Kisumu Totally Explained

Everything about Kisumu totally explained

Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at 1131m, with a population of 355,024 (1999 census). It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu District. It has no municipal charter. It is the largest city in Nyanza Province and second most Important city after Kampala in the greater Lake Victoria basin. The port was founded in 1901 as the main inland terminal of the Uganda Railway and named Port Florence. Although trade stagnated in the 1980s and 90s, it's again growing around oil exports. Kisumu literally means a place of barter trade "sumo". The city has "Friendship" status with Cheltenham, UK and "Sister City" status with Roanoke, Virginia, USA.

Sights

Attractions in the city include Kibuye Market, the Kisumu Museum, an impala sanctuary, a bird sanctuary, Hippo Point, and the nearby Kit Mikaye and Ndere Island National Park.

Kisumu Museum

Kisumu Museum, established in 1980, has a series of outdoor pavilions. Some of the pavilions contain live animals. For example, one pavilion contains numerous aquaria with a wide variety of fish from Lake Malawi, along with explanatory posters. Another pavilion contains terrarium containing mambas, spitting cobras, puff adders and other venomous Kenyan snakes. Additionally, out of doors, the museum has a few additional exhibits, including a snake pit and a crocodile container.
Other pavilions show weaponry, jewellery, farm tools and other artifacts made by the various peoples of the Nyanza Province. Additionally, there are exhibits of stuffed animals, birds and fish. One pavilion houses the prehistoric TARA rock art, which was removed for its own protection to the museum after it was defaced by graffiti in its original location.
The museum's most important and largest exhibition is the UNESCO-sponsored Ber-gi-dala. This is a full-scale recreation of a traditional Luo homestead. Ber-gi-dala consists of the home, granaries and livestock corrals of an imaginary Luo man as well as the homes of each of his three wives, and his eldest son. Through signs and taped programs in both Luo and English, the exhibition also explains the origins of the Luo people, their migration to western Kenya, traditional healing plants, and the process of establishing a new home.

Kisumu Impala Sanctuary

Kisumu is location of the Kisumu Impala Sanctuary. Measuring just 0.4 square miles, the sanctuary is one of Kenya's smallest wildlife preserves. As its name suggests, it's home to a herd of impala. Some hippos, as well as many reptiles and birds are also present. Additionally, several caged baboons and leopards who faced difficulties of one sort or the other in the wild are held in cages there.

Hippo Point

Hippo Point is a 600-acre viewing area on Lake Victoria. Despite its name, it's better known as a viewing point for its unobstructed sunsets over the lake than for its occasional hippos.
Hippo point is near the village of Dunga, a few kilometres SW of the town. The village also has a fishing port and a camping site.

Kit Mikayi

Kit Mikayi, a large rock with three rocks on top, and is located off Kisumu Bondo Road towards Bondo. It is a weeping rock; it's believed that Mikayi (which means, literally, "the first wife") went up the hill to the stones when her husband took a second wife, and has been weeping ever since.

Transport

Before the jet airline era, Kisumu was a landing point on the British flying boat passenger and mail route from Southampton to Cape Town. Kisumu linked Port Bell and Nairobi.
Kisumu is served by Kisumu Airport, with regular daily flights to Nairobi and elsewhere. There are plans to expand the airport in anticipation of increased trade brought about by the recreated East African Community of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Lake Victoria ferries have operated from the port linking the railway to Mwanza, Bukoba, Entebbe, Port Bell and Jinja.

Rail and air accidents

Douglas C-47 plane operated by South African Air Force crashed into Lake Victoria soon after taking off from Kisumu Airport on July 11, 1945. All 28 on board died. (External Link

) Two serious railway accidents occurred near Kisumu in the 21st century.
The first took place outside Kisumu on August 15, 2000. The brakes on the train failed, causing it to roll. Thirteen people were killed and 37 received injuries. The second took place on the morning of October 16, 2005, when a matatu (taxi minibus) was struck by a passenger train. Six people died and 23 more were injured.

Notable people from Kisumu

The term used to refer to a resident of Kisumu is a jakisumo. Notable jokisumo include

Prunlal Sheth, Order of the British Empire the first two deputy co-chairpersons of the UK's Commission for Racial Equality
Linus Okok Okwach, Roman Catholic Bishop
John Spurling, playwright, author and BBC announcer
Godfrey Mutiso Gorry, poet and playwright
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, politician, the first Vice-President of Kenya
Jerry Okungu, Kenya's leading media consultant and journalist
Raila Amolo Odinga, politician, son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, main opposition candidate in the disputed 2007 presidential election
Shabbir Shakill,A Kisumu mayor who tried to make the city the most admirable in Kenya.

Further Information

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