YOGA I LAMU
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he island of Lamu is one of East Africa’s most compelling destinations – a place that seems to have been left virtually untouched by modernity. In many ways, Lamu is much the same today as it was hundreds of years ago. The island has no motorised vehicles and residents still rely on donkeys for transport. As a result, the island is a haven of peace and tranquillity, offering a perfect location for activities that demand silence and even solitude.
activity Yoga is one such activity that is tailor-made for Lamu. The island has carved a niche for itself as the ideal place for a holiday or short break involving regimes that have been created specifically to rejuvenate and reinvigorate the body, mind and soul. Fatuma’s Tower, with its sandy landscape, has a snug location at the rear of Shela Village overlooking sleepy Shela Beach’s sand dunes. Fatuma’s Tower, overlooking the sand dunes at Shela Beach, is named after Fatuma
Abu Bakar, a Swahili noblewoman who lived there in the late 19th century. The top floor of the tower is now the home of Gillies and Fiammetta Turle, but the property also provides three double rooms for guests. Known locally as the Yoga Place, Fatuma’s Tower offers yoga and general wellness to visitors seeking total relaxation and a sanctuary from the pressures of everyday life. Personal yoga and group programmes are available for guests and day visitors. Elsewhere and enhancing Lamu’s reputation in this particular market is the Banana House & Wellness Centre with its massage and holistic treatments. The House is home to an Art of Living Centre and other lifestyle-changing courses which centre on meditation, yoga and healthy eating plus aromatherapy and reflexology, body exfoliation, manicure and pedicure as well as the Japanese manual healing art of Shiatsu and palm-healing Reiki.
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