Accommodation:
There are 6 rooms in total which are dotted around the sand dunes and connected by sandy walkways. They are simple, with walls and floors made from palm matting, roofs from makuti (palm thatch) and house comfy beds and basic furniture.

Top room is our favourite and not surprisingly has great views out across the creek. It is a double room with ample space for an extra bed.

Up at the same elevation is the Family room which has two separate bedrooms with an interconnecting walkway and a large lounge area all under the same roof. There is one double bed and two separate single beds.

Further down the dune is Round Creek room and to the other side of the bar and restaurant is Square Creek. Both are simple but very comfortable double rooms.

Moving further away from the public areas the next room you encounter is the Round room which is a smallish double.

Furthest away and raised upon a slight headland is the Honeymoon suite which is a large double and has the best views over the creek. All rooms have their own bathroom with toilet and shower.

The toilets are long drops and are known locally as the 'royal seat' in that they afford some of the best views around and are a perfect spot for contemplation.

To shower, fill your shower bag with water, hoist it above you and open the tap. If you want hot water remember to leave your black jerry can out in the sun, though hot water can be provided on request.

All meals are taken in the main restaurant and are usually a case of sitting around the communal table though private meals can also be catered for.

Breakfast is a choice of English or continental.

Lunch consists of a main course a variety of fish dishes or pasta with fresh salads and fresh vegetables and with a sweet or cheese & biscuits for deserts.

Dinner is simple but very tasty, with fresh seafood caught or bought daily and largely influenced by Swahili flavour which is characterised by coconut milk and arabic spices. Crab, lobster, oysters and a wide variety of local fish are always on the menu, followed by fruit in season. They also cater for vegetarians.

There is an extensive bar which is often self service and drinks are cooled by gas-powered fridge.

Please make sure you inform us well in advance if you have any special dietary or drinks requirements, as resupply out at Munira is not so easy at the last minute.

Beaches: included

Snorkelling: included
The diving is not great around these parts, but there is some good snorkelling, notably just off from the main beach and also down in the creek between the island and the mainland. Dolphins and whales are seen regularly off the coast of Kiwayu.

If you want to try the diving, this can be arranged through Julie who runs the local (World Wildlife Fund operation) with trained dive masters across on the mainland.

Guided walking: not included
There are lots of caves and coves to explore around the island and the opportunity to visit one of the local villages, but best to take a guide with you. You can also make the half hour walk up to Astronomy Hill to take in the sunset and then stay on for some excellent stargazing.

Sailing: not included
There are two 33ft motorised sailing Dhows - Munira (Arabic for "light of the moon") and Al Aqswa available for hire. In addition, a 29ft Sessie canoe "Big Blue" is available. All these are available for hire for trips around the islands and mangrove lined waterways.

Fishing: not included
The more serious fisherman can charter the ultra modern deep-sea fishing boat "Albatross" and head out for a day's deep sea fishing in the deep channels to the north towards Somalia. These waters are famed for large game fish, including sailfish and marlin.

There is also another boat called “Chache” a vixen boat which can be used for deep sea fishing and water-skiing, Lamu transfers, shopping sprees, and day trips exploring the Islands.

Safari: not included
The mainland opposite hosts an abundance of game and borders on the Boni and Dodori game reserves. Game drives in covered 109 Landrovers & game walks are available and you can expect to see buffalo, lion, elephant, cheetah as well as topi, suni and lesser kudu antelope.

Background and people:
The camp was started twelve years ago by Mike Kennedy as an island base when up this way on fishing and diving trips out of Lamu. In those days it was just a couple of simple tents, a few fish, bottles of beer and a host of stories told around the open fire. In 1990, they started to build some sort of permanent structures and the camp was first opened for business in 1992. Nowadays, the atmosphere is still much the same - just how we like it.

Mike was born and brought up in Kenya and runs the camp on his own, with his local staff to keep him company. The seventeen staff are all from the Kenyan coast, with thirteen coming from the Kiwayu itself. Some of the key staff are William the chef and assistant manager, Tima the cook, Jonathen the head waiter and Tobias the waiter & room steward.

There are a couple of other options...

If you have plenty of time, you can take a local dhow which is a great way to move around. The journey up from Lamu takes around 6 hours and passes Manda, Pate and a whole host of other smaller islands but make sure that you take your own food and water. The faster option is to charter a speed boat from Peponi's which cuts your journey time to a just over an hour but will cost around $300 and isn't quite so authentic but at least you will have a cool box full or food and drink along for the ride.

If the tide is high enough your boat can negotiate the channels through the mangrove swamps that line the coastline and can drop you at the jetty just below the bar and restaurant. At low tide, you will be dropped at Kiwayu village at the far end of the island, where you can pick up a guide and hike across the island, either along the vast sandy beach or via the interior, laced with sand dunes and the occasional donkey trains . This walk takes just over an hour and is an excellent but exhausting way to arrive in camp.

KIWAYU ISLAND:
A few years back this remote island at the northern end of the Lamu archipelago gained a reputation as a retreat for the rich and famous. It boasts an idyllic beach, fabulous snorkelling on the coral reefs and peace and quiet. On the mainland across from the island is the Kiwayu Safari Lodge which is considered to be one of the world’s top hotels. On the island is the more modestly priced Munira Safari Lodge and both hotels will organise transfers by plane from Mombasa, Malindi or Lamu, or motorboat from Lamu. And if you tire of beaches and watersports, the lodges can organise game viewing safaris to Boni and Dodori game reserves. Wildlife that you don't want to get too close to is the mosquito – the island is renowned for this pesky insect, so take your repellent and anti malarial drugs.

Kiwayu lies on Kenya's East Coast on the Indian Ocean, and forms part of the northern Lamu Archipelago. For centuries, the bay of Kiwayu has been a calling point for Arab dhows trading in ivory, carpets and carved chests traveling between Arabia, Mombasa and Zanzibar filling their "debes" with sweet water from wells.

Kiwayu is cushioned between the Kiunga Marine National Reserve, to the east, the Dodori and Boni Game Reserves to the west. The wild areas are vital to the protection of the fauna and flora of eastern Kenya. The animals that inhabit these reserves are often migratory such as elephant and buffalo. The permanent residents are lion, cheetah, serval, caracal, lesser kudu, monkeys and rare African hunting dog.

This marine park is home to many types of marine life like coral fish, dugongs, whale shark, basking whale, tuna, marlin, sailfish, wahoo, kingfish and many other sports fish species. Dolphins and whales are seen regularly off the coast of Kiwayu, moving in shoals across the ocean. The turtle lay their eggs on the sandy Kiwayu Beach, and are protected by Kenya Wildlife Services and resident hotels.

There are two main accommodations: Kiwayu Safari Village is nestled amid the mainland dunes and the oasis to the north of a sheltered lagoon off the island of Kiwayu. Munira Island Camp is another eco-friendly hotel located on the virgin beach of Kiwayu.

For a culture tour of the Swahili people, we recommend that you take boat or dhow to Lamu.

LAMU ISLAND - KENYA:
Lamu is a town, an island and an archipelago. The archipelago is a chain of seven islands and a multitude of islets, separated from the mainland at its narrowest part by a channel just a few metres wide. The mainland and the inland sides of the islands are fringed by dense mangrove forests, while the seaward sides are protected by reefs and lined with dunes. Throughout the archipelago there are numerous historical sites, visible and tangible evidence of ten centuries of a colourful, and often violent past. Most of these settlements are Arab in origin and started as small trading stations. As these small colonies grew they absorbed much of the local people and a distinct Afro-Arab culture emerged. This culture, which came to be known as Swahili, today dominates not only Lamu but the urban centres of Mombasa and Malindi and its language has become the principal language of East and Central Africa.

The beach on Lamu island is 12km of empty sands backing on to an ocean unprotected by a reef and therefore more lively and more powerful than you find elsewhere in Kenya. But no one comes to Lamu only for the beach. The town is now well known, a delightful anachronism carrying on its daily life as it has done for centuries so that the visitor has a science fiction experience of being transported back through time. The town is a living monument to its past. The old houses, built with walls of coral two feet thick, have a series of alcoves about ten feet wide, rather than rooms. Their width is decided by the length of the mangrove poles used for the floorings and ceilings. Many are three stories high, with precipitous staircases which end on a flat roof where much of the life of the community goes on. The town is crowded with houses and people, the streets so narrow that you can shake hands with your neighbour in the house opposite. The main street, ndia kuu, is lined on either side with shops and workshops, each no more than a room stretching from the street to the living areas behind. Here you will find carpenters and herbalists, jewellers and grocers.

In the centre of the town stands the fort. Built for Omani invaders around 1812 it later became a prison and is now a cultural centre operated through the museum. The Lamu Museum itself is on the waterfront housing a collection of Swahili artefacts, jewellery and crafts unequalled anywhere else. The two most important items in its collection are the siwa – ceremonial horns; one made of ivory, belonged to a former sultan of Pate the other is from Lamu itself. As befits a maritime community the museum houses a collection of sea going vessels and marine tackle and there is a wonderful model of the rope sewn vessel known as mtepe.

A 45 minute walk from the town (or 15 minutes by motor boat) brings you to the sleepy village of Shela. This is where the beach begins and the complexities of life end. Even the beach is simple, just a 12km swathe of shining sand lapped by a balmy sea. To sail the archipelago is to discover beautiful beaches, glorious seascapes, ancient ruins, fishing and scuba refuges.

For the traveller, Lamu is a hypnotically exotic experience, made even more enjoyable by the relaxed and welcoming attitudes of the locals. To visit Lamu is to enter another world, and the visitor finds themselves becoming a part of this world. Life slows down, and long days are spent strolling along the waterfront, exploring the town or relaxing on the beaches.