IMPALA SANCTUARY - KISUMU
On the road to Dunga, this 1-sq-km sanctuary is home to a small impala herd and provides important grazing grounds for local hippos. In addition to the impala, there are cages of other Kenyan antelope and monkeys, but frankly it’s an awful lot of money to pay for what is essentially a small zoo. It’s difficult to see the purpose of the sanctuary – there are no endangered or protected species here.
RUMA NATIONAL PARK - HOMABAY
Bordered by the dramatic Kanyamaa Escarpment, and home to Kenya’s only population of roans (one of Africa’s rarest and largest antelope), is the seldom-visited, 120-sq-km Ruma National Park. Besides roan, other rarities like Bohor’s reedbuck, Jackson’s hartebeest, the tiny oribi antelope and Kenya’s largest concentration of the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe can also be seen here. However, the most treasured residents are some (very-hard-to-see) rhinos, both black and white, that have been translocated from other parks.
Birdlife is also prolific, with 145 different bird species present, including the migratory blue swallow that arrives between June and August.
You wouldn’t make this your first African safari, but it’s a chance to track down some species you may not see elsewhere. The park also has an oasis feel to it, so intense is the human settlement and cultivation in this part of the country and surrounding the park.
NDERE ISLAND NATIONAL PARK - LAKE VICTORIA
Gazetted as a national park in 1986, this 4.2-sq-km island has never seen tourism take off. It is forested and very beautiful, housing a variety of bird species, plus occasionally sighted hippos, impalas (introduced) and spotted crocodiles, a lesser-known cousin of the larger Nile crocodiles. There’s nowhere to stay and, although twice-daily matatus reach the shore just opposite the island, your only reliable option to get to Ndere is with chartered boats. Chartered boat trips can be arranged with any of the boat captains offering sightseeing trips from Hippo Point.
KISUMU MUSEUM
The town museum is fairly old fashioned, but includes a lot of information. It’s best enjoyed with a guide, who can give you more background on the three sections. The first covers western Kenya’s three principal linguistic groups: Luo, Bantu and Kalenjin. The second is a traditional Luo homestead. The last section is a small and rather sad aquarium displaying creatures from the lake and a reptile house holding examples of all the local snakes you don’t want to meet.
THIMLICH OHINGA ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE - MIGORI
South of Ruma National Park, this is one of East Africa’s most important archaeological sites. It holds the remains of a dry-stone enclosure, 150m in diameter and containing another five smaller enclosures, thought to date back as far as the 15th century. Its name translates in Luo as ‘frightening dense forest’.
MBASA ISLAND - LAKE VICTORIA
Also known as Bird Island, Mbasa is home to a wide variety of wetland birds, including long-tailed cormorants (which have a breeding colony here), fish eagles, marsh harriers and little white egrets. Bird concentrations are thickest at sunset, when birds return to roost.
SIMBI NYAIMA - HOMABAY
Simbi Nyaima means the village that sank. Simbi Nyaima is actually a crater lake a few kilometers from the shores of Lake Victoria. The Luo attach great importance to the site because of the legendary story. It is said that the people of Simbi were celebrating their success at the chiefs home. An old woman appeared at the scene looking for shelter and food. But the chief threatened to beat her up if she stayed. She was forced to leave and one lady sympathized with her and gave her food and a warm bath. She advised the kind lady to leave the village with all her children and husband.
No sooner had they left than a heavy storm swept the whole village and it sank. The locals believe it happened in the olden days.
KIT MIKAYI - SEME
Kit Mikayi, a large rock with three rocks on top, and is located off Kisumu Bondo Road towards Bondo. Kit-mikayi means “Stones of the first wife” or “First Wife Rocks” in Dholuo, the Luo language. It is a weeping rock There is a whole big story behind the rock by luo community in the neighborhood.
LUANDA MAGERE SITE AND GRAVE -ALONG NYANDO RIVER.
Luanda was a warrior, believed to be made of stone. Nobody could kill him. When war broke out between the Luo and Kipsigis tribes, Luanda killed many Kipsigis. The Kipsigis came up with a strategy. Luanda was given a woman from the Kipsigis tribe to marry. The woman learned the secret of Luanda’s life when he fell sick and asked his wife to treat his shadow. When the fight broke out again between the two tribes, the woman told her people the secret of Luanda’s life. A warrior threw a spear into Luanda’s shadow, killing him. Luanda turned into a stone, which still lies on the spot. It is believed by hunters around this place that if you sharpen a spear on the rock, you can make a kill easily.
GOT RAMOGI HILL - YIMBO SIAYA
It was the home of the great grandfather of the Luo community when the Luo first settled on the shore of Lake Victoria.
Activities
• Visit the Got Ramogi historical hills for a view of the western Rift Valley, which includes lake Kanyaboli and the Yala swamp, one of the largest after the Okavango delta.
• An ancient tree called ‘omwonyo le’ meaning an axe swallower, is believed to have swallowed an axe when someone tried to cut it down. Many witch doctors come from other African countries such as the Congo, DRC, Tanzania and Uganda for its leaves to treat people
KANAM PREHISTORIC SITE – HOMA BAY
It is on the shores of Lake Victoria on Homa peninsula near the Homa Mountain. Louis Leakey’s expedition in 1932 discovered a fossil human mandible and Pleistocene fauna including prehistoric stone tools. Recent finds are paleontological bones dating between 1 and 6 million years ago.
KANJERA PREHISTORIC SITE & KANJERA HOT SPRINGS (BALA RAWI)
These hot salty springs where eggs can be boiled is where Doctor Louis Leakey in 1932 found cranial and funeral fragments of hominids. These were estimated to be 500 years old. Local people collect salt from the evaporated salt water
SONGHOR PALEONTOLOGY SITE
It is situated in the sugarcane area of Nyando about half an hour’s drive from Luanda Magere Site towards Nandi hills. The Miocene site dates 19 million years. There is evidence of a large variety of animals that lived here. The fossil humanoids collected from this site range from small to big apes.
