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Attractions in Siaya County

1. Kit Mikayi

Most travellers to Siaya County make Bondo Town 61 kms west of Kisumu City the starting-point to explore its places of interest. Bondo, suitably set in the mid lower half of Siaya County and 23 kms south of Siaya Town, the capital, has a good deal of meritorious hotels and resorts, making it the perfect jumping-off place. En-route Bondo along C27 Kisian-Bondo Road, it is traditional to make a stopover at Kit Mikayi, a wonder especially memorable for first time visitors to this region. It sits in Kisumu County just 15 kms outside Siaya’s eastern border. The much-acclaimed and stupefying rock formation of Kit-Mikayi is found 16 kms from Kisian, past Pau Akuche and Holo Market. Unmissable and towering over the surrounding landscape, the outlandish arrangement of its seven jumbo rocks, stacked up in piles, one over 60 ms tall, is stunning. It is also lauded for its old-wives-tale that answers to the moniker of its existence. Kit Mikayi – a contraction of the two Luo idioms “Kit” which means rock and “Mikayi” which means “first wife” – was a cherished hideout for a Luo ancestor who settled and lived in proximity to this colossus. The elderly man, with many wives, loved to spend his time around these rocks, enjoying the morning sunshine, succumb to the afternoon siesta here and return again in the evenings to unwind. So much so, he decided to give them a name. After consulting his wives, they granted in accord to name the rocks (Kit) after his first wife (Mikayi). And so, Kit-Mikayi, the rock of the first wife, came to being. These hold great cultural-sway on the communities living around them as a landmark and shrine, and members of the Legio-Maria meet here to pray. Kit Mikayi is located nearby Kit Mikayi Primary.

2. Kogelo Cultural Village

34 kms from Kisian along C27 Kisian-Bondo Road and 22 kms before Bondo Town you reach Ndori Market. A good road (the C28) takes from here northerly heading to Ng’iya 19 kms away. Halfway along this recently laid stretch or road is the agrestic Nyang’oma Village. Within its bounds, listed as a site of national importance under the aegis of National Museums of Kenya, one finds Kogelo Cultural Village earmarked for preservation and refurbishment into a modern touring centre of Siaya County. Among the highlights planned are a leisure and learning centre, and a cultural village with an emphasis on promoting cultures of the native Luo People.  Unfamiliar to many Kenyans until just a decade ago, Nyang’oma Kogelo first came to public attention in Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father, his acclaimed autobiography published in 1995. The story is largely about young Obama’s search for the truth about his brilliant but self-destructive father. Hence, Kogelo gained international repute as the ancestral home of Barack Obama Senior, and, on that account, the ancestral home to the 44th President of America, Barrack H. Obama. Almost overnight, this far-flung village became a media sensation and headliner, plunging it to a hurly-burly of activity especially in concomitance with the official visit by then senator Barack Obama. In the wake of its new found fame and in anticipation of the completion of the Kogelo Cultural Centre a handful of commendable hotels have come up to include Kogelo Resorts. Still and all, this site is now a must-see in Siaya County.

The new asphalt highway to Barack Obama’s ancestral village winds past maize fields and thatched-roof mud huts for several miles before terminating at a startling sight: a row of lime-green cottages with pink pagoda-style roofs, flanked by two whitewashed, four-story villas. Kogelo Village Resort, a 40-bed hotel and conference center that opened last November, is the latest manifestation of the global fascination with the U.S. president’s Kenyan roots.

3. Luanda K’Otieno Pier

With the completion of the new C28 Ndori-Owimbi-K’Otieno Road terminating at the Luanda K’Otieno Pier (in the southern corner of Siaya) and the imminent improvement of the ferry facilities, it’s possible that the islands in Lake Victoria will regain their former applause and once more become Western’s playground. This old-fashioned pier, a springboard to many of the tiny islands, like Maboko, Rusinga and Mfangano, sits 83 kms from the Kisian turnoff along C27 Kisian-Bondo-Usenge Road and C28 Ndori-K’Otieno Road. From Ndori Market it is about 57 kms southerly via C28 through Asembo and Ndigwa. The transfer to the islands is still as memorable as it was when the vintage MV Mvita cautiously dogtrotted across the channel to give its passengers skyline views of the lake. Moreover, this is after a marine transport company announced plans to launch at least two passenger ferries, plying the Kisumu-Homa Bay and Siaya-Migori Routes linking to Luanda K’Otieno, signaling a return to the once-vibrant lake transport system which had collapsed decades ago. It takes about an hour from Luanda K’Otieno to Mbita. Boats leave Mbita at 7am, 10am, 2pm and 5pm via Ringiti, Wakula, Nyakwere, Yokia, Sena and Takawiri. The depart jaunt, coming from Kisumu and K’Otieno, boats depart Luanda K’Otieno at 8am, 10am, noon, 3pm and 5:30pm. “If it is about ferry rides and beaches, Mbita rivals the Coast”.

4. Bondo Travellers Hotel

Bondo Town has no less than ten good-standard hotels catering to a wide class of both business and casual travellers to include the Bondo Travellers Hotel, a budget-friendly hotel complex along Ukwala-Bondo Road and nearby Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University, in Bondo Town. Basic yet very homely, the 36 rooms hotel complex is conveniently located just 400 ms from the main Bondo Town. All the rooms have double/single beds with a closet, table, chair, and a private shower room with hot and cold shower. Other amenities include a restaurant, bar, a shared lounge and garden. Among the notable hotels proximate to Bondo town include the Rozala Hotel, Don Hotel, Switel Hotel and Pride Hotel Bondo.

5. Jaramogi Mausoleum

Jaramogi Mausoleum is located just 8 kms west of Bondo Town via C27 Kisian-Usenge Road. “It is an iconic place, locally known as Kang’o Ka Jaramogi. From the outside, one can easily dismiss it as another ordinary building. But there is more than meets the eye at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Mausoleum, a place that has extremely valuable information that tells the history of Kenya. So dear is the mausoleum to Kenya’s long-standing opposition chief Raila Odinga that he personally takes all his important visitors on a guided tour in the place” – Harold Odhiambo. At the entrance of the huge hexagonal pyramid like building, Jaramogi’s cemetery is marked by a sculpted lion resting on top it to signify his relentless spirit of opposition politics. His famous quote “Freedom has a price” is neatly inscribed on the wall, to signify the road to freedom Jaramogi Oginga advocated for. Along the wall spaces inside the mausoleum is a pictographic memoir of his life and times, both in politics and as a family man. Celebrated as the father of opposition politics in Kenya, he rose to fame as Kenya’s foremost Vice President – a lionized leader in Kenya’s struggle for independence – and in expediting the release of Jomo Kenyatta from house arrest at Maralal. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga epitomized a rare pedigree of Kenyan leaders who put country before tribal politics, regional influence and party manifestos.  He is credited with the adage Not Yet Uhuru; being the title of his 1980 autobiography penned while under house arrest.  Other attractions at the Jaramogi Mausoleum are his invaluable collection of his tribal regalia, mementos, rare Luo artefacts, among varied gripping displays.  Also located not far off is the Justice Ayanga Museum.