Lamu
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* This name is listed on the World Heritage List. ª The region is classified by UNESCO.
Lamu is a flat, about 10 × 6 km large sand island with mangrove bays off the coast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. It forms with the islands of Manda and Pate the Lamu Archipelago.
At only 120-800 meters from the mainland island of Lamu are the towns of Lamu Town ( capital and part of the UNESCO world heritage ), Shela, Matondoni and Kipungani. In the capital, about 15,000 inhabitants. On the island is Swahili, a language spoken in East Africa widespread. The journey can be done for example by bus from Mombasa on a day trip to the bus station Mokowe and subsequent translation. Planes land on the neighboring island of Manda in Nairobi and Malindi.
History
First came traders who settled in the 5th or 6th century here and their descendants, the Swahili, which shaped Lamu with their language and their art. Stronger settlements can be detected in the 14th century. 1505 anchored first Portuguese warships off Lamu. The Arab traders from Oman took the island not only goods, but also Islam. Today, almost the entire island population to Islam confesses. From 1506 to 1698 Lamu was dominated by the Portuguese. In 1698 it was conquered by Oman. The Sultan of Oman, built 1812-1831, the fort, which is now a museum.
Middle of the 19th century came Lamu under the political influence of the Sultan of Zanzibar. From 1888 to 1891 was in Lamu, a German post office, which should facilitate communication with a brief German possession in the Sultanate witu. 1890, the island passed through the Heligoland - Zanzibar Treaty, together with Kenya under British colonial rule. 1963 became Lamu as part of the British colony of Kenya 's political independence, but the influence of the Kenyan central government has remained low, at Lamu continue to live its own life.
Economy
Economically, the island lived up to the beginning of the 20th century by the slave trade. The slave trade ban in 1907 crashes Lamu in an economic crisis. Today, the island lives off fishing, some fruit and vegetable growing and tourism, here too the backpackers on dunes and sandy beaches had a pioneering role because of the relative untouched. To date, however, the popular destination suffers once the jet-set to backpackers under two fatal kidnappings by Somali pirates and bandits in September and October 2011. Here, a kidnapping took place (September 2011) much further north on the rarely visited island of Kiwayu instead - and was still associated with the main island of Lamu, in conjunction, because it is known as the crime scene. In October 2011, a French woman was kidnapped from her home on Manda Island opposite, she died later.
The entire 12 km long, very broad South Beach is almost uninhabited. On Lamu cars are prohibited. The two exceptions are the vehicle of the District Commissioners and an ambulance. The transport of goods and people is therefore handled with boats or with the several thousand asses that characterize the city of Lamu Town, among others.
Attractions
- Lamu Old Town ( UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001)
- Lamu Museum
- Fishing villages