This weekend we (our family and Paul Bergman) made the trip to Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria. We made the tourist stop at the equator sign. We had to try three hotels before we found one that had two available rooms. We spotted a bakery and chose a variety of treats for dinner.
The next morning we went to the Impala Sanctuary on the Lake. The sanctuary is more like a zoo, with lions, a leopard, hyena, baboons, monkeys, ostriches, parrots, and more in large enclosures. There is a herd of impala who wander freely about the sanctuary grounds. We met a young student who was studying to become a biologist. He let us into the cheetah cage and we got to pet the cheetah.
In some ways a cheetahs are more like dogs. They have coarse hair and their claws are not retractable. But they have a deep and loud purr that is definitely cat. The two cheetahs clearly enjoyed the attention, and one began playfully biting our friends hand in a kitten-like fashion. For Uhuru, who enjoys all things cat-related, this was a real treat.
Apollo's favorite animal here, the hyena
We took a boat ride on the lake. Lake Victoria is the world’s second largest freshwater lake, but it is nowhere deeper than 81m. Our guide told us that a recent re-survey showed that it is now only 68 meters deep at the deepest due to sedimentation. We were only on Winam Gulf, a “small” bay, yet the lake stretched nearly to the horizon. One of the lake’s problems is the introduced water hyacinth, which appeared in the lake in the 1980s. Water hyacinth is the cheatgrass of Lake Victoria, and is choking the shores of the lake. We saw hippos, fisherman, and many birds.
Water Hyacinth, Lake Victoria's answer to cheatgrass and knapweed
After a bakery lunch, we headed home via Kericho, Kenya’s tea center. The dependable afternoon showers that are so good for tea arrived shortly after we did. We enjoyed some chai and mandazi (like a donut) while the rain fell.
Our drive back to Iten took us down from Kericho and back up through a spectacular road through the Nandi Hills. The Nandi Hills are also tea country, and in retrospect we should have come here instead of taking the time to go to Kericho.
Tea field in Nandi Hills
We ended up finishing the drive in the dark, which was an adventure in itself. The middle of the road is not marked, and many Kenyan drivers seem to think they are saving energy by driving with their lights off. Others seem to want to demonstrate to all oncoming traffic how bright their high beams are. The most scary thing is the “invisible cyclists,” cyclists riding on the edge of the narrow road in the pitch dark wearing dark clothes and no reflective gear at all. The only way I could even see these people was if their silhouette happened to show in the lights of an oncoming car. Somehow we made it back without hurting anyone.
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