Driving from the village of Kisienya to the town of Kisumu makes you feel a bit like a Joad – straight out of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. We piled into the old Nissan van a bit before nine, ready for our big “outing” to the city. The term “city” is a relative one, but if Rand McNally and National Geographic deem it map-worthy, then I suppose do too.
The roads are terrible.
Let me rephrase that: REALLY REALLY AWFUL.
Riding in a van over these roads is, I think, probably much like the experience of being a passenger in a toy Tonka truck being guided by a three year old through a pile of unbalanced rocks.
It’s bad.
Despite all the bouncing and jolting (and my head being thrown against the side of the van every five minutes), we did cross the equator! It was remarkably anticlimactic, but I did get some pictures and take the time to wonder which way a toilet would flush if it was placed EXACTLY on the equator line. Clockwise or counter-clockwise?
These are the things I think about.
It’s sad.
Just past the equator, as we started coming down out of the mountains (very “Deliverance,” I know), we had a spectacular view of the source of the Nile, Lake Victoria herself.
We made it to Kisumu without any vomiting or skull fractures, which was fairly amazing. Emily and I both gave ourselves a pat of the back for that.
Shortly after, we stopped at the Kisumu Museum, where I refused to enter the “Snake Park,” but gladly observed giant tortoises and crocodiles.
After a quick stop at Nakumatt, the grocery store in Kenya where all the fashionable lizards hang out, we headed to Impala Park – a reserve right on the banks of the Lake and a perfect spot for picnicking. We were a little horrified when the entry fee was $15 US Dollars for Americans, and $2 for Kenyans, but again – we’ve learned to expect a heavy tax for being American.
We sat by the lake and picked at our lunch, when suddenly we heard loud snorting. It took a few minutes, but we finally figured out that about 20-30 feet from us, in the tall grass at the edge of the lake, was a hippopotamus. We couldn’t seen him, but he was most certainly there. Normally that would be a little unnerving, but at this point in the trip almost nothing surprises us. We went on picking at our lunch.
Impalas wandered around much like deer do in the US, half wanting our food but half wanting to keep to themselves. Monkeys bounced around not far away, and came running when a guy in a uniform appear with food.
After about an hour of wandering around the park (part of it was set up like a zoo – something I didn’t expect to see in Africa!) we climbed aboard a small powerboat for an hour-long boat tour of Lake Victoria. Within five minutes, two hippo heads appeared at the surface about 25 feet from the boat. WHOA!
Call me ignorant, but I really didn’t know that Lake Victoria had hippos. I snapped pictures and just generally sat there with my mouth hanging open.
Beyond the Hippos, the scenery was beautiful. Mountains line the horizon on one side, and the lake extends on the other side as far as the eye can see – well into Uganda and Tanzania. Somewhere far in the distance, Victoria Falls probably roared. Someday I’d like to see that. For today, I settled for just dipping my big toe into the source of the Nile.
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