Lamu Island News

KTB swoops in to shore up Lamu for influx of tourists

The Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) has unveiled an ambitious programme aimed at boosting the number of tourists visiting the Lamu archipelago.

KTB Managing Director, Mr Muriithi Ndegwa, led a delegation of KTB marketers and media on a three-day familiarisation tour of Lamu in a bid to reassure potential clients that the security scares of last year were a thing of the past.

Tourist arrivals in Lamu had been rising rapidly before the two incidences brought the trend to an end. But KTB MD says the numbers are rising once again.

Hats Off To Lamu Artisans!

Residents Display Island’s Creative Spirit at the Shela Village Hat Competition

by Reed Mcdonough & Herbert Menzer

The Lamu archipelago is renowned for its serene beaches, ancient architecture, celebrity sightings and rich Swahili culture. Tourists flock to Lamu for the ultimate holiday and extreme comfort. Most Kenyans would agree that Lamu Island has always served as a cultural pillar within Kenya. However, this small island is evolving. There is an artistic revolution taking place with a new wave of art & culture emerging.

Between the Lamu Cultural Festival held in February of every year, the more recent bi-annual Lamu Painters’ Festival and a handful of competitions throughout the year visitors and residents alike have started to take notice. Nowadays you may come across just as many artists in residence as the traditional flocks of European aristocrats and celebrities.

This new wave of creative energy has never been more apparent than most recently at the 2012 Shela Village Hat Competition— an event organized and sponsored by Herbert Menzer of Lamu Holiday Homes. Mr. Menzer sums up the event by saying “Forget haute couture, Lamu Island presents Hat Couture! The creation of outrageous, sustainable headwear by smiling masons turned mad hatters.”

KTN's Travel Diaries Episode 14 Features Lamu Island

Watch Travel Diaries this Thursday as Eve Dsouza unwraps the magical island of Paradise - Lamu and catch the highlights of the Lamu cultural festival.

Hakuna Matata in Lamu

Tourists Return to Lamu for Holiday Season

by Chitra Naranayan

I must be the only soul in the world to have returned after spending eight days in Kenya without spotting a giraffe. Or hearing the roar of the lion. In fact, the sole lion I saw was an occasionally moving brown speck in the yellow grass in the far distance.

Of course, I am now the butt of jokes for aforesaid failures (after all, even my husband, who visited Kenya for just two days, came back with rich images of giraffes popping their elegant heads above Nairobi's slow-moving traffic). And I am also the subject of derision for not seeing Masai Mara — Africa's star tourist attraction.

But, so what if my Kenyan animal stories are about donkeys, cats (small domesticated ones) and baboons — rather than the Big Five. I am still dining off them, thank you.

Lamu Cultural Festival 2011 A Huge Success

In a colourful showcase of Kenyan cultures, dance and song, the event changed the landscape of Lamu’s sea front and Mkunguni hall where the bulk of the festival activities took place. A retinue of dignitaries from the French and Spanish embassies, the National Museums of Kenya (NMK), the European Union, among others, were in attendance led by Tourism Minister, Najib Balala.

More than 10,000 visitors from Malindi, Mombasa, Nairobi and other towns in the country flocked to the island to witness the historic annual festival held to promote culture. Hotels, tour companies and transporters did roaring business as security was beefed up and street lighting improved at night to ensure the merry making continued throughout the night.