Heritage Hotels’ Kipungani Explorer in Lamu, Kenya has been described in the press recently as a “five-star Robinson Crusoe”, “the most laid-back lodge in Africa” and her bandas as “some of the most glamorous beach huts in the world". Kipumgani Explorer Lamu, located on the ancient Arabian island-paradise of Lamu, is one of Africa’s most remote, relaxing and richly romantic coastal hideaways. Overlooking the tranquil waters of the sheltered Kipungani Channel, on the remote southwestern tip of Lamu island, Kipungani is a dream destination for those seeking a true away-from-it-all desert island holiday. After a 90-minute flight from Nairobi more...
Kipungani Lamu enjoys a uniquely harmonious relationship with the residents of neighboring Kipungani Village. Twelve of the lodge’s 25 staff come from the village, from where we also buy all our seafood and materials for repairing the buildings. Talking to the 300 residents of Kipungani village, living on the same island as the Kipungani Explorer resort, you get the impression that this little ecolodge on the southern tip of Kenya’s Lamu Island is succeeding where so many others have failed – in bringing the benefits of tourism to those who most need them. In a country that is enjoying a major tourism renaissance, with international visitor numbers nearly doubling since 2001, much of Kenya’s coastal tourism continues to be concentrated on the large beach resorts around Mombasa and Malindi, which famously line the pockets of a few wealthy directors with minimal benefits to the poor fishing communities they live alongside. more...
