Lamu Off The Beaten Path

Mangroves are weird trees that grow half in, half out of the water, depending on the tides. They're also becoming rare. 70 percent of Kenya's remaining mangroves are in the Lamu archipelago.

I had the most interesting trip to an outfit that's practising sustainable forestry. The guy who runs the business is very well-versed and enthusiastic! I was sure he'd studied forestry at a university but he told me he just went to primary school, and he's had a lot of workshops on how to do the right thing in this ecosystem. Very cool. In the old days, the woodcutters here rotated their timber cutting, and kept the forest in good condition, but the building boom on nearby Manda Island, where wealthy foreigners are building McMansions, has screwed that up.

This guy is doing good work, keeping this ecosystem alive, and it's really interesting to learn the different species of mangroves, six in all.

The only outfit that offers this trip, as far as I know, is nature + culture. (They also can hook you up with the only guy on the island who does a birdwatching day trip.) Their website is www.lamutravel.com, and the owner's name is Gabriel Suleiman. They also do the standard town tours, etc., and a camping trip to Kiwayu, the island inside a biosphere reserve. Nice stuff. The phone number is 011 254 0 734 945 778 (from the U.S.); leave off the first six digits in Kenya (I think!) Anyway, check the website.