Many Africans know nothing or little about Lamu Island. It is scarcely seen on television. Lamu or Lamu Island is a port city and island which can be found a little distance off the shore of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. It is in Kenya and part of Kenya which is in East Africa. Lamu was founded in the 1100s. Lamu is one of the oldest and best-preserved remaining settlements of the Swahili culture in East Africa. The buildings were put up with coral stone and mangrove timber. The town has simple buildings enriched by features such as inner courtyards, verandas, and elaborately carved wooden doors.
The island has continually been inhabited for 700 years and continues to be an important place in eastern Africa. In ancient times, people from various countries and regions migrated to the island. Traders and sailors from China, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and South-East Asia traveled across the Indian Ocean to East Africa to come to the island of Lamu. Lamu became prosperous through trade. The Arab traders built a port on the island of Lamu to facilitate trade in the 1300s.
The diverse mixture of sailors and traders with the native people of Lamu island created identifiable social classes on the island. The different social classes are as follows: indigenous people (Wenyeji), Africans (Waafrika), foreigners (Wageni), and Arabs (Waarabu). Each social class speaks a different dialect of the Swahili language.
Because the roads on the island are small and meandering, the use of cars by the general public is banned. The residents are to walk or make do with donkeys to get to wherever they are going. The island’s weather is generally warm and the temperature ranges from about 23 and 33 °C. Today, Lamu is a beautiful town and an important tourist site in East Africa.
