Activities in Lamu for your holidays

Directly on the beach of Shella, you are well placed to enjoy all the water based activities available during your holiday: swimming, sailing, diving, water skiing, windsurfing, wakeboarding, kite surfing, fishing ... it's right there, on your doorstep, ideal for both adults and children.

We also suggest to go at least once to Manda Island, just opposite on the other side of the water, to see the hatching of baby turtles and watch as the intrepidly entre the sea ... an incredible experience! Overall, you will be amazed by the exuberance of fauna and flora. From September to May, it is just the season to go swimming with dolphins. From July to December, it's time for whales – just amazing! It is also a wonderful fishing spot ... small, at the foot of the house and in the bay off shore: tuna, barracuda and the legendary swordfish!

During your stay, you will dive around the coral island Manda Toto or around the Kinika rock, it’s a great spectacle, thousands of bright fish! You will also embark on a “dhow” right on the beach in front of the house for a wonderful sunset cruise through the maze of mangroves, or you could  leave for the day to sail around Lamu Island by boat with picnic. Relaxation, tranquillity and wonder guaranteed!

Finally, held 5 times a year at least, the famous racing dhows bring together the best yachts and sailors of the archipelago. New Year, for the Festival of Maulidi, Easter, August and the Lamu Festival in end November, it’s a show every time!

SAILING, KITE SURFING, WINDSURFING

Whether you head off with Youssouf, Boya, Massiga, Salim, Nawaf, Baba, Captain Babu or Aswif, all the captains here are friends and are competence and kindness personified. Sailing with them, sail or motor, is always a moment of relaxation and pure happiness, to gossip, to laugh a lot too. To repeat often!

FISHING TRIPS

Several fishing options are offered from Shella Beach. From small-scale in the “channel” just in front of the house, where the bream get caught with shrimp, up until King Fish, tuna, and the legendary swordfish further out to the ocean. For deep sea fishing, Babu will organize an outing with Nils Korchen on Little Toot, particularly well equipped. Plan to take just a little sun lotion and a camera - as it is often during these fishing trips that the enormous black backed and white bellied whales appear!

DHOW RACING

Regularly and a minimum of 5 times a year, take place renowned regattas that bring together the best teams in the archipelago of Lamu. Each time, in an electric atmosphere, sailboats engage in feats of balance and tactics worthy of the best world championships. The whole village celebrates. These races take place during the Maulidi festival, Easter, in August, at the end of November for Cultural Festival, and for New Year. These are beautiful to look at and to shoot!

 

→ How to get there

→ The house

→ Book your trip

Only 5 minutes by boat or 30 to 40 minutes walk from the beach, visiting the old town is an absolute must. Lamu Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Even more so than when in Shella, you will be transported directly into the seventeenth century. No cars, narrower and narrower alleys and streets as forming a labyrinth from where the children playing will easily guide you if you get lost.

Go and do some shopping, visit the fish market (early morning) and in the evening take a stroll on the docks stopping in, tell them we sent you, to see Frank and Marianne for a drink, lunch or dinner at the Lamu House hotel. In the afternoon, we recommend, after visiting the Baraka Gallery, to have a fresh juice with some pastries in their shaded courtyard.

If you go to Lamu with our friend Babu British, who is there to take care of you and your needs, as he knows almost everyone here and has excellent taste, you are sure to find the best spots and addresses.

In Lamu you can also visit the Fort from the 1800s, the Riyadha and Mnarani mosques and the Lamu Museum where you can retrace the history of the archipelago.

Also, not to be missed, the "Donkey Sanctuary." This free veterinary centre is essential for the economic life of the island, in the absence of cars. it is the 2000-3000 donkeys that transport all heavy loads. The donkeys’ health is put to the test and the veterinarians do an outstanding job.

For more information, you can also accompany the tour of the old city by Ali Sultan or Abdulla Bob, both professional guides of incomparable experience and kindness.

 

→ Festival dates

→ How to get there

→ Book your trip

A haven for flora and fauna

The underbelly of Lamu’s archipelago consists of fossilized coral and sand on which the largest mangrove forest in Kenya grows: home to hundreds of species of birds and shellfish. Its diversity is notable with nine species of tree.

Turtles, the recorder and green varieties, come to nest here. Carol Korshen from the Peponi Hotel will be very happy to arrange a visit and offer you the possibility to sponsor a nest to support the protection of turtles.

The sight of trees covered with red European bee-eaters, these colourful birds love nesting on the islands of the archipelago, an incredible sight! 30mins away by motorboat, factoring in the tides, Nawaf can bring you closer to them.

Underwater the life is also rich: dolphins, swordfish, barracuda, dugongs and many whale species can be seen regularly.

Finally, it is possible to see from Manda island buffalos or wild dog crossing at low tide the strait separating Manda from the Dodori reserve located north of the archipelago, on the continent.

KIWAYU, THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN

From Lamu, you can make a short hop by plane or boat to the small island of Kiwayu. A beautiful bay, a magical place ... Discover during the day or by spending the night ... The journey itself is not to be missed show as you go from island to island, Paté island can also make for a stop off on the way ... Ask Babu to arrange this trip, definitely worth it if you’re staying for a week or more.

 

→ Festival dates

→ The seasons

→ Book your trip

Shella and Lamu on their own are plenty to provide a rich and relaxing holiday. But if you have more time and can travel by boat, plane or car, here are some ideas for other magnificent getaways. 

VERY CLOSE, THE NATIONAL RESERVE DODORI, OR AMU RANCH

Amu Ranch is accessible by boat, plane or car from Lamu. It is a reserve of 63,000 hecatres managed in partnership with the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, famous for its elephant conservation. You could spend half a day, or a day here; buffalo, giraffes, eland, hippos, crocodiles, deer and many other wild animals can be seen there.

Dodori National Reserve was founded in 1976 to preserve the species of topi in English. It is also home to many pelicans and a fairly rich fauna (lions, great kudus, giraffes, hippos and many birds - kingfishers, bee-eaters, eagles etc....). This reserve is spread out over 877 km2. It opens on Dodori River and onto the lagoons of the Indian Ocean. Note that these two reserves do not provide restaurant or hotel services.

THE TANA RIVER DELTA

The Tana River Delta is just 70 km south of Lamu. This is a region that internationally is very important for the survival of at least 22 species of birds, “the Delta is one of the key sites for the conservation of waterbirds" (BirdLife International). It also has a large number of wild animals such as hippos, lions, elephants and buffaloes. You can stay one or two nights in the Tana River camp.

MASAÏ MARA, TSAVO, AMBOSELI AND OTHER RÉSERVES

From Forodhani House, you are only two hours flight from Kenya’s most famous reserves. Amboseli, famous for its situation at the foot of the Kilimanjaro is the best place to get close to elephants in the wild and admire the spectacular views of the isolated, world’s highest mountain Kilimanjaro. Closer to home, is the Tsavo reserve, the very place that Karen Blixen and Denys Finch Hattons chose to get away together, far from Nairobi.

 

→ How to get there

→ Rental rates

→ Book your trip

Endless opportunities for activities:

• walk, swim, run on Shella’s white sandy Beach, all 12kms it.
• watersports: you can kite, windsurf, waterski, wakeboard, kayak, scuba dive
• explore the marine reserve, turtles’ nests, swim with dolphins, even whale watching when in season
• sunset cruise, dhow sailing, fishing (deap sea or traditional), picnics, barbecues on deserted beaches…
• Lamu Old Town guided tours, shopping in Shela Village and Lamu (art, clothing, jewellery, handicrafts).
• Yoga classes, massages and beauty treatments
• Scenic flights, mainland safaris, game viewing
• Close to the shops, bars and restaurants, 100m from the Peponi Hotel.

 

→ Forodhani House

→ How to get there

→ Reserve your stay