#5 Kenya – Excursion to Kisumu and Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is the largest Lake in all of Africa and is also the source of the Nile. It therefore seemed like a worthwhile destination for a weekend excursion. However, I have learned never to have any kind of expectations because you generally end up being disappointed. Yet nevertheless, it’s hard not to have something in mind when one things of the largest lake of Africa. As such, we headed to Kisumu, a port town right on the lake’s shore, with the intention to relax a bit on the waterfront while sipping a beer or a Pepsi and enjoying the beautiful views and maybe a magical sunset. You sort of can’t help it. Anywhere in the world, (at least that’s what I thought), when you have a waterfront area, it seems only logical to have access to the waterfront; in other words – to have a seawall, or a park, or even some restaurants or cafes right along the water. Well, logic unfortunately doesn’t prevail everywhere. Kisumu, although a port city, makes absolutely no use of the fact that it’s located right on the shore of such an amazing lake. There is absolutely no way to access the waterfront from town and you only get glimpses of the lake between some alleys, shacks or other buildings. However, before I get into any further detail about Kisumu and what we did there, let me begin with our journey.
We tried going to bed early on Friday, knowing that we had to get up still before sunrise the next morning. Now in Vancouver I would expect to be laughed at if I said that I wanted to go to bed early on a Friday night, but I did not expect to have the same experience here in Keringero. People here don’t go clubbing, dancing or drinking on a Friday night, so I figured it wouldn’t be difficult to just disappear in our room. Boy, was I wrong with that assumption. The kids, not having to do any homework for the next day, were just having a blast. And they definitively don’t need a DJ, loud blasting music or a dance floor. All it takes is a couple buckets, some sticks and a good butt. Honestly, these girls really know how to shake their bum. Two would be playing on the drums, the rest singing and then a whole bunch dancing on the steps – and by dancing I mean primarily wiggling their backsides at super-sonic speeds. So with a party in full swing – as well as a huge full moon in the sky – it was nearly impossible to call it an early Friday night. Yet somehow, by about 10pm, we managed to crawl under our covers.
The morning brought with it a strange experience, considering that we have never gotten up before anyone else here. This time round, with our alarm set for 5am, we were the first to rise and it was oddly silent in the whole house. The huge orange moon was just starting to disappear behind the horizon and the sun still hadn’t shown its rays. We hiked it up to the road, caught a matatu to Nakuru and there boarded on another one that would take us directly to Kisumu.
All in all we arrived in Kisumu at 11am – so about 5 hours of a bumpy, not-too-comfortable and slightly squished ride. However, the scenery along the way was amazing. In the morning all the countryside was covered by a layer of mist. But it’s not like fog at home where everything is enveloped in it. Here, the tops of the trees would be peaking out of the mist creating a kind of fairylike environment. Then, further along the journey, we passed by rolling green fields: just endless mounds of green carpet. It looked as if you could stroll right over it – but in actuality the green were bushes of tea so dense that they formed a solid mass. To my great surprise, Kenya is the third largest tea exporter in the world and tea comprises its largest export (20% of all that it exports). The area around Kericho through which we were driving, is essentially one massive tea plantation owned my small landholders. The tea leaves get picked every 17 days by the same group of workers. According to the Lonely Planet book, a good worker can pick up to 100 kg of tea in one day.
So after this bumpy ride we finally arrived in Kisumu, checked into the YWCA and headed out into town for some cheap local food. The food turned out to be expensive, not so local and not so good, but we didn’t let that stop our excitement. Kisumu, unlike the other cities in Kenya that we’ve seen (i.e. Nairobi and Nakuru), seems very laid back, cleaner and less chaotic. Its streets are wider and there’s just a different feel to it. So we figured we’ll soak in this great atmosphere with a nice cold drink along the waterfront. Having walked through the center of town and seen only glimpses of the lake we resorted back to my trusty Lonely Planet which informed us that there is a Kisumu Beach Resort (campground) 3.5 km out of town that has a restaurant and bar right along the waterfront. Since it seemed like this would be the only place (against all logical urban development planning) that would have access to the water we decided to head for it. So we set off. First I should mention that it’s much hotter in Kisumu. Being warned of this we brought appropriate clothing and were now dressed in short beach shorts and spaghetti strapped shirts.
Our walk started out innocently enough but within a few minutes we would ourselves in the industrial part of town. Now to describe what it was like for us I’m going to create an equivalent scene in Vancouver. Imagine two Italian girls (clearly tourist), dressed in their finery with a big camera strapped around their neck walking through the industrial part of East Hastings. Well just as out of place as these girls would be so were we. Not only were we basically the only girls in this area, but we were also dressed for the beach and not to mention the fact that as mzungus we stand out like sore thumbs without the first two factors. So after 30 minutes of walking past car repair shops, industrial paint supplies and huge warehouses we began having doubts as to whether we were even walking in the right direction. Eventually we emerged out of the industrial complex and found ourselves along a country road with the lake visible about 300 meters to our left. We walked and walked. 3.5 km my a**. The Lonely Planet should better check its distances. We must have walked for close to two hours – or probably the equivalent of 8-10km. Thankfully we did finally find this campground and to our great relief the Lonely Planet at least got it right that there was a restaurant and bar. So we plopped ourselves down on some chairs looking out over the lake and ordered a couple of cold Tuskers.
We had hoped to be able to take a boat back into town since there was no way that either of us wanted to repeat that walk again. Unfortunately after over two hours of waiting around for a boat to come we gave up on the idea and decided to head back to the road and hopefully get a taxi. We were in luck because as we were making it back we were passed by a little 3-wheeled motorcycle taxi and took us back into town.
In the evening we treated ourselves to a fantastic western meal comprised of steaks and mashed potatoes and then found ourselves in need to kill a lot of time. We finished dinner basically at 7pm and it was already pitch black outside. The last thing we wanted to do was to head back to our hostel and go to bed that early, but there really didn’t seem to be any other alternative. We’ve always been told not to be out after dark and there was nowhere really for us to go. I truly don’t know what we ended up doing, but we found ourselves in bed at 11pm – so somehow managed to kill 4 hours somewhere in the meantime.
That night it rained harder than I ever thought possible. Over the years I’ve gotten used to the fact that Vancouver is one of the rainiest cities in the world (well – not quite, but the stereotype does exist). However, I’ve never seen anything like what we had this night in Vancouver. I was worried that our Sunday would get ruined due to the rain, but luckily by morning the weather cleared up and we were able to hit the markets.
Kisumu is known for its huge Sunday market and that’s where we headed. For me it was the highlight of the excursion. I love markets like that. It sort of reminded me of a cross between the market at Otavalo, Ecuador and the market that I’ve seen in Haiti. They had everything there: veggies, meet, fruit, clothes, material, shoes, furniture, hardware supplies... well, like I said, simply everything. The great thing was that we were the only two mzungus there. I don’t think the people there were accustomed to seeing whites at that market. Sometimes we’d be greeted by curious glances, other times by welcoming smiles and shouts of karibu and then there would also be those times of hostile looks or shouts, especially when people noticed my camera. But the best part was when I attached my large lens onto my camera. Some of the people there must have assumed that I was doing photos for some newspaper or the TV because they would request me to take their picture. I could honestly loose myself in a market like that for hours upon hours. I don’t need to buy anything, just walking around, observing everyone, taking photos and enjoying the atmosphere is the best part for me. It’s great to find oneself in places where tourists are not common and where you’re not being continuously hassled by touts.
Unfortunately that’s about all the time we had in Kisumu. We needed to make our journey back to Nakuru and Keringero before it got dark so after the market we grabbed ourselves some lunch, bought some fish for Phillis, She-she and Jane (for which they had specifically asked us), and boarded the matatu for the long and uncomfortable ride back home.
As it turns out, this Sunday we’re probably going to be heading back there for a very long and arderous day trip. We were informed that the gorgeous materials available in Kisumu are only sold there and in Dar es Salam. Both Robin and I wanted to get more and thought we’d be able to get them in Nakuru or Nairobi. Since that is not possible, our only option is to head back there. So this weekend we get to look forward to a 5 hour journey along the bumpy roads there, 3 hours or so in Kisumu, and then the 5 hour journey back to Keringero. Life goes on though and the materials (gorgeous African patterns) will be worth the effort.
We tried going to bed early on Friday, knowing that we had to get up still before sunrise the next morning. Now in Vancouver I would expect to be laughed at if I said that I wanted to go to bed early on a Friday night, but I did not expect to have the same experience here in Keringero. People here don’t go clubbing, dancing or drinking on a Friday night, so I figured it wouldn’t be difficult to just disappear in our room. Boy, was I wrong with that assumption. The kids, not having to do any homework for the next day, were just having a blast. And they definitively don’t need a DJ, loud blasting music or a dance floor. All it takes is a couple buckets, some sticks and a good butt. Honestly, these girls really know how to shake their bum. Two would be playing on the drums, the rest singing and then a whole bunch dancing on the steps – and by dancing I mean primarily wiggling their backsides at super-sonic speeds. So with a party in full swing – as well as a huge full moon in the sky – it was nearly impossible to call it an early Friday night. Yet somehow, by about 10pm, we managed to crawl under our covers.
The morning brought with it a strange experience, considering that we have never gotten up before anyone else here. This time round, with our alarm set for 5am, we were the first to rise and it was oddly silent in the whole house. The huge orange moon was just starting to disappear behind the horizon and the sun still hadn’t shown its rays. We hiked it up to the road, caught a matatu to Nakuru and there boarded on another one that would take us directly to Kisumu.
All in all we arrived in Kisumu at 11am – so about 5 hours of a bumpy, not-too-comfortable and slightly squished ride. However, the scenery along the way was amazing. In the morning all the countryside was covered by a layer of mist. But it’s not like fog at home where everything is enveloped in it. Here, the tops of the trees would be peaking out of the mist creating a kind of fairylike environment. Then, further along the journey, we passed by rolling green fields: just endless mounds of green carpet. It looked as if you could stroll right over it – but in actuality the green were bushes of tea so dense that they formed a solid mass. To my great surprise, Kenya is the third largest tea exporter in the world and tea comprises its largest export (20% of all that it exports). The area around Kericho through which we were driving, is essentially one massive tea plantation owned my small landholders. The tea leaves get picked every 17 days by the same group of workers. According to the Lonely Planet book, a good worker can pick up to 100 kg of tea in one day.
So after this bumpy ride we finally arrived in Kisumu, checked into the YWCA and headed out into town for some cheap local food. The food turned out to be expensive, not so local and not so good, but we didn’t let that stop our excitement. Kisumu, unlike the other cities in Kenya that we’ve seen (i.e. Nairobi and Nakuru), seems very laid back, cleaner and less chaotic. Its streets are wider and there’s just a different feel to it. So we figured we’ll soak in this great atmosphere with a nice cold drink along the waterfront. Having walked through the center of town and seen only glimpses of the lake we resorted back to my trusty Lonely Planet which informed us that there is a Kisumu Beach Resort (campground) 3.5 km out of town that has a restaurant and bar right along the waterfront. Since it seemed like this would be the only place (against all logical urban development planning) that would have access to the water we decided to head for it. So we set off. First I should mention that it’s much hotter in Kisumu. Being warned of this we brought appropriate clothing and were now dressed in short beach shorts and spaghetti strapped shirts.
Our walk started out innocently enough but within a few minutes we would ourselves in the industrial part of town. Now to describe what it was like for us I’m going to create an equivalent scene in Vancouver. Imagine two Italian girls (clearly tourist), dressed in their finery with a big camera strapped around their neck walking through the industrial part of East Hastings. Well just as out of place as these girls would be so were we. Not only were we basically the only girls in this area, but we were also dressed for the beach and not to mention the fact that as mzungus we stand out like sore thumbs without the first two factors. So after 30 minutes of walking past car repair shops, industrial paint supplies and huge warehouses we began having doubts as to whether we were even walking in the right direction. Eventually we emerged out of the industrial complex and found ourselves along a country road with the lake visible about 300 meters to our left. We walked and walked. 3.5 km my a**. The Lonely Planet should better check its distances. We must have walked for close to two hours – or probably the equivalent of 8-10km. Thankfully we did finally find this campground and to our great relief the Lonely Planet at least got it right that there was a restaurant and bar. So we plopped ourselves down on some chairs looking out over the lake and ordered a couple of cold Tuskers.
We had hoped to be able to take a boat back into town since there was no way that either of us wanted to repeat that walk again. Unfortunately after over two hours of waiting around for a boat to come we gave up on the idea and decided to head back to the road and hopefully get a taxi. We were in luck because as we were making it back we were passed by a little 3-wheeled motorcycle taxi and took us back into town.
In the evening we treated ourselves to a fantastic western meal comprised of steaks and mashed potatoes and then found ourselves in need to kill a lot of time. We finished dinner basically at 7pm and it was already pitch black outside. The last thing we wanted to do was to head back to our hostel and go to bed that early, but there really didn’t seem to be any other alternative. We’ve always been told not to be out after dark and there was nowhere really for us to go. I truly don’t know what we ended up doing, but we found ourselves in bed at 11pm – so somehow managed to kill 4 hours somewhere in the meantime.
That night it rained harder than I ever thought possible. Over the years I’ve gotten used to the fact that Vancouver is one of the rainiest cities in the world (well – not quite, but the stereotype does exist). However, I’ve never seen anything like what we had this night in Vancouver. I was worried that our Sunday would get ruined due to the rain, but luckily by morning the weather cleared up and we were able to hit the markets.
Kisumu is known for its huge Sunday market and that’s where we headed. For me it was the highlight of the excursion. I love markets like that. It sort of reminded me of a cross between the market at Otavalo, Ecuador and the market that I’ve seen in Haiti. They had everything there: veggies, meet, fruit, clothes, material, shoes, furniture, hardware supplies... well, like I said, simply everything. The great thing was that we were the only two mzungus there. I don’t think the people there were accustomed to seeing whites at that market. Sometimes we’d be greeted by curious glances, other times by welcoming smiles and shouts of karibu and then there would also be those times of hostile looks or shouts, especially when people noticed my camera. But the best part was when I attached my large lens onto my camera. Some of the people there must have assumed that I was doing photos for some newspaper or the TV because they would request me to take their picture. I could honestly loose myself in a market like that for hours upon hours. I don’t need to buy anything, just walking around, observing everyone, taking photos and enjoying the atmosphere is the best part for me. It’s great to find oneself in places where tourists are not common and where you’re not being continuously hassled by touts.
Unfortunately that’s about all the time we had in Kisumu. We needed to make our journey back to Nakuru and Keringero before it got dark so after the market we grabbed ourselves some lunch, bought some fish for Phillis, She-she and Jane (for which they had specifically asked us), and boarded the matatu for the long and uncomfortable ride back home.
As it turns out, this Sunday we’re probably going to be heading back there for a very long and arderous day trip. We were informed that the gorgeous materials available in Kisumu are only sold there and in Dar es Salam. Both Robin and I wanted to get more and thought we’d be able to get them in Nakuru or Nairobi. Since that is not possible, our only option is to head back there. So this weekend we get to look forward to a 5 hour journey along the bumpy roads there, 3 hours or so in Kisumu, and then the 5 hour journey back to Keringero. Life goes on though and the materials (gorgeous African patterns) will be worth the effort.
posted by Kasia Koltunska at 1:15 AM
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