Kisumu. The first city you enter Kenya if you cross the border from Uganda. Connected to Victoria Lake it has a beautiful flair, lovely spots to explore, and gives Kenya a beautiful face. It is a friendly city, with open-minded people, markets to explore and a big Matatu station.
Things To Do in Kisumu
Kit-Mikayi
One highlight is the rock formation Kit-Mikayi, the so-called 'stone of the first wife.' It has some religious background; you will find a few candle and prayer spots in the formation. The Kit is also far from the city. There are some rare Matatus you can take. We could convince a Boda-Boda driver to take us there and back. It's almost 40 min one way. We paid around 2500 KS; he spent the whole day with us and got a beer afterward. So he was happy and offered us the lowest price after a long discussion and asking for sure five different drivers.
Arriving at this place, two ladies welcomed us and confronted us with a $5 p.P. entrance fee. Super touristic price again, Kenyans enter for free. We talked to her and could convince them to join for only $2 in total. Also, a group of locals played music and wanted to have more money. We continued quickly.
Furthermore, another guy joined us, trying to be our paid tour guide. But we are fine, please no other person for even more dollars, but please some free time! You can walk around the stone formation, and there is a small path with lots of bushes. At some point, you can start climbing up and entering the rock, even going up to a part of the top. It was a fun day; many kids from nearby villages were climbing around this rock, I assume that's what they are doing every day, looking at their bloody arms and feet. They had fun joining us, so we were followed by a laughing and positive group of around ten kids - the best tour guides ever! They didn't leave us alone, but we enjoyed it. They showed us small paths, took lots of pictures, would dance and sing with us. So we spent almost 3 hours at this place, usually, you are done in 1 hour. It is a good attraction, good view-point, lots of monkeys and calm nature. Even though the tourist entry prices are not acceptable. On the way back, we had the problem again, that the police didn't allow two people at the same Boda, so we needed to 'hide' for some part of the road police controls: we would step off the Boda, walk along the control area and then enter the Boda again afterward. But, in general, no problem! The ride is also fun, with good roads, passing by lonely villages.
Hippo Point
The so-called Hippo Point is famous for many hippos, which would appear mainly in the evening. Photographers are joining the evening to get the best pictures. A ride with a Boda took us like 15 min, 100 KS p.p. The spot is famous, also besides the locals, lots of couples, families are meeting her to get a nice place on the lake to eat and drink. They offer good street food and beer for regular prices. The sunset is impressive in this area. We didn't see Hippos, though, it seems like it changes every day when they appear. But, honestly, I'm happy - we have been chased already one time by surprise by a Hippo mother - I don't want to be so scared of my life ever again, haha.
Dunga Beach
Another beautiful, by locals, liked place on the lake. You find natural bars and restaurants here, the prices, especially for beer, were high. We saw the first white people, so tourism was more common here. Walking along the coastline of this beach, you see lots of birds, goats, people sitting and enjoying the view and also tourists boats, doing a small tour over the lake. The first captain wanted to have $10 p.p. for a ride. As always, the locals would only pay 700 KS, which is less than $1. We got lucky, found a good captain, and jumped on a boat for the local price. The tour is worth your time - driving across the lake, seeing more boats, getting some general information about this area - you can enjoy it. In addition, you could see, the more rich locals would spend their time over here. With lots of effort, kids with beautiful dresses and families enjoying a big dinner showed up with good hairstyles. Besides the boat tour and a walk around, you can enter a wooden path and platform to get into the swamp area of the lake. At some point, you have to pay to enter more, we stopped there. In the end, it all looks similar, and we have seen enough.
Kenya Wildlife Impala Park/ Impala sanctuary
Both national parks are famous for their antelopes and different wild animals. You often have to pay $10 for entrance, locals-only $1.5 (1000 KS). We didn't want to support that, so we decided not to enter. Those animals and even more you can see in lots of other prominent national parks, and you will be able to explore it with a Safari for almost the same price.
Do you want to learn more about Kenya, its cities, and things to explore? Check out other blogs here.
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