The other town is Shela, a 45-minute walk away, where they speak a separate dialect, have fewer people, many donkeys, no cars at all and Peponi's Hotel. Time may seem to be standing still on Lamu, but it's not. It's just running very slow and is up to about the 1800s now.

Which is why, an hour and a half after leaving the modern international airport in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, you feel you have been sucked back in time.

Landing on Manda, you've receded as far as the 1930s. The twin prop plane slides up to the shade of a thorn tree, your luggage is loaded into a homemade handcart and pushed across a flimsy jetty towards the water. Between the planks you peer into a mangrove swamp. At the end of the walkway there are treacherous steps down to the boats for Lamu Island. If you've booked into Peponi's Hotel the hotel's dhow will be waiting for you.

Thirty minutes to cross the channel in this hand-built, hand-tied-together wooden vessel and you land in front of the hotel.

Minutes later you're back another 100 years, settling into a cane-backed easy chair on a verandah, sipping a lime juice. At your feet, the dhows glide by like sea birds on the blue water. If you are into history, you've come to the right place, as there's lots of it here. The island's story is layered with wars, trade, the comings and goings of Arabs, Portuguese, Germans and English.

The Arabs left the most enduring mark: the Swahili language, and the local people, are a mixture of Arab and Bantu. The religion is Muslim.

Lamu's golden days were under the rule of the Omani Dynasty when slaves cultivated its mangrove and cotton plantations. Slavery ended officially in 1907 and the island's economy hasn't recovered yet. But while waiting for the next big thing, life goes on, punctuated by the five daily calls to prayer. The street scenes look like illustrations from the Bible; women cloaked in black from head to toe, men in embroidered caps, heavy-laden donkeys with the right of way. (The open sewers are also biblical. ) In recognition of its unique position as a repository of Swahili culture, Lamu Old Town was recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

But it's as a hideaway site that Lamu's future seems to lie. Foreigners are buying up the rapidly crumbling 18th century coral rag dwellings for as much as 75,000 and investing heavily to restore them. Princess Caroline of Monaco owns four in Shela. To see how glorious these structures once were and can be again, visit the Lamu and Swahili House Museums.

After that, spend a half-hour in the fort, walk through the market, peer into the Donkey Sanctuary, wander through the dark alleys searching out examples of the massive, carved Lamu doors. Finally, take a dhow back to Shela. Here you will find, just past the Peponi Hotel and its lush gardens, a 12km stretch of sun-struck pink beach backed by sand dunes. Swim, snorkel, promise yourself you'll explore the archipelago's other islands tomorrow, then turn back to Peponi's for a drink and dinner.

Staying there Peponi Hotel, double full board from $300.

Closed May and June. Box 34, Lamu, Kenya.

Tel: 00254(0) 42 633421/2/3; email: peponi@africaonline. co. ke; www. peponilamu. com