Lamu island, too popular for its own good

December 07, 2007

Lamu, a small island off the Kenyan coast, has been attracting tourists since the 1960s. But over the past decades the hippies and backpackers who used to be its main visitors have been steadily losing ground to another type of tourist: the jet-setting elites in search of an exclusive experience. Wealthy visitors are buying property on the island, sparkling a real estate boom, as well as concerns that its unique Swahili culture is being compromised by its success.