Amazing sights of masts of dhow welcome Lamu island visitors

What you need to know:

  • A tour to a little known museum in the old town of  Lamu island is a must to satisfy the anxiety of any visitor in this region.

  • The German Post Office Museum is a treasure that is part of Lamu’s rich historical and cultural fame.

  • It receives hundreds of tourists visiting Lamu especially from German and other European countries.

A popular adage goes, everything is at its best when approached from water.

Well visitors approaching Lamu island are greeted with an amazing sight of masts of dhows that dot the salty blue sea fronts.

A historic Lamu Fort, kissed with a forest of palm trees, protrudes in the northern skies welcoming visitors to the Unesco World Heritage site believed to be the oldest living town in East Africa and indeed the jewel of Kenya’s rich culture and history.

A tour to a little known museum in the old town of  Lamu island is a must to satisfy the anxiety of any visitor in this region.

The German Post Office Museum is a treasure that is part of Lamu’s rich historical and cultural fame.

It is arguably the first ever European building to have been put up in the coastal East Africa, which dates back some 200 years ago.

Managed by the National Museums of Kenya under the larger Lamu Museum, the archaic one-roomed coral stone building showcases photographs and documents of German, British and Portuguese.

It also has other European nation’s colonial interests in East Africa during the period of the scramble for East Africa.

It receives hundreds of tourists visiting Lamu especially from German and other European countries.

Clement Denhert, a German who operated in East Africa, built the post office in 1888 to serve as a communication centre for the Germany East Africa Protectorate.

He advised the Europeans that Lamu had good links with the outside world and could serve well the protectorates’ political, trade and communication interests in the region.

The post office, however, was closed in 1891 after the British took over the region.

“It is a sort of pilgrimage site for European tourists, who have  prior knowledge of their fore-fathers activities in East Africa through documented information,’’ says a source at the Lamu Museum.

Popping beside a narrow long street that fancy Swahili cuisine, the museum bestows wonderful and awesome moments that beckon your memories.

A visitor can sample fresh fried fish and mouth watering biriani that is thought to be medicinal.