Things to do in Western Kenya
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Main Market
Kisumu's Main Market is one of Kenya's most animated, and certainly one of its largest, now spilling out onto the surrounding roads. If you're curious or just looking for essentials like suits or wigs, it's worth a stroll around.
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Octopus Bottoms-Up Club
A short stroll from Oginga Odinga Rd, this popular bar has two pool tables, a foosball table, its own disco and more Michael Jackson posters than we're comfortable with. With a largely male crowd and lots of beer flowing, single females may not find it the most appealing of places.
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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. There also used to be a cool restaurant here, but it burnt down years ago. If reconstruction maintains its current pace, it will reopen March 18, 2073.
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Tot Coffee House
Kenyan restaurant serving cheap local dishes such as matoke (mashed plantains) and stew.
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Kimwa Café Annex
Kenyan restaurant serving cheap local dishes such as matoke (mashed plantains) and stew.
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New Farmers Hotel
Kenyan restaurant serving cheap local dishes such as matoke (mashed plantains) and stew.
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Vault Restaurant
Pizza (with real cheese), pasta and even veal grace this Italian restaurant's menu. Housed in a former bank, the massive vault still lurks in the shadows.
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Craft Stalls
The various Craft Stalls near Kisumu Hotel are some of the best places in Kenya for soapstone carvings. Quality varies but there are some gems to be found.
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Grill House
Wicker furniture and shady umbrellas sit street-side at this German-owned eatery. The menu is a bit of a cultural hotchpotch - the spring rolls are quite nice.
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Paddle Boat Tour
If you want virtually guaranteed hippo sightings, you will have to venture onto the lake. As you might imagine, plenty of people here offer just such a boat trip.
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Florence Restaurant
Housed within the glam Imperial Hotel, Florence is renowned as Kisumu's best restaurant. The poached Nile perch is lovely, as are the chicken Kiev and mutton masala.
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Mon Ami
Easy to find and always good for a drink, this is a lively bar with a pool table, welcoming ex-pat crowd and satellite TV, which blasts European footy in the evenings.
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Hussein Pan House
Smoky stoves grace the sidewalk here each evening and pump out amazing Asian selections like chicken tikka and mutton pilau. The boneless chicken mushkati is divine.
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Power Boat Tours
If you want virtually guaranteed hippo sightings, you will have to venture onto the lake. Power Boat Tours that can take you further afield can be found at nearby Dunga Fish market.
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Oriental Restaurant
The dishes read like your Chinese favourites, they almost look like your Thai favourites, but sadly none of them taste like your tongue's favourites. On the bright side, it still gives your palate some needed diversity.
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Kibuye Market
The Kibuye Market is a huge outdoor affair that draws people from all around the district each Sunday. Everything from second-hand clothes to furniture and food can be found spread out along the road, a couple of kilometres north of the main market.
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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.
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Kimwa Grand
Kisumu's nightlife has a reputation for being even livelier than Nairobi's, but thanks to many of the best parties and live Congolese bands cropping up at various venues such as the Kimwa Grand along the roads out of town, it's harder to find. Check flyers and ask locals who are plugged into the scene.
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Kisumu Yacht Club
Sitting on the lake's edge, just past the Impala Sanctuary on the Dunga road, is this fine choice with a lovely patio and teak furnishings. The menu ranges from delicately stuffed fish to Indian selections such as chicken biryani, butter chicken and palak paneer. A temporary membership is necessary to indulge.
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Kisumu Bird Sanctuary
The Kisumu Bird Sanctuary, 8km southeast of town, covers a large area of swampland and is an important breeding ground for herons, storks, cormorants and egrets. The best time to visit is in April or May. Transport is easy along the A1, but you will have a 3km walk from the turn-off. Visitor fees may be implemented in the near future.
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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.
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Q
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 wife one, two…
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