9 Days Western Kenya Culture and Community Safari

Western Kenya Culture and Community Safari, Kisumu Cultural Safaris, Lake Victoria Cultural Tours, Africa Cultural Tours, East Africa Community Tours, Adventure Travel in Africa, Special Interest Safaris

Day 1: Nairobi–Nakuru–Kericho

Leave Nairobi early in the morning after breakfast and drive through the Great Rift Valley, and have a stopover at the View Point to have a glance at the breathtaking escarpment. Proceed to Lake Nakuru for a game drive in this home of millions of flamingos, pelican birds, and white rhinos. Early lunch in Lake Nakuru Lodge, then proceed to the evergreen town of Kericho to have a spectacular view of the tea plantation. Have some time to interact with tea pickers and learn much more about the laborers. Dinner and overnight at a Kericho hotel.

Day 2: Kericho – Kano Plains (Lwanda Magere Site) – Kisumu

After breakfast, depart from Kericho to the plains of Kano and visit the grave of the legendary fallen hero of the Luo tribe. You will be briefed on the history of Lwanda Magere, who, according to history, turned into a stone after he was shot by a spear from a member of the Kalenjin tribe, with whom they were at war. You can give your donation to the staff to maintain the grave and their welfare. Proceed further, passing through the rice plantations, arriving in Kisumu City late evening, picnic lunch en route, dinner, and overnight at a hotel.

Day 3: Kisumu Full Day

You will spend a full day in Kisumu visiting Dunga Beach, which is famous all over Nyanza for the sale of fish. You will have an opportunity to interact with the local fishermen and get to know the culture around the fishing beaches. Proceed to the museum, where you will get to see different artifacts of the various tribes that occupy Western Kenya, especially the Luo. Lunch in the hotel. After lunch, proceed to Kit Mikayi (the stone of the first wife, who is believed to be the mother of the Luo, who rested here after a very long journey in search of the source of the Nile). Time allows you to have a hike at Riat Hills to get a glimpse of the greater Kisumu City. Dinner in the hotel; after dinner, an optional visit to a discotheque or visit a live band and get a feel of Kisumu-by-night, or retire after dinner to your bed, preparing for the next day’s itinerary.

Day 4: Kisumu–Kendu Bay–Homa Bay.

Leave after breakfast, departing from Kisumu City, and drive to Kendu Bay, experiencing the typical African rough roads to reach Kendu Bay, and proceed straight to Simbi Nyaima for a mythological story about this magical lake, followed by a visit to Orian’g Market to view the amazing pottery work by the Orian’g Women Group. Have an early lunch in Kendu Bay, then drive to Kanjira and Kanam Hot Springs. This will give you an opportunity to interact with groups of men and women whose work is to transport the soda ash using donkeys to the town of Kisii for sale. This is their source of livelihood. If you have an egg, you can boil it within 5 minutes at the hot springs. Proceed to Homabay for dinner and overnight at a hotel.

Day 5: Homabay – Ruma National Park – Mbita Point

After breakfast, drive through Lambwe Valley, reaching this park, which hosts the largest number of Roan Antelopes in Africa, to enjoy a game drive and picnic lunch, then transfer to Mbita Point for dinner and overnight.

Day 6: Mbita Point Full Day

Have a full day in Mbita visiting the site at Ligongo Hills where Dr. Mary Leakey discovered the skull of early man, Proconsul Africanus. This archaeological finding is kept in the Kenya National Museum in Nairobi. The hill also acts as a vantage point to see, on rotation, how water has gone around the island. Visit the Tom Mboya Mausoleum, built in memory of the vibrant politician of a similar name who was gunned down in 1963, which evoked demonstrations all over the country. Tom Mboya was interred at his ancestral home in Kamasengre Village on Rusinga Island. Enjoy the mythological story of Nyama gi Ware, the stones that are believed to have been bulls fighting from these different clans. Get a ride around the island back to Mbita in the evening, picnic lunch en route, dinner, and overnight at the hotel.

Day 7: Mbita Point Full Day.

We begin this day by visiting a local Catholic church early in the morning after breakfast. The rest of the day is dedicated to less fortunate individuals in the society, e.g., women’s groups organized by the widows as a result of the HIV/AIDS scourge, orphaned children whose parents died of AIDS-related diseases, Tom Mboya Memorial Hospital, and the development projects that are being financed by voluntary groups, etc. Visit one or two local homes and get to know the real picture of how the common rural families are going about their usual chores economically, socially, and politically. Join fishermen pulling fish to the shore in the evening and get to learn how the Luos, as a tribe, depend entirely on fish as the source of their livelihood. Dinner and overnight in Mbita Hotel.

Day 8: Mbita Point Full Day.

After breakfast, a visit to a local primary school, which is in dire need of teaching equipment, occupies the morning. Enjoy lunch at the hotel, after which proceed for a traditional boat rally competition followed by optional activities, e.g., a walk to Gembe Hills, which is in the vicinity of your accommodation and has quite a number of birds with a very tranquil surrounding, or just relax around the hotel enjoying the serenity of the facility. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Day 9: Mbita–Kisumu–Nairobi

Early morning breakfast, then to the ferry to cross over from Mbita to Lwanda for an onward safari to Kisumu for early lunch, then proceed to Nairobi, arriving late in the evening with a transfer either to a hotel of your choice or to the airport.

NB: This itinerary can be extended to Maasai Mara or Uganda on request. Under this itinerary, we organize the following on request: