Located on Lamu island, within half an hour’s drive of the airstrip, and run by Mary Jo and Louis Vaan Aardt, Kizingo is a very comfortable, cast-away beach lodge which prides itself on providing an intimate, hands-on experience.
Overview
Situated at one end of Shela’s 12 kilometre beach – its Kiswahili name translates roughly as the point – and consisting of just 6 bandas and a shared area, Kizingo is largely a Swahili build, and its high thatched roofs, open sides and matted seats and loungers are designed to make the most of the sea breeze, and – in the case of the roofs, which reach down to just above head height – to provide as much shade as possible.
Food & service
With great service and fine food (seafood and locally grown produce), the lodge fosters a relaxed atmosphere – very much in keeping with the beach, the sea and the people of Lamu.
Rooms
The bandas themselves are spacious, shaded and beautifully built. The interior walls and the flooring are covered with palm matting, a Swahili technique that takes the edge off harder surfaces, and allows the room to breathe. Each banda is en-suite, contains a large four poster bed, a dressing area and looks, by way of a large veranda, out to sea. The bathroom possesses a flush toilet, basin hot water shower. Free Wi-Fi is available across the lodge.
Activities
Activities at Kizingo include snorkelling, cycling, bush walks, village and town visits and dhow trips.
Impact
Conservation
Kizingo is strongly committed to conservation, ecologically sound practices and a symbiotic relationship with the local community.
Solar Power & Solar Water Heating: Each banda has its own 12V solar power. Electricity is generated by a 50W photovoltaic panel supplying six low energy D.C. lights. The hot water in the banda’s are also heated by the solar power.
Composting: Kitchen waste is mixed with chicken manure and bedding then composted for use in the kitchen herb and salad garden. Plastic waste is incinerated at over 800ºC, breaking down the organic constituents of plastic into carbon dioxide and water.
Turtle Conservation: Through the Lamu marine conservation project, green turtle nesting sites are monitored and when the eggs hatch, staff alert the project so that interested guests may watch over the baby turtles as they find their way to the ocean, protecting them from crabs and birds.
Tree Planting: Annually almost 1000 indigenous trees are planted by the lodge to stabilise the sand dunes. Other exotics, 500 cassarina and 200 coconuts trees are also planted ensuring self-sufficiency in fire wood and cooking.
Commerce
Egg Production: Eggs surplus to requirements at the lodge are sold to other lodges on the island.
Community
The Kipungani Schools Trust: The first School to be rebuilt was the Kipungani Primary School. Since then the KST has gone on to build 12 more primary schools.