KIPUNGANI

Kipungani: Our View

The small and secluded Kipungani Explorer is a lodge that has started to go from strength to strength in the last few years. Once a well known lodge, it slipped off the radar for a few years, but is now back to its best. Well placed along Kipungani Bay, the rooms can become a little hot when the wind is not blowing, but this is a rare event. Otherwise, the lodge is a very good choice for those looking to relax in simple yet charming rooms.

We give Kipungani 2 paws as it is is a good lodge but it has been a bit up and down of late

Kipungani: The Detail

Talking to the 300 residents of Kipungani village, living on the same island as the Kipungani Explorer resort, you get the impression that this little ecolodge on the southern tip of Kenya’s Lamu Island is succeeding where so many others have failed – in bringing the benefits of tourism to those who most need them. In a country that is enjoying a major tourism renaissance, with international visitor numbers nearly doubling since 2001, much of Kenya’s coastal tourism continues to be concentrated on the large beach resorts around Mombasa and Malindi, which famously line the pockets of a few wealthy directors with minimal benefits to the poor fishing communities they live alongside.
 
Each of the 12 spacious bandas sit at one end of Kipungani Bay, which is Swahili for ‘the place of fresh air’. Shaded by the palm trees that line the 600-metre beachfront, the bandas are constructed entirely from local materials, with mkeka palm floors and makuti thatch roofs woven by the residents of neighbouring Kipungani village. The large interiors are a picture of rustic simplicity, with giant king-size beds and furniture all handmade from local mangrove and palm woods. Each banda has an ocean-facing veranda with local funzi sofas and chairs piled high with colourful cushions. Amenities include freshwater showers, flush toilets, and separate dressing areas with wash basins.
 
Offering a wide range of beach and water activities, depending on the season, the lodge also caters to those with a more active disposition. Trips are easily arranged to the nearby Lamu Village or even off to one of the small islands that are dotted around the area.