brilliant green of the tropics and the views of Lake Victoria, one of the world's great lakes, that links the country to Uganda and Tanzania.

Daniel Howden

Somak Holidays (020-8423 3000; somak.co.uk) is offering a new seven-night Obama Roots Tour, which takes in Nairobi, Kisumu, Kogelo and the Kakamega Forest. The price of £2,025 per person includes return flights from Heathrow, transfers, internal flights, a safari tour, guide and full board accommodation. Day trips to Kogelo are also offered as an add-on to longer tours, costing £265 per person.

Traveller's Guide

Getting there

The writer travelled to Nairobi with British Airways (0844 493 0787; ba.com); Kenya Airways (020-8283 1800; kenya-airways.com) and Virgin Atlantic (08705 747 747; virgin-atlantic.com) fly the same route. She flew from Nairobi to Lamu with Kenya Airways. Lamu is also served from Nairobi by Air Kenya (00 254 20 606 539; airkenya.com).

Staying there

Baytil Ajaib, Lamu Town (00 254 121 32033; baytilajaib .com). Double rooms start at US$195 (£130).

Kipungani Explorer, Kipungani (00 254 20 444 6651; kipungani.heritage-eastafrica.com). Double bandas start at US$420 (£280).

Baitil Aman, Lamu Town (00 254 42 63 30 22; baitilaman.com). Double rooms start at US$100 (£67)including breakfast.

Subira House, Lamu Town (00 254 726 916 686; lamuhouse.net). Double rooms start at €56 (£47), including breakfast.

Dhow House, Shela (book through journeysbydesign.co.uk; 01273 623790). Rental starts at US$3,000 (£2,000) per day; sleeps 12.

Visiting there

Lamu Museum, Lamu Town (00 254 42 633402; museums.or.ke). Open daily; admission KS500 (£3.90).

Red tape & more details

British passport holders require a visa, which can be purchased on arrival at Nairobi Airport for US$50 (£33) or in advance from the Kenya High Commission, 45 Portland Place, London W1B 1AS (020-7636 2371; kenyahighcommission.net) for £30.

Kenya Tourist Board: 020-7367 0900; magicalkenya.com

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