93 – Sheila Beach

Sat 27th Feb, Lamu Castle Lodge, Lamu, Kenya

Today was spent on the Sheila beach, a 3.5km walk along the sea from Lamu past Sheila town. Sheila is a small town on Lamu island, with grander more expensive places to stay and some nicely designed and maintained homes with a local flavour courtesy of the expats who build big holiday houses here. But of more interest to me is the stretch of beach that stretches 12km down from Sheila town.

But first things first. Lamu town is situated on the western shore of Lamu island, and it would be a travesty if i fail to catch a single sunrise here. So at 6am, i made my way down to the beachfront, and was treated to fantastic views of the dawn. I had my twin samosas and tea for breakfast (70 KSH)

Sheila beach was as i expected and more. A barren sandy beach with fine sand. It was not crowded, only a few tourists at that moment. It was also low tide, so i could go deep across to a sand spit which overlooked Manda Island across the channel. There were also a horde of sea birds on the spit, gulls maybe. And a flying fish school. A dhow later anchored on the spit and the passengers played beach footie. The tide was rising though and there was a current, so i stopped swimming back and forth, hence did not join them.

Remember many entries earlier when i mentioned the sun along the coast beats down mercilessly. From Zanzibar to Dar, to Mombasa and Lamu, i would be drenched in sweat. Here, in the water, i somehow forgot about the sun, with disastrous consequences. Despite applying copious amount of sunblock on my face, i neglected my back and ended up very sunburnt. The next morning, i would suffer as i mounted my backpack across my bag and shoulders when leaving Lamu.

Less and less excitement, and more and more relaxation, i know. But after 3 and half months, i figured it is time i treat myself and just sit back. Tomorrow, i’ll make my way down to Mombasa (400 KSH on TSS Express Bus, 9am-4pm, why the return leg is only half price on this bus company i’ll never know). From there, i’ll take the night bus from Mombasa to Nairobi (700 KSH on TSS bus, 9pm to dawn next day).