My FIRST impression of LAMU, KENYA
good morning everyone welcome to my YouTube channel we are in lamu lamu is basically an island in uh East Africa it borders Somalia and behind me if you see there that's the Indian Ocean we'll be going there later first let me give you the room tour we staying in sapini hotels it's though oh it's bendia though it's simple but it's looks so beautiful and cute it's so ancient this is the bathroom right here that's me this is the bed mosquito net at night there are insects coming in from here and we've got a balcony right here just to chill and relax and you get a best view of the island and we are on the third floor that's the swimming pool up there you see the restaurant it's a beautiful beautiful property and uh staff is very polite and hospitable I'm just paying um 6,000 Shillings a night that is 3,000 per person I'm sharing the room with Andy so 12,000 for two nights which is uh pretty reasonable I must say you know for the services that we are getting you get a free breakfast too actually Andy is calling me we need to go now I plan to roam around in the old town I'll take you along with me by the way lamu it's the uh most preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa that's what they say so we'll be going out and exploring I hope you all are excited too someone is crying here I could see donkeys as well you call them Punda Punda and Swahili they make noise every 2 to 3 hours I wish I could see these are the residential uh areas I think residential houses here and some are uh what do you say hotels or NB Airbnb and the roofs it's not what you see usually it's different than the others I don't know what are these roofs made of I'll I'll ask and cross check with someone anyways let's just go now let's not waste time Andy yes what's special about lamu uh the calmness the people are so friendly uhhuh the Tranquility mhm and then everyone is minding their own business oh okay yeah and then this place is called shella it's like a small village in lamu okay and everyone is so kind to us yeah I could see that they are so hospitable yeah they are they are but I also heard that lamu is the most preserved Swahili settlement which you find in East Africa yeah is that true yeah it's true because of their culture mhm and uh even the way people dress here it's quite different you'll see and uh they've been preserving their culture for the longest time ever they're the only people who let me let me not say the only people but they are the most people who have maintained the Swahili culture I see and even I can see the architecture here the buildings here see if you see this it's Made of Stone it looks so ancient it looks so uh Persian like this is how you find in uh how do I put this I don't know where exact guys let me know antique antique yes yes yes yes look at the lanes they are so narrow it looks like you're walking somewhere in Rome like it's like Roman uh field see yeah yeah oh I can see Punda yeah that's Punda a means of transport L both people and goods so you find most of the donkeys are caring Goods or people so if you love L this one ising okay yeah and it also carries people because the means of here is H and boats saw the many boats in the yes yes I could see that Jetty but so you don't have any Vehicles apart from the kunda like the cars or bikes or anything it's hard it's hard to find them but I think it's one one CU Now where's the road yeah the road it's so narrow I can see that and then I realized that a lot of people are walking barefoot and they don't mind yeah just their culture and also when I was here last week uh foreigners were walking without shoes oh okay yeah like there's another Resort over there called banana house before you enter you have to remove your shoes oh okay yeah yeah yeah is that a swah culture I think it is because you see when you walk bare food to the beach you collect a lot of sand and I think they don't want sand in their houses okay so there's always a place where you wash your feet or you leave the shoes to the beach you leave them outside and then you enter the house I think it's the C oh yeah okay you're just passing through the lane to go to the beach right we get the jetty from there jumbo jumbo they getting the J yeah they're walking B feet I can see them yes noral yeah even the roads are you know it's so clean here the lane is clean mhm it's not dirty yeah it's not yeah what's your first impression of lamu lamu I was surprised like to see I was shocked like such of course we landed um we came here late in the evening yeah but after I've entered the hotel if you see uh even like a small thing like a door the lock is so what do you say ancient they don't have what we have in the cities like those wooden locks you see they have that sort of thing I so curious to know what is it but I got to know like it's the they have preserved that for years and years now yeah and what is this roof even I'm curious to know about this this is makuchi maki yeah it's like a roofing yeah they roof with makuti here okay because it's hard to find iron sheets or you can use the Iron Sheet then put the MTI on top okay yeah this makes the city look so beautiful sorry I'm talking City the island yeah yeah the village yeah yeah yeah yeah then it's also helps I think it helps also with cooling you know the air sheet when it gets hot when it's hot it gets hotter but this Maki it should be a bit cool oh okay it helps in bringing temperature down yes yes yes yeah any which it's too hot here today it was drizzling couple of days back at me I'm dripping sweating I'm dripping honey yeah look at this wall see this is what I was talking about coral Coral okay jumo good good so you're from here yeah you've been living in lamu so good to see your town I was so curious to know about this the walls here what are they made of stone stone stone it is okay oh it's not Coral not cor oh sorry so me the fisherman oh you're the fisherman Supply oysters oysters okay in the town itself Town yeah okay private in the private house I see the lobsters lobsters okay so that's your livelihood still alive fresh M and no I'm saying what's the source of livelihood for people here the fish fish and the crab okay calamari and oy and okay supply all right what's your name sir Abdul Abdul Abdul nice to meet you Abdul e I'm sir doesn't know I'm a pure vegetarian sir okay thank you thank you oh I see so Community staying here is Arabic Muslims Arab Muslim Portuguese Portuguese okay I see I think he didn't understand the question I was talking about the livelihood maybe the fish fishing is their primary source of income yeah because most of the time in these hotels uh they get fish directly from the ocean okay so most of them that is their main business or the boots M or maybe the donkeys mhm I think that's it I see okay the the this town most of it is gr is grown with uh tourism tourism yes is yeah yeah yeah I think the major boost is tourism so primary source could be tourism I see yes okay but also you can see some small small shops they selling someu wo yes can I have look at it yeah oh this is a zebra okay this is the carpet nice so this is the sahil tire yeah okay I see and that's the you Stitch these clothes yeah okay that's nice that's the Swahili attire yeah yeah thank you so much oh my God hello again hello did we meet again yeah when at the sunet S not you not Me Maybe another woman another lady yeah you come for the wedding also which wedding the the Somali wedding no no we didn't Somali wedding where was it happening was wonderful oh yesterday after yesterday there before yesterday okay we should have attended the Somali wedding maybe Great Gate crushed the boat to lamu yeah we are going to lamu town so you have a boat uh we just looking for one I have it I have one how much you charge how many are you two of us we we have a boat it's okay you have a boat okay she has spoken to someone already problem okay thank you so much I don't know how much is he charging I don't know we'll ask him okay noral price yeah oh not the muungu price not un anyone ask that 1,000 1,000 okay no chance of negotiation no because the fuel is more high now the fuel is about 261 lit yeah today no l lamu 260 per liter per l oh my God and how many liters does it take to maybe 2 L 2 and half l oh okay then come back oh okay all right she's speaking to someone if not then we come to no problem okay what's your name sir Fel Fel Fel okay I seen lot of uh what do you say Muslim name that come across is it the Muslim Community staying in L yeah mostly mostly Muslim Community okay and apart from that which are the community do we find there from mainlands Nairobi kumu kumu malindi Malu these are the tribes the tribes okay we stay here in L they're walking here and thenation down there some oh okay I see thank you all equal yeah yeah we all equal yeah that's a good thought sir all equal but people still refer to me as light skin I don't know why yeah because you like some light skin like you yeah yeah but you look like I'm Z look like that's why okay yeah because you don't speak much speak much yeah but they so when you come here you see the face this is a the tourist come and visit so we know the local we know the visitors yeah that's even he has come from Nairobi but you know he come from the face is very strange for us because come Vis don't see oh don't see people like him I see Nairobi is a busy place so can meet this this I know it is busy contrary to what you find here in lamu it's so peaceful yes is he coming yeah he's there we go there we have to go there all right Abdul I'll see you if you need for the DA for the sunset I have a nice beautiful da guys promote something little also to survive something how we need uh what is he saying asking the sun we want to go to mangar mangr swimming mang swimming yeah H okay we want to do that right you know you know how to swim so sorry so how swimming can take down there is more inside you see the the house down there we have nice Channel down there can go for swimming down there 2 hours 3 hours you know the beach down there the corner and then around the corner nice Channel down there so how much will you charge we'll uh come back you spend on hours how how many 2 hours 3 hours how many hour you think we'll spend this I don't know but maybe he can tell us okay you tell us your price we'll ask him his price so whichever is the best we take that you can just say yours and then say tell PR come on you go first if you geten if he get him also get me okay problem oh no problem no problem that's if I didn't get for the swimming maybe you can give me the another work maybe for for the sunset but I hope you good give us good price no problem you tell me the price for that swimming thing mangar swimming 2 hours how much yeah 25 2,500 yeah Shillings mean yeah Shillings yeah dollars can pay pay dollars and then okay let me check with him whoever pays the good give the good price we go with him okay and then the boat will follow you where down there and then the you the channel finish down there Dr down here okay but if I drown there will you come and uh rescue me very easy you have left jacket on board okay good good okay yeah Che my number my number if you want you be you're your right so we come from here no problem okay Abdul w we plan to do the mangaru swimming instead of the Sun set cruise because uh uh I want to experience how it is like to swim in the ocean but let's see depending on the time and the weather we'll take a call for now we just heading to Old Town and I see my friends here they're eating something the P how to make the noise I don't know all right they are the common uh animals you find in here and who's the Capitan or Captain who's the captain this boat looks better than what we had yesterday H hello Captain are we going to the Old Town yes yes how much is he charging ask you how much Captain 1,000 but make a discount of 200 Char 800 800 how much did he say 1,000 4% yeah no 1,000 two people yeah okay you say we take it yeah okay Captain we we want to enjoy this ride all right okay they asking you a question oh sorry what were you saying need a company or a crew is here I have a company with me already then take a crew take a crew the captain is right here Captain is just dealing with the engine you are a funny man okay all right we go now go yeah that's a good look he works yeah yeah the one one that one okay wo bye what's his name Abdul Farid Farid yeah bye Farid wa this this way sorry the boat is going this way or this way this way so here maybe okay all right ouch one second how many minutes 15 20 20 minutes all right 20 minutes for this ride and then we will be in lamut town the only way to go to Lut town is through a boat we can't uh the only way to go to lamut town is through a boat right but when the tide is low you can walk walk oh we can walk yeah when it's slow time okay so is high tight okay I see okay but we don't have any other vehicles to take us like a van or something no just b b b b oh there is a b b there so we do have a b b that will that can take us okay that's the B bod stand so we walk from there and you can take the B B from there oh I see and how much the ID charge 300 when it's high when it's high tide 300 okay that's the time when the boats don't uh you don't because that you can't walk you have to go to the there is another road which is very stiff so that's why they charge more that's why they charge more oh I see okay but the weather seems too hot today yeah because the rain was coming then when it reach lamb it stop okay bye bye Abdul okay are you okay I'm okay thank you oh I see couple of restaurant here and there's an ATM right there and the bank too okay so I plan to walk around in the town and see is there any place where I can get my currency exchange engine currency yeah yeah you can change here there come I show you okay for free I show you don't pay me there you okay Andy he's showing me the place where I can get my currency exchange what happened there the bank is not accepted bank is there is the place okay we go with him all right no problem mam is my name I born here okay Mohammad you're welcome and your name is my name is PR what priia Pria oh you from India I'm from India yeah you look like ticket tiet okay how can you speak Hindi yeah we have a lot of Indians here oh okay so we have Indians in lamu yeah a lot of Indians here I can show you Asar okay I can show you problem the Main Street this is the main street right here okay all right okay we go there all right M as you say the main street okay take it take it okay looking at him talking Hindi I forgot my Hindi I know I know but it's not more a little bit little bit Yeah show the Indian people they have the shops here there okay buildings oh Indian but they must be Indians who must be living in lamu for we have a lot of IND yeah a lot of take photo no problem okay take take take W the shops here look very old here yeah very old old town it's an Old Town that's why okay 800 years ago this the building so the shop is also 800 years old yeah oh okay this the Main Street this is the main street Aria AR aramia is one way one way okay so you find a taor shop here yeah this the shop this good luck Mo and star W take a phot good luck in L good lucku I love L I love okay and what's lamu TAMU lutu is a sweet watch out the donkey the car my this the car I got it's scar he's he's the king he's the king of he's the king of the shop yes please have a look just have a look please okay I'll be back dollars there do also problem you accept Indian currency Indian currency Indian currency get it to exchange L is an island it's a small place cities and Big Towns so you all don't IDE accept indan curreny Okay but we'll just Che India yeah I can show you okay let's just check but you sell the traditional attire of oh okay Mohammad is taking us some there inside yeah feel free feel free I can take you to the Indian people of course now that mad is with us we need not worry this the only Supermarket take photo Island this one the only okay that's the supermarket right behind it s hi so we here we we we start here and then we go to the Indian Place Indian place okay what's this first is for the dollars okay to change the currency and then we go to there okay okay what is this area called here this is p uh Town Square Town Square mongi Town Square okay okay you just check inside oh this is shop okay hi uh I want to get my Indian currency exchange he that you do it yes how much will you charge for that which currency Indian Indian Indian currency yes oh rupees rupees engine rupes let me see how much I have around 10,000 the only place oh oh Gandhi g no this is India India this is India but I show you the everyone yeah so he has a collection of w the only one okay that's impressive you can be happy with me problem okay he knows me okay they watch lot of Bollywood like I told you before this is a new you know you have changed new currency this is a new currency this is a new so I'll tell you 2,000 currency uh 2,000 rupe note is banned in India and that's been discontinued okay and this small note they still the same old one yes yes yes all of it you talk about 100 rupee note on and you talk about I I think you're talking about the 1,000 rupe note yes yes it's it's been out of the market it's been years now oh so yeah this is the new one but the bricks will change all this you know now this will be common maybe Chinese uh uh as it you know the the the the the unity of the bricks Nation BR I I I got I got that but I didn't understand like I mean you know this will soon become common you know all the country will trade with this yeah because Modi G is in uh trying to make it a universe yeah now Russia accepts INR also to even in Dubai is accepting now to trade with oil yeah yeah yeah you're correct yes yes that's what he meant okay she love Indian music every time oh okay maybe we can dance sh sh sh she's famous Shan she's a famous for Shan oh okay I'm a far fared exchanges currency okay he's a very nice person giving good rapes thank you the only place the only place in lamu he says all right bye my lady I hope next time you're not shy to dance on Bollywood I don't know how to dance I can't seeing we both can dance you want to dance I oh okay what which song you like I have many see one let them see come on sing it I have a lot I love a lot but I love the of nice one lovely people I must say the old town this way Old Town this this way okay let me just call my friend yeah which just see take a photo and then go back okay there the old yeah there is Old Town okay I take you to the old to I see this the for this one long time ago there is a sleep tree slave trade yeah yeah slave trade Oman people Sultan uhhuh he put slaves here inside here okay and who are those slaves the Kenyans yeah the Kenyans like me black people okay let's go to the Old Town you see the old town and then we go back so the Oman yeah yeah you see yeah from Oman okay we walking down the lane we have H 46 most including this one this one okay 46 I see and then L if you get lost M you follow this you follow this water this water this the sea takes you direct to the ocean okay Mohammad is giving us a tour of the Old Town we're just walking with him 800 years ago mhm the Oman people they come and build these houses he oh okay these houses they build with with a with a Oman people suan oh like s we going to his grave now direct from here okay and then the first most P there say built 1845 1845 yeah you can see okay and it's safe here you can walk till morning mhm no robbery not like no robbery no robbery okay everyone is friendly to each other is it yeah I can see that and we build our houses with the mang Gros you see mangr yes and also Stones I've seen these are corals oh it's coral and not changed yeah it's changed the color oh okay yeah from long years due to moisture I think it's how are you I'm good it's a long time ago like 800 years ago oh so they change the color mm but is are corals okay like this one these are corals yeah all of this this the Old Town mhm see the mles the we build with mangos okay wood CU if you build with with the iron it's going rust okay so the house is not come last long mhm it's C down because of the rust okay I see a grave of side side grave of who side side Sultan okay the grave of him oh my God this is a tomb like 800 years ago okay and who was he Sultan he's a s market slave marketing M oh okay the one the for where you showed to do that okay I get it so that's his house that one so no one lives in here now now you can see that he his mosque it's 1845 Okay that it's there's a mosque yeah 1845 but they will rovate every every 5 years 4 years okay take a photo nobody ask yeah but I can't go inside No No Yeah I have to be uh what do you say appropriately dressed to go yeah Dr bo bo a hijab okay okay okay I see let's go to the coffee shop no right he wants me to visit the coffee shop yeah the only shop which hasino cappuccino and Indian okay she owns this Cafe she owns this Cafe what she owns that Cafe yeah oh okay they here show you oh I see the only Cafe which has all the modern equipments yes the machine is there oh I see they got espresso machine too that's nice maybe we can have a coffee here later once I'm done with my lunch now you have to eat first then we come later yeah yeah thank Youk oh quite an interesting Cafe I must say pretty small with all modern equipments in here he says it's the only Cafe here but lamu is a very small town right it's just 10 kilm like Zar yeah like Zar but Zar is Big mhm yeah is small yeah yes only 30 km 30 km oh okay but Z is big they have a lot of cars I see but we have a lot of M including this one uhhuh the other one I show you the means of Transport I know Punda P you call them Punda they offering prayers behind you see the old houses even the the trees this the roots oh okay you see the they sailing but no one can live here no nobody can come and see oh okay nobody can but they're selling and they will be renovating it it's from UNESCO UNESCO okay from the museums from the museum okay go to the museums and then they can sell for you and then you can renovation renovate okay but for now of nobody it's way too old yeah very old see yes this is the compass Direction I show you okay if you get lost here in L follow this water this water Mohammad says you follow this to the beach ocean ocean [Music] sorry this is a town center okay you find B everything sh restaurant they going to swah restaurant right SW Island dishes Island dishes Island dishes Mal is it a good restaurant yeah good very good okay it can show you the Indian designs everything [Music] hi oh okay you sp I didn't like that restaurant honestly uh so I plan to go explore the mangu restaurant which is right there to walk for 2 more minutes 400 m from here M just went back he's back there nice person oh hi Abdul you're here still here yeah okay I'm looking for that restaurant where I can have lunch and then we leave looking for SE M yeah yeah that one it's from here no oh okay you to got down from the jetty yeah yeah I went for prayers you went oh yes you'll offer prayers five times right okay so he's the captain of the boat so I'll and then we leave okay or I will just take away something if possible I don't want to waste your time yes it's okay I have time but for you going to the mang yeah it will be it will be late for us because of the tides weather is getting better now it was very hot right yeah but it seems like rain rain is coming now uhhuh you ate something yeah okay w I mean why do they have to give so much burden to them they they still use as a mode of Transport you know to carry the load my God okay we go straight okay it's because they charge pone that's why they load more they load more okay so per Stone how much like 10 Shing Stone 10 Shillings first stone sorry for them sometimes but they say that the donkey didn't go to school that's why they work hard oh yes oh I'm so sorry all right we here at the seafront cafe just ordered the vegetarian meal for myself we'll eat something and then we leave because Abdul is is waiting for us behind there he has already eaten his meal he said so we'll quickly eat and leave and then maybe we can go for a swim yeah yeah yeah I want to swim in the M room okay this is what I've been served so basically this is a potato curry with rice and mango juice how do you all make this sorry how do you make this it's just the chili and the oil it's a Secrets hey it's way too nice I must say it's really good it's our secret sorry I can't tell you okay that's okay yeah let me tell you okay know what are you doing now no you can tell them what what your what is it this we just missx uh the garlic garlic yeah garlic okay uh green pepper black pepper olive oil okay on onion I mean onion lime lime and chili powder chili oh my God no doubt it tastes so good thank you this the chili can only find here and the other place is called T da in the da oh what's the name of that chili the red chili sorry it's red chili right yeah okay red chili po red chili POA his name is called usin USI usin don't ask me okay okay very we are back in the boat after the lunch oh my God first we go to shella and then from there we go to the man gr so we just crossed Shell Island and we have we are in Manda Island now and we are going for mang gr Forest swimming year so beautiful in here the water is still not that wavy compared to what we saw there ah it's dirty the water is dirty though this is the real Adventure all right jump not like that please cut up no but I'll no you the thinging is not too deep it's not deep just jump no it's mad swim now okay thank you or you want a vlog of swimming that's a right behind and ABD was helping me swim in the water it's in the ocean basically but the waves are here it's okay but there it's too high and I'm not used to swimming in the ocean honestly swimming in the swimming pool is different then what we swim in the ocean so yeah it was difficult wo the wave sorry the breeze it's too Breezy here anyways I was just asking Abdul how people survive here I was asking him like how because tourism is only in November and January yeah November November December January February and March yeah so rest of the time what do you do we go deep sea fishing mhm and some farming in Manda Island oh okay but some for others we keep uh some goat ships uhhuh yeah we also produce milk from fresh fresh milk to shella from Manda to shella supply to the hotels oh so basically poultry farming yeah yeah okay that's how they survive here on this beautiful island and that's the main land you see the it's way too far he said it takes 2 hours by Bo to reach there that's shella and right now we are at Manda Island tomorrow we'll be taking a jumbo jet from there wo Abdul is building a house in shella yeah when will it get ready Maybe by January or February February oh do you plan to make one the house as one of these hotels yeah maybe one day because it will take much time okay guys if you'll come to shella after few years maybe you all can stay in his hotel the first F should be Priya all right maybe I don't know when will I be back in lamu lamu is beautiful but isn't it expensive to build the house here no in Manda is more cheaper than lamu because uh we get the Limestone from Manda Island so no no transportation for the limestones to Shell oh is it okay because I could see it's beautifully built here but he said it's way too cheap to transport sandstone and they have already here so it's way too cheap to build the houses here that's amazing all right we just enjoy the view right here and these are the resorts right meles is there somewhere I think that's the most famous resort here in shella and these are the five star properties if I'm not wrong but are these beaches the private for just for them no the houses are private but the the beach is Public public oh everyone can R in here oh okay all right we'll just enjoy the video [Music] what are they doing here dancing yeah they're waiting for guest so that they can oh okay someone special coming today coming in today yeah a couple of people oh they almost there so the whole uh they'll be playing now they just preparing they they'll be more oh the SW okay thank you they're preparing to welcome the guest the traditional sahili way that's interesting all right we just got back from swimming in the forest I think I'll end my Vlog here itself guys if you like my video please subscribe to my channel like share comment and I shall see you in my next Vlog bye-bye
2023-12-10 01:53
