Editor Pick
A Lamu Donkey Tour
- November 4, 2000
- Rated 3 of 5 by
druzba from Lewiston, Maine
It's easy to arrange for whatever you want to do in Lamu. With my travel companions, we arranged with some local young men to take us for a tour of some of the inland parts of Lamu island. The price was excellent for a two-hour, make-it-up-as-you-go-along trip. That's the beauty of Lamu - you can do whatever you want; you just ask someone if you need help.
We met for the start of our trip in the center of Lamu town and were quickly guided atop the donkeys that had been trotting on their way to meet us. Donkeys are the primary way that people on Lamu carry any cargo, and people often ride them to get where they want to go. The men we paid actually borrowed the donkeys we used from some other people they know. There is very much a community spirit of sharing on the island.
It turns out that the best way to start riding a donkey, if you never have before, is to just throw yourself into it. Running alongside us, guiding the donkeys through alleyways and corridors, our guides eventually brought us on a path leading from the town toward palms and small villages. Some of us fell a few times, but we just got back on and started riding again, bobbing along and gripping with our legs. Eventually we were calling out commands and riding our transport like professionals.
We made our way through the arid interior of Lamu, past coconut trees, small villages with waving women and children, and areas where the wooden dhows are made for the fishermen of Shela and Lamu. Eventually, we encountered a village where we were treated (as we were in other coastal Kenya locations) to a freshly cut coconut and the milk and fruit inside. Our donkeys, however, disappeared while we were looking around the middle of the village. We thought that was somewhat suspicious.
I think, in the end, our guides had deliberately set the donkeys free so they could not become overly tired. Or, maybe the people in the village needed them. We ended up walking back to the Lamu shore path in the midday sun, over sandy terrain. That was the only slightly annoying part of the trip, but, as they say all over Kenya, 'Hakuna Matata.' Our escorts tried to hold our attention on the way back by pointing out various plants and trees.
Overall, it was an interesting tour. We were able to see the interior of Lamu. We rode donkeys. We had a blast. Be prepared to get a little dirty (You'll probably be sitting on dusty burlap while riding the donkey.) and sweaty. I would recommend a trip like that to anyone looking for something a little different while in Lamu.
From journal A Quick Coastal Hop To Lamu