My first night in Lamu was filled with endless stories about the culture and the people here. My friends Bonny, Clyde and I bonded over whisky and juice, well whiskey for him and juice for us. The only thing that was missing was a bonfire. It wouldn’t have made sense though, because this place is too hot already.
The issue of beach boys and hot women was discussed extensively. Actually, one of the stipulations to come here from my friends Rad and Janine were that I find a hot dude. So far, none has caught my eye. I’m too busy taking photos of sunsets and beaches anyway. We talked about how this place is too far from civilization. We compared our long journey here, but Clyde flew, so she didn’t have to go though the endless KDF checks. So as to get the idea of what I’m saying, coming to Lamu via bus is like a trip to Mombasa from Nairobi and back.
Most of the stories Bonnie told us were stories about locals. Funny enough, these people married in their families. Cousins married cousins to keep the wealth in the family. How that makes sense,I have no idea, but if you walk around these narrow streets, you will notice that a lot of children have deformities and look sickly. Bad genes and all.
In all the stories we talked about, one that Bonnie narrated stuck with me. It was a story of endurance, trust and patience. Things that I have desperately needed this year. It was a story that will live in the minds of the locals, years to come.
When you get on the motor boat from Mukowe to Shela Jetty, you will come across numerous boats anchored on the beach. Most are just canoes that locals made from scratch, others are engine powered speed boats used for transport, but there is one unique boat, with a white sail that will catch your eye. It looks expensive, like it was made in another country and found its home here.
A story is told of a small crew that went to sea, in a boat. It comprised of one local and three foreigners, one of which was a woman. From what I gathered from Bonnie, these guys were rich, and they just went to the open sea to have fun and catch some good sunsets. Sunsets in Lamu are like the best in the world.
As they were preparing to get back to the island,they got caught up in a storm and the boat capsized, everything sunk, including a compass, which would guide them home. Now this is where it gets tricky, when you are in the middle of nowhere, without a compass, it is hard to know where to swim to. On top of that, with no floaters or life jackets, keeping a float takes a lot of energy. Aside from that, there is hypothermia. If you remember your science class, salty water like it is in the ocean, is supposed to be easy to float on because of its density. But when you are in the middle of the ocean facing the wrath of the ocean, panic sets in and the last thing you remember is how to float. It is easy to give up. The odds were against them, but they swam anyway.
Two days of muscle cramps and fatigue, was to much for the (male) foreigners, so they breathed their last and drowned. At one point the lady wanted to die too, but the local told her they could make it. Just to have faith and to trust him. It worked. Whoever said faith can move mountains wasn’t kidding. On the third day, they finally saw land. It was Shela.I cannot begin to imagine how relieved they were when they finally saw dry land.
Once they settled, the lady asked the local what to give him, as a token of appreciation. The local, being modest, said she didn’t have to, but the foreigner insisted. Guess what she gave him, her beautiful prized boat. The only possession she had been left with, something she held dear. She gave it to him and said, thank you for having faith in me, when I didn’t have faith in myself.
When you get on the motor boat from Mukowe to Shela Jetty, you will come across numerous boats anchored on the beach, but there is one unique boat, with a white sail. It looks expensive. It was the gift given to the local by the foreigner, for not giving up on her. Sometimes, you just gotta have faith. Faith in people and most especially, faith in yourself. As long as there is fire burning inside you, you’ll be alright.
