Things To Do and Places To Visit in Kisumu

Getting to Kisumu City from Nairobi

Kisumu is about 350 kilometres ( 217miles ) from Nairobi by road, passing through  the town of Nakuru and Kericho. It is about 5 hours drive.   Major bus companies  ply this route on a regular basis daily basis during the day and also at night.

There are also  regular flights to Kisumu airport from Nairobi and Mombasa. Flights between Nairobi and Kisumu takes about 1 hour.   Further, the Kisumu airport has been upgraded to an international.  This up-grade  is expected to boost commerce and enhance trade and travel  for everyone.  Business people and other travelers will be able to travel  into and out of Nairobi without having to fly through Nairobi.


Kisumu Museum
Unlike many local museums, Kisumu Museum is an interesting and often informative place. The displays are wide ranging and most are well presented, though some could use some light. There is a very good collection of traditional everyday items used by the region's various peoples, including agricultural implements, bird and insect traps, food utensils, clothing, furniture, weapons and musical instruments. There is also a fairly motley collection of stuffed birds and animals, including an amazing airborne lion mauling a wildebeest.  Outside, a traditional Luo homestead has been constructed, consisting of the husband's thatched mud-house and separate houses for the wives.

Ndere Island National Park
Gazetted as the Ndere Island National Park in 1986, tourism to this small 4.2-sq-km island has never taken off. It is forested and very beautiful, housing a variety of bird species, plus hippos, impalas (introduced) and spotted crocodiles, a lesser-known cousin of the larger Nile crocodile. Tsetse flies can be problematic after the rains.

Unfortunately there is nowhere to stay and chartered boats are your only option to get there. Kisumu Beach Resort charters 20 passenger boats, with typical return trips taking five hours (including three hours on shore) - keep an eye out for hippos en route.

Impala Sanctuary
On the road to Dunga is Kenya Wildlife Service's 1-sq-km Impala Sanctuary. Besides being home to a small impala herd, it also provides important grazing grounds for local hippos. You will find a pleasant nature trail and a not so pleasant animal orphanage

Hippo Point
Grassy and palm-laden Hippo Point sticks into Lake Victoria at Dunga, about 3km south of town, and is a pleasant spot to head for, though you're not guaranteed to see any hippos.