Lamu Museum

The Lamu Museum is the flagship of the National Museums of Kenya sites in Lamu Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Lamu Island. It sits in a Grade 1 stone verandah building on the seafront, built in the early 1900s and once the residence of colonial administrators and later the District Commissioner.

Opened in the 1960s, the museum holds one of the largest Swahili ethnographic collections on the East African coast. Exhibits include clothing, jewellery, furniture, manuscripts, musical instruments, dhow and maritime objects and archaeological finds from settlements across the Lamu archipelago. The ground floor shows the work of Swahili poet and wood carver Mohammed Kijumwa and a gallery of carved Lamu doors, while the first floor covers the Swahili, Boni, Sanye, Pokomo and Orma communities and displays the famous Pate ivory siwa.

The museum is a good first stop before exploring Lamu Fort, the German Post Office and the Swahili House. Visit the National Museums of Kenya website for details.