October 31st, 2012 
Emily 
I love when towns have a signature quirk, and I’ve never seen a quirkier town than Lamu, Kenya. Lamu’s quirk: it’s overrun with donkeys! Like that time we went to Ethiopia after the dictator died and his image snuck into all our photos, our photos in Lamu are haunted by donkeys. Donkeys carrying sand on their back. Donkeys sneaking around corners. Donkeys trotting next to us down alley ways. There were donkeys everywhere.
Lamu is the name of both the town and the island where we stayed. The town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which means it’s quite old. So old, in fact, that the “roads” are actually narrow alleys, not roads at all. There simply isn’t room for cars or trucks, so donkeys are used to transport goods and people.
Of course, with donkeys comes a whole lot of donkey poop. Walking at night was particularly hazardous, as there were no street lights to guide us. Needless to say, I wore sneakers, despite the heat. I didn’t need to feel the squish of donkey poop on my bare feet.
But, without further ado, I bring you the donkeys of Lamu:
Donkeys hauling stuff through the alley.
Men playing a board game + a donkey butt cameo appearance.
Donkeys at the depot.
Can you spot him coming around the corner?
Donkeys hard at work.
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There is a town called Lopburi, not too far from where I live, that is totally over-run with monkeys. They are cute, kind off, but aggressive and snatch food! Once I saw a group of them jump in the bed of a truck that was stopped at a stoplight. They ransacked the groceries and ran away when the light turned green.
I’ve heard that monkeys (especially baboons) can be quite aggressive and will do stuff like this. I’m glad they didn’t take any thing from you!
In Williamsburg, VA, the tour guides call the horse poop left on the roads: “Street apples”. Is there a euphemism such as this in Lamu?
Sorry, can’t share an interesting quirky town. Well, there is mine, and there are mascots from the local high school everywhere… It’s football season, after all.
I would love this place! I have a soft spot for donkeys. It’s not quite as quirky, but I used to live near Banff, Canada where all the streets are named after animals that you find in the area. It’s a little weird to meet someone by saying, “I’ll wait at the corner of caribou and wolf”.
I think naming streets after animals is very clever, although you’re right, it does sounds a little bit funny. It’s much more creative than naming the streets after numbers or states.