Jahazi
Jahazi means dhow.
Lamu Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and East Africa's oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement, lived in for over 700 years.
Lamu is Kenya's northernmost coastal county, taking in the Lamu, Manda, Pate and Kiwayu islands. Swahili and Bajuni communities give it a timeless, car-free island character.
Lamu Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and East Africa's oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement, lived in for over 700 years.
Fishing provides about three in four jobs, alongside tourism and trade. The new Lamu Port, part of the LAPSSET corridor, is reshaping the mainland.
Coral-stone houses, carved wooden doors and donkey-filled lanes.
An early 19th-century fort now housing a museum and library.
Swahili culture, crafts and maritime history in an 1890s seafront building.
Long dunes and calm water, a short dhow ride from town.
A ruined Swahili town with a mosque and tombs.
Historic villages and the ruins of former city-states.
Remote beaches, reefs, turtles and dolphins.
Sunset cruises and island-hopping on traditional wooden dhows.
Communities with a historic home in Lamu. Today people from every part of Kenya live and work here.
Lamu is a historic centre of Islamic and Swahili learning. The Lamu Cultural Festival in November brings dhow races, donkey races, henna and music, and Maulidi follows the Islamic calendar. Grilled fish and crab are local staples.
November, for the Cultural Festival, or any time from October to January. Avoid the heavy rains of mid-March to May.
Lamu and its neighbours. Tap a county or a place to read about it.
Hover a county or a dot. Click to open it. Locations are approximate.
November, for the Cultural Festival, or any time from October to January. Avoid the heavy rains of mid-March to May.
Lamu Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and East Africa's oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement, lived in for over 700 years.
Lamu is Kenya's northernmost coastal county, taking in the Lamu, Manda, Pate and Kiwayu islands. Swahili and Bajuni communities give it a timeless, car-free island character. The county capital is Lamu, and the 2019 census counted 143,920 people across about 6,498 square kilometres.
MilimaTaita-Taveta CountyThe county safeguards much of the Tsavo ecosystem, Kenya's largest protected area. The Taita Hills belong to the Eastern Arc range, with species found nowhere else.
MchangaKwale CountyKwale protects sacred Mijikenda kaya forests, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. It also guards rich coral reefs on Kenya's southern border.
PwaniMombasa CountyThe Port of Mombasa is East Africa's largest seaport and the gateway for Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and eastern DRC. Fort Jesus, begun by the Portuguese in 1593, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.
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