Move over St Barts. Now, it’s all about the pristine beaches and laid-back vibes of a tiny, secretive African archipelago — a place where the A-list can be ensconced away from the paparazzi’s prying eyes, and the main method of transport is a water taxi called Beyoncé. Welcome to , multiple plane rides from Notting Hill (from Heathrow you’ll hop to Nairobi and then Mombasa on your way).
The hyper-chilled destination is fast becoming the holiday of choice for London’s most stylish set — from Kate Moss and Adwoa Aboah confirming its credentials as the chicest fashion hideaway, to Marina Abramović and Tracey Emin basking in its artistic influences, to the Obamas jetting in away from prying eyes. This Christmas, it became the festive base of makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury, inspiring much jealously from any and all who know her. In true Bond fashion, only small planes will get you to Lamu’s miniscule airport.
Perched by the sapphire-blue Indian Ocean, this detail is just one facet of the dreamlike, otherworldly charm of these tiny isles, and a marker of how wonderfully far away you’re getting, mentally and physically, from London. A taxi on landing? It’ll be a boat — a small wooden dhow, or, if you’re feeling splashy, a speedboat from a small wooden gangway. No wonder Lamu has been called the Venice of Africa.
Lamu has always been alluring for the rich and famous: Madonna hung out here in the Eighties, Prince Ernst of Hanover built himself a mansion in t.
