Imagine walking through a town with streets so narrow that the inhabitants of the houses can shake hands across the street.

The streets are filled with 'Buibui' (all concealing black robes) clad women going about their business, men riding bicycles, and donkeys in alleyways so narrow that no vehicles are allowed in the town.

The streets are lined with ancient elegant mansions, relics of a past heritage of a prosperous & civilized people, and whose architecture is suited to the hot climate with galleries & interior courtyards open to the sky. Slumbering in the balmy humid air, this romantic time warp retains much of its culture & heritage, and tourists visit the town for its nostalgic memories of a bygone age.

The people of Lamu are Arab in origin, that intermarried with local Bantu tribe, from which a distinct Afro-Arab culture has emerged. This culture, Swahili, dominates much of the Kenyan coastline today.

The beach consists of uncrowded beaches lapped by thunderous waves and one can find many romantic hideaways at Kiwayu & Manda Islands (there is no coral reef in Lamu).