Extracts from an article in the Gurardian by Rachel Corcoran :
 With only one car on the island, the pace of life was never going to be fast. So when my guide suggested we take a mule instead of walking down the beach from Shela Village, there didn't seem much point: laden down with goods, they weren't going much quicker than we were.
Not even a thousand years at the crossroads of an international trade route has given Lamu, off Kenya's north-east coast, much sense of urgency. But it has left a rich blend of east African Swahili, Indian, Omani, Yemeni and some Portuguese influences. Lamu Town has been recognised by Unesco as the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement in east Africa. It's a fascinating place to explore, with its museum, many mosques and tradesmen plying their traditional crafts (ironmongers still beating red hot metal and coconuts being squeezed for oil). Men lounge about playing backgammon while the bustling sandy streets buzz with activity.
Unlike the more commercial Mombasa coast to the south, there are no big five-star all-inclusive complexes or large groups of tourists on Lamu. Beaches backed by dunes stretch for miles with hardly a soul on them. The more upmarket accommodation is mainly concentrated in Shela, and ranges from guesthouses reminiscent of Arabian palaces to beautifully restored whitewashed houses to resorts consisting of beach huts known locally as bandas
Shela Village is less than an hour's stroll from Lamu Town but very different. The only thing you're dodging down the narrow lanes are donkeys and bare-footed kids. It's a hippy haven that's had an injection of glamour recently, thanks to the likes of Princess Caroline of Monaco and possibly Ronnie Wood and Robin Williams. I felt like one of the select few as I lounged at Peponi's restaurant sipping a concoction of crushed lime and honey called a Dawa (being predominantly Muslim, there are limited places to buy alcohol) while watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean.
At Peponi's, I was invited to a dinner party - a common occurrence here - by an American author living in Shela for three months, hoping to find inspiration. We dined on spicy samosas doused in freshly squeezed lime juice and fish pilau accompanied with coconut sauce infused with cinnamon, cumin, cardamom and chillies. Arabian and Indian influences still hold strong in the Lamu cuisine, just as they do in the architecture. Garlic, ginger and spices are staples and limes are used in everything.
Read the full content in The Guardian.......
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