Manda Island 17

A wooden jetty gives access to parts of Manda Island at high tides through the thick old mangroves of the Lamu archipelago.

Manda has far fewer inhabitants than Lamu island, most probably because of the lack of a source of drinking water. Contemporary economic activity is limited here despite evidence of past settlement, including the ruins of Takwa and Manda. Manda hosts a few hotels along the southern beachfront as well as the main airport, the gateway to the Lamu archipelago. It acts as the main source of coral bricks used in Lamu Town and Shela, hewn out of the coral reef using traditional tools and methods. Apart from small patches of subsistence farming, Manda is covered by tropical lowland shrubbery and forests of acacias, mangoes and baobabs.