Lamu Old Town is one of the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlements in East Africa, and one of the quietest. Cars are banned; the streets are too narrow for them. Donkeys and boats are the primary means of getting around, and the pace of life that follows is genuinely unhurried in a way that most destinations only claim to be. The absence of engine noise is itself a quality of rest that takes a little time to properly absorb.

Lamu Old Town was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001, recognised as the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa. Its architecture reflects centuries of Arab, Persian, Indian and Portuguese influence layered onto an African foundation: intricately carved wooden doors, courtyard houses designed to catch the sea breeze, and mosques built in the 14th century still in regular use. The culture here is living rather than preserved, and that makes all the difference.

The dhow is the traditional vessel of the East African coast, and Lamu remains one of the places where it is still built, crewed and used in genuine working form. Sailing the Lamu Archipelago by dhow, moving between islands and sandbanks on the same wind that has carried these boats for a thousand years, is one of the quietest experiences the Kenyan coast offers. The archipelago’s waters also support dugong, sea turtles and dolphin, which appear alongside the sailing with a regularity that feels entirely natural.