Day 17 Kisumu May 25, 2011

Hi all

After a late breakfast Hezron and Mathew arrived at the Sheywe Guest House just after ten for the 35 mile two hour trip to Kisumu.  Kisumu is the third largest city in Kenya and the largest city in Western Kenya.  Kisumu sits at the end of Winam Gulf an inlet off of the much larger Lake Victoria.  Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the second largest fresh water lake in the world after Lake Superior.  Mathew is in his mid 30’s and he told me that he had never seen Lake Victoria before today.  He told me that he had been to Kisumu once before but it was late at night and never saw the lake.  Mathew lives a mere 30 miles from the lake and today was the first time he had ever seen it.  This seems hard to believe but millions of Kenyans never venture further then a few miles from their homes their entire lives. 

Before lunch we went and visited Lakhani Electrical & Hardwares Ltd.  We looked at some wood working machines and I must say they are expensive by our standards.  The shop did not have the lathe and the band saw available but the owner of the shop did take us to another shop near his to show us the lathe, band saw and multipurpose wood working machine that was fully put together.  We were to go and look at some other shops to compare prices but once we moved to another shop the doors were closed and it was lunch time.  I guess you do not go to Kisumu without going to the fish eateries along the lake shore for lunch.  There were at least a dozen of these little hotels along the shore.  A hotel is a place to eat not sleep.  As we drove up all were inviting us to come and eat at their place.  To me it did not matter they all looked identical and none had a menu since the only item on the menu is fish.  Hezron and Mathew shared a tilapia smothered in kale with ugali and I had a side of beef soup with shredded kale.  I believe this was the first time I had ever eaten soup with my fingers.

It was an exciting day for Mathew to finally see the lake so after lunch I asked Hezron to take us to Hippo Point so Mathew could get a better view of the lake even though it was only a small arm of the much larger Lake Victoria.

Lake Victoria from Hippo Point

Mathew talking with a couple of guys fishing

Water inlet for the city of Kisumu

After Hippo Point we decided that it was best to go back to Kakamega because we could see that there was a storm on the mountains we needed to go back through.  After some rain and really slow traffic we returned to Kakamega around five.  Tomorrow we are hoping to meet up with Liydia about the yogurt projcet and visit the local department of agriculture to see if the soils around Kakamega will support passion fruit orchards.

Take care and God bless

Dave