Sporting Safaris Kenya Limited

The trade winds of the Indian Ocean have been bringing visitors to the Lamu Archipelago for centuries.  Commerce brought the East African coast into contact with distant peoples and cultures as early as two thousand years ago.  The earliest known old historical records – the 1st century AD Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, as well as the 3rd Century AD Ptolemy’s Geography – talk of the coast, its inhabitants and the trade.  The local people of Lamu have a long established tradition of welcoming travelers.  In the same spirit, the Lamu Cultural Promotion Group bids you a warm ‘Karibuni’ to the 10th Lamu Cultural Festival to experience a heritage and traditions that have earned Lamu Old Town the coveted place on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Lamu Old Town is a unique and rare historical living heritage with more than 700 years of continuous settlement; Over time, various communities have come in contact through trade, marriage, immigration and cultural exchange, creating centres of power and cultural melting points.   The rich heritage of Africa, vitalized by influences from the Arabian Peninsula and Asia contributed to the distinct Swahili heritage of East Africa’s coast.  Since its inscription as a World Heritage Site In 2001, the Lamu Cultural Promotion Centre, a community based group, has been organizing an annual cultural festival to promote this unique Swahili heritage.

The three day festival showcases traditional dances, displays of handicraft and competitions on water and land (Swahili poetry, donkey races, dhow races, henna painting), Swahili bridal ceremony and musical performances.

A wonderful opportunity to experience the island’s unspoiled beaches, medieval ambience, architecturally magnificent Old Town, gracious population and traditions of an enchanted island where history continues to live.

Other attractions include:

•  Lamu Museum, exhibiting Swahili culture and the mainland’s non-Swahili groups
•  Lamu Fort, dating back to 1821, having been built by the Sultan of Oman shortly after Lamu’s victory over Pate and Mombasa in the battle of Shela
• German Post Office Museum
• Swahili House Museum
• Takwa National Monument on Manda Island (a settlement dating back to AD 1500, with ruins of a Great Mosque and a pillar tomb)
• Ruins of Shanga, an 8th century Swahili settlement, on Pate Island, containing remains of the coral walls of 160 houses, two palaces, three mosques and hundreds of tombs
• The early Swahili settlement of Pate, once a power in the region
• Numerous sites and monuments that showcase Swahili civilization at its height in the 15th century
• Donkey sanctuary
• The dhow making village of Matondoni