It’s hard to believe today that Siyu was once the major city of the Lamu archipelago, with 30,000 inhabitants and several major universities. The only remnant of this glory is an enormous fort , which, given its emergence from the abandoned mangrove and coconut forest, is quite dramatic. Today Siyu is a small village with a whole lot of donkeys. Locals will happily put you up with a meal for about KSh400 to KSh600.
South of Siyu is Shanga , arguably the oldest archaeological site on the Kenyan coast. Legend says it was originally settled by stranded Chinese traders (the name being a corruption of ‘China’), but this version of events is disputed. We can say this for sure, though: getting here requires a rewarding slog through a mangrove swamp and under swaying palm groves and, once you arrive, there’s a real feeling of discovery. That’s probably because Shanga is, despite its obscurity, the world's most complete example of a medieval Swahili town. You may be able to hire a guide in Siyu (several men here helped dig Shanga out in the 1980s), but otherwise you’re on your own and, if you have any sense of imagination, feeling very Indiana Jones.
Be on the lookout for a 21-sided pillar tomb topped by a 15th-century celadon bowl, five town gates, ‘Lamu’ arches constructed of sandstone bedrock, coral ragstone and sand gathered from the nearby dunes, tablets marked with Arabic inscriptions and the ruins or foundations of some 130 houses and 300 tombs. There's no official Museums of Kenya presence here, so your visit is free, but remember not to remove anything from the site.
