IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK; GETTY; ALAMY
KENYA
Clockwise from top: The ruins of Gedi are among East Africa’s best-preserved medieval Swahili towns; Lamu’s market sells many of the spices that define Swahili cooking; many women in Lamu wear colourful buibuis and hijabs
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season, we’re out here every night, making sure each of these mothers gets the peace she needs and deserves.” There’s something incredibly moving about watching a creature go about an ancient ritual so precisely, entirely undisturbed.
Spiritual strolling My final stop lies to the north, in the Lamu Archipelago. Here, reverence isn’t hidden in a forest canopy or moonlit sands, but carried on the call to prayer that echoes across the town five times a day. In the old town of Lamu, residents anticipate the
end of Ramadan with a quiet excitement. By day, the alleyways are hushed, shopkeepers conserving their energy through the long hours without food or water; by late afternoon, the voices of the muezzins drift out from a dozen minarets at once, unhurried and overlapping. It’s as though the whole town seems to exhale. In anticipation of the evening’s iftar feast, lively Islamic music gushes from loudspeakers in the main square, while market vendors sell treats such as kaimati and visheti — nuggets of buttery, cardamom-flavoured dough with a crisp, sugary coating. Mahmoud Mahmoud, my guide, reveals that
I’m standing in the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa, and that Swahili means ‘of the coast’ in Arabic. It was here that East Africans, Arabs, Persians and Asians first coalesced, bringing a new language and culture into being. An important trading centre from the 14th to the 19th centuries, thanks to its deep, sheltered waters, Lamu once welcomed dhows laden with spices and gold, but also carrying the shamed trades of ivory and enslaved people. Today it’s Unesco World Heritage-listed for its medina- like maze of coral-rag and mangrove-wood houses, standing side-by-side along shaded alleyways. The grandest houses have barazas (stone
benches) outside, where guests are invited to sit and chat when coming to call. Their most remarkable features, however, are the elaborately carved wooden front doors and lintels, embellished with botanical motifs and verses from the Koran. While many original doors have been sold for export over the years, they’ve been replaced with skilfully-made replicas, which are helping to keep the art of woodcarving alive. As we wander, we pass several sawdust-scented
workshops, abuzz with activity. We step beneath the ylang-ylang tree that perfumes the courtyard of the Swahili House Museum and then into the house
itself. It’s a modest space, its simplicity offset by a whitewashed wall of decorative niches displaying ceramics. “Our houses keep cool, because we use natural materials such as timber, coral and lime,” says Mahmoud. “Which is just as well, because in the 18th century, when this was built, the women of the household spent all their time indoors. It’s different now, of course.” Mahmoud walks me south, past the fort, to where
the Riyadha Mosque rises above a wide, dusty square, its roofline ringed in yellow and a single green dome catching the last of the light. It’s here, he tells me, that the heart of Lamu’s spiritual life can be found. Built in 1892 by the Comorian scholar Habib
Swaleh, the mosque became a centre of learning unlike anywhere else on the coast. At a time when religious education was often restricted by status and lineage, Habib Swaleh had scandalised the town’s conservative establishment by bringing Islamic teachings to the descendants of enslaved people and the island’s poorest families, insisting that devotion belonged to everyone, not just the well-born. His reforms still shape the town. During Maulidi, the annual celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birth, thousands of pilgrims arrive from across East Africa and beyond, sleeping in their hundreds inside the mosque and the surrounding alleyways. Habib Swaleh is buried just outside, in a modest
tomb visited by pilgrims year-round. Mahmoud lowers his voice as we pass it, out of habit more than instruction. “People come from everywhere to sit here,” he says. “Not just to pray but to be near him.” I sit on a low wall across the square as the light
softens. A few minutes later the call to prayer begins, first from the Riyadha Mosque itself, then answered by minarets further off, rolling across the rooftops until the whole town seems to vibrate. Mahmoud closes his eyes, listening, and I realise that I’ve spent this trip seeking out the sacred. Here, however, it doesn’t need to be searched for: it simply arrives on the evening air, exactly on time.
HOW TO DO IT: Expert Africa has a bespoke 10-night trip to Diani Beach, Watamu and Lamu, staying at Kinondo Kwetu, Lonno Lodge and The Cabanas Lamu. Prices start from £3,680 per person and includes half-board accommodation at Lonno Lodge and The Cabanas Lamu and all-inclusive accommodation at Kinondo Kwetu. All local road, boat and transfers are also included.
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SWAHILI COAST HERITAGE SITES
Ruins of Gedi, Kenya Gedi flourished between the 13th and 17th centuries, and today its surviving structures still offer glimpses into life in the ancient Swahili settlement. The ruins are easily reached from the coastal towns of Watamu and Malindi.
Fort Jesus, Kenya Founded around 900 CE, Mombasa has been an important East African port ever since. It was protected by a Portuguese- built 16th-century fortress, Fort Jesus, which now houses a museum of Swahili culture.
Stone Town, Zanzibar Zanzibar was a powerhouse of intercontinental trade, and its historic architecture blends Arab and Asian influences. Many of the finest buildings, with coral- rag walls and carved hardwood doors, arose under Omani rule.
Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania This medieval city-state had a strategic location on an island in southern Tanzania. Remains of its Great Mosque and palace can still be seen. Its decline began when the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century.
Island of Mozambique, Mozambique Originally an Arab trading post, the island-town served as the capital of Portuguese East Africa for almost four centuries. When the capital moved to Maputo, the town faded, though its historic charm remains.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER – INDIAN OCEAN COLLECTION 15
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