#903 Catching Your Own Supper in Lamu, Kenya

The dhow rocks gently at anchor, riding that strange blue membrane between clear air and clear water, and your mind wanders. You’ve reached one of those places on Earth that is far from everything. Across the channel is Lamu, an Afro-Arab town of whitewashed stone, narrow alleyways, and intricately carved doorways. Once popular with hippies and overlanders, Lamu is a destination that is still hard enough to get to that it feels like your very own discovery. No sound of traffic drifts to you over the water because there are no cars on these islands, which hug the Kenya coast not far from the Somali border. Your crew has spent the afternoon skillfully tacking their lateen-rigged wooden craft down to Shela Beach and then across to Manda Island, where a fire is now crackling on a secluded stretch of white sand between stands of mangrove. You feel a tug at your fingers and, hand over hand, with the crew cheering, you pull in your tiny, shimmering contribution to the evening meal.