Accomodation

Lamu Island

Kijani House

Off the bustling waterfront of Shela village, dhows sway gently on the incoming tide as merchants and fishermen cross back and forth on the shimmering sand. A few steps away, a few white steps and a small entranceway, framed by clusters of frangipani and bougainvillea flowers, opens to cool shade and green shadows. Entering Kijani House is like stepping into a secret garden.

Two aquamarine pools glow gently in the shade of giant kunazi trees, small tables and beach chairs lie in the shade of a profusion of different species of palm trees, and flowering flamboyant and yellow oleanders branch out over large terraces that face the ocean. ‘Kijani’ means green in Kiswahili, at once invoking the colour of Islam, the small hotel’s verdant gardens, and new growth.

Swiss owner Pierre Oberson created Kijani House to revive the tradition of stone Swahili houses and create an authentic retreat for visitors looking to experience Lamu’s past. It took Pierre more than ten years to rebuild the hotel from the ruins of three old houses, and he used only traditional methods and materials in the restoration. Kijani’s rooms and gardens are filled with antiques or handmade replicas of the furniture, lanterns, ornaments, and utensils that graced the stately houses of Lamu’s past.

Copies of Old Portuguese lanterns hang from white archways. An arrangement of ceramic water pots stand – used to carry oil and water aboard ships centuries ago – stand under the shade of a palm tree. Members of the village even borrow Kijani’s ceremonial chair, crafted from hardwood and wickerwork on the nearby island of Siyu, for weddings and special occasions.

True to the atmosphere of a Swahili house, Kijani’s rooms and central areas emphasize the aesthetics of privacy and space. Each room has a private veranda shaded from sight by arabesque archways and trees. The 10 rooms are vast and cool, shards of sunlight and ample breeze welcomed through tall shutters. A canopied Swahili bed stands beside antique cupboards and tables coloured with hand-painted Indian tiles and painted glass.

In the bathroom, intricately carved mirrors set off the sensuous effect of the walls, ceiling, and floor in warm ochre, its heady oriental effect heightened by shafts of light filtering through shutters from the world outside. Kijani House offers a retreat from the bright bustle of Lamu’s waterfront – a lush oasis of green gardens, pools, and cool rooms in all their Swahili splendour.

Kijani restaurant offer an exotic selection of seafood, Swahili dishes and a touch of Italian cuisine. Fruit and vegetable are coming from the Kijani small farm in the middle of Lamu Island.

Available from the cellar, a good selection of Italian, South African and Chilean wine’s.

Kijani is closed for of season during May and June

Kipungani Explorer in Lamu

Location
Overlooking the tranquil waters of the sheltered Kipungani Channel, on the remote southwestern tip of Lamu Island, Kipungani is a dream destination for those seeking a true away-from-it-all desert island holiday. After a 90-minute flight from Nairobi, you will be met at Manda Island and transported by boat to the lodge, which is located two degrees south of the Equator, on the edge of a near-deserted 12-kilometre beach.

Accomodation
Our 12 spacious bandas sit at one end of Kipungani Bay, which is Swahili for ‘the place of fresh air’. Shaded by the palm trees that line our 600-metre beachfront, the bandas are constructed entirely from local materials, with mkeka palm floors and makuti thatch roofs woven by the residents of neighbouring Kipungani village. The large interiors are a picture of rustic simplicity, with giant king-size beds and furniture all handmade from local mangrove and palm woods. Each banda has an ocean-facing veranda with local funzi sofas and chairs piled high with colourful cushions. Amenities include freshwater showers, flush toilets, and separate dressing areas with wash basins.

Public Areas
The sunset-facing lounge and bar at Kipungani are furnished for complete relaxation, with cushion-piled driftwood furniture, hanging moon-beds, and a variety of natural discoveries ‘combed’ from our shores. The dining room sits in a small tropical garden, with an adjoining library offering guests a selection of books, magazines and board-games. In front of the building is a horizon-touching swimming pool, which offers the perfect venue for the ultimate romantic sundowner!

Local Links
Kipungani enjoys a uniquely harmonious relationship with the residents of neighbouring Kipungani village. Fifteen of the lodge’s full-time staff come from the village, from where we also buy all our seafood and materials for repairing our bandas. The lodge has been responsible for building and equipping Kipungani’s model primary school, and recently helped to build and staff its first health clinic in partnership with the Canadian charity, ADRA. The property also supports the planting of indigenous trees and the promotion of marine and mangrove conservation messages among the local community.

Accommodation

• 14 luxurious grass and thatch chalets
• Giant king-size beds and palm furniture
• Private luxurious ocean-facing verandahs
• Bathrooms with showers and flush toilets

Facilities and Services

• Freshwater swimming pool with all-day bar service
• Gift shop with local handicrafts and ‘beach essentials’
• Safety deposit facilities for all guests’ valuables
• Fresh water for bathing from our own wells
• Reliable generator-backed electricity supply
• Mobile telephone coverage and VSAT Internet links
• Boat connections to Lamu town and Manda airport

Activities

• Snorkelling and swimming with ‘Africa’s friendliest dolphins’ on the reefs of Kinyika and Manda Toto
• Waterskiing and kayaking in the Kipungani channel
• Sailing and sunset cruises aboard our Arab dhows
• Barracuda fishing from beach, dhow or speedboat
• Deep sea game fishing (please book in advance)
• Crab-catching excursions with expert fishermen
• Bird walks around the property and beach dunes
• Visits to Lamu’s historic mosques, markets and museums
• Day trips to the ruined 14th century fort on Manda Island

Tours of local boat-building and mat-weaving industries

Heritage Hotels’ Kipungani Explorer in Lamu, Kenya has been described in the press recently as a “five-star Robinson Crusoe”, “the most laid-back lodge in Africa” and her bandas as “some of the most glamorous beach huts in the world”.
But for a destination that is trying to perfect one of the gentlest-treading ecotourism experiences in Africa, Kipungani has its sights set on an altogether more modest kind of accolade.

Talking to the 300 residents of Kipungani village, living on the same island as the Kipungani Explorer resort, you get the impression that this little ecolodge on the southern tip of Kenya’s Lamu Island is succeeding where so many others have failed – in bringing the benefits of tourism to those who most need them. In a country that is enjoying a major tourism renaissance, with international visitor numbers nearly doubling since 2001, much of Kenya’s coastal tourism continues to be concentrated on the large beach resorts around Mombasa and Malindi, which famously line the pockets of a few wealthy directors with minimal benefits to the poor fishing communities they live alongside.

At Kipungani, however, these benefits are never in doubt. As well as employing a majority of its staff from Kipungani and nearby Mpakatoni villages, the lodge buys all of its seafood from Kipungani’s fishermen, repairs its seven boats in their boatyards, and hires local craftsmen to weave the makuti thatch and makeka palm from which its Crusoesque bandas are constructed. Most guests make a specific point of visiting the village – a 15-minute walk through sun-dappled mangroves – where the lodge has helped to build a thriving nine-class primary school, and where it recently opened the village’s first permanent health clinic.

If all this seems a bit too perfect, Kipugani’s new manager, Sebastian Chambers, is at pains to point out that the lodge is not so much an ecotourism champion as an up-and-coming challenger. “We’re just starting to get the balance right,” he says. “My predecessors, Louis and Mary Jo van Aardt and Eric Munyasia, were responsible for putting up the school and the clinic. Now, we’re working to consolidate on these projects by creating a more comprehensive long-term partnership with the community – expanding our local staff, giving them more training opportunities, looking for donors to fund agricultural and environmental projects that genuinely benefit the community.”

Sebastian’s own background as a mechanical engineer will stand him in good stead for some of Heritage’s longer-term goals, such as running Kipungani entirely on solar and wind power. The lodge already has several innovative ways of minimising its environmental impact, such as using black reinforced-plastic bags for heating its shower water and planting indigenous trees to provide poles for future construction. But ultimately, the lodge’s aim to match optimal standards of visitor luxury with maximum community benefits and minimal environmental impacts continues to pose serious challenges for its managers.

Already, at least, Kipungani has proven that you do not need giant generators, imported foods, or state-of-the-art gadgets to keep your guests happy.

The stunning bandas, cushion-piled driftwood furniture, attentive staff, and spectacularly good seafood have proved a recipe that continues to entice guests back year after year. Thanks to the legacy of Eric Munyasia, himself one of Kenya’s best-known chefs (and now executive chef for the Heritage group), the seafood is still among the finest on the African coast. Thanks to the long-term incentives and training opportunities offered by Heritage, many of the staff have been here for years – and the lodge’s guestbook bulges with praise for their natural hospitality and warmth. And thanks to its location beside a closely-knit Muslim community, Kipungani offers something that has sadly disappeared from so many other African destinations: complete security. (Indeed, at Kipungani, you can go to sleep with your screen-door open to the elements, looking out over a sea shimmering with reflected stars…)

Best of all, it means that you never get hassled by ‘beach boys’ or local vendors on the 12 kilometres of soft white sand that separate Kipungani from the lively cobbled streets of Lamu’s Stone Town. Kipungani has recently taken on the services of a full-time cultural guide, who takes visitors on day trips to the town’s bustling markets and memorable maritime museum, as well as the evocative ruins of the 14th century fort on neighbouring Manda Island. More energetic visitors can partake of a host of adventurous options, including kayaking in the Lamu channel, coast-hugging voyages aboard Kipungani’s 35-foot dhow, or – a highlight for many visitors – rubbing shoulders with “Africa’s most fearless dolphins” on snorkelling trips to the nearby Kinyika Rocks.

Kipungani’s close relations with the community also offer unique opportunities to join local fishermen in their acrobatic attempts to catch giant crabs in the Lamu channel, as well as trips north into the sprawling Dadori reserve, where Kipungani’s fishermen net and sun-dry prawns for sale in the markets of Mombasa. Sebastian is currently drawing up several routes for day-long snorkelling and fishing expeditions in the Dadori archipelago, with picnic lunches and ‘dolphin dives’ en route. Visitors on these excursions may even get a chance to see some of Lamu’s wilder residents, which include whales and rare dugongs, as well as buffaloes and lions that have occasionally been known to venture down to the beach!

As well as his practical engineering background, Sebastian brings a host of new skills to the management of Kipungani. A keen sailor and waterskiier, one of his first achievements last year was to purchase a sleek new ski-boat with a 115-horsepower engine. In many ways, Sebastian was born to host: his parents, Roger and Jan Chambers, are legendary hoteliers in Kenya, having run some of the country’s finest hotels and restaurants, including the Carnivore and the Aberdare Country Club. With this kind of heritage behind him, the young manager is undoubtedly on a firm footing in his quest to create a 21st century ecolodge that ticks all the right boxes .

Hotel Lamu House
It is made up of two houses that provide the perfect holiday / vacation getaway on Lamu Island, Kenya. This luxury accommodation caters to both those holiday makers or business travellers to Lamu who require a room or rooms to rent; or to a holiday group or family who wish to book out the entire hotel.

Both houses have been restored and adapted for western-style living, and preserve all the charm of traditional Swahili architecture but are designed to satisfy the needs of clients and travellers that choose to stay in the historic centre of Lamu for their business or holiday

All the rooms in Lamu House are different; each hotel room possesses its own character and has a spacious bathroom, a dressing room and a private terrace. The rooms are best described as the sum of privacy...The town of Lamu, its inhabitants and the sea (dotted with dhows) can be viewed from every terrace.

Lamu House is run by a team of dedicated and professional people who look after all those details, even the smallest ones, that make the travellers’ stay more than just pleasant. An excellent chef provides a variety of gastronomic delights from local Kenyan dishes naturally combined with the best international cuisine.

Hotel Room Prices

Price list includes prices for reserving a hotel room or booking the entire Lamu House.

Dhow's activities

Lamu House has two dhows (traditional Swahili sailboats) and offers excursions around the Lamu archipelago.

Other activities / things to do in Lamu

This includes Lamu museums, panoramic flights, scuba diving, deep sea fishing, trips on donkeys, and Swahili weddings.