Attractions in Siaya County
6. Achieng Oneko Mausoleum
The Achieng Oneko Mausoleum nearby Bondo was constructed by the National Government in honour of Achieng Oneko – one of the infamous Kapenguria 6 – venerated as a national hero. A peaceful yet solemn site that awakens memories of the hard road to independence. In his book “Not Yet Uhuru”, Jaramogi writes candidly about his excitement when he first met Mzee Kenyatta. “It was in 1952 that Kenyatta came to Kisumu again. Achieng’ Oneko introduced me to him and for several hours before the Kisumu public meeting, we had talks at the Maseno Store”. Exhibited at the location are many of Achieng Oneko’s personal effects including his much-liked typewriter and his original detention and order notice.
7. Justice Hayanga Museum
For the vast majority of citizenry, the name ‘Hayanga’ is rightly associated with the prominence of the established Judge, Justice Andrew Hayanga. At his rural home, about 17 kms west of Bondo, Justice Hayanga set up a personal museum, cottages and camp, on a beautiful property that also has a small chapel, to piece together a restful outdoor retreat fit for day adventure. It is open to the public daily between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm. The museum itself exhibits an illustrious and informative collection of cultural artefacts associated with Luo traditional music, primeval weapons, and the petering-out traditional cultural regalia. The Hayanga Museum also hosts educational and cultural expos from time to time, with an aim to perpetuate the fast-disappearing local and indigenous ways and skills. Aside from its enriching history, the site has many lovely sights including a viewing-point overlooking Lake Victoria and the series of far-between islands.
8. Mageta Island
16 kms northwest of Bondo along C27 Kisian-Usenge Road you reach Kadimu, setup near a small papyrus fringed gulf. On most days, standing at higher areas, Mageta Island, rising about 5 kms coastal, can be sighted from here. Composed of a rocky granite outcrop haunted by giant monitor lizards leisurely dawdling the sun-scorched rock-strewn ground, Mageta Island makes for a great cultural passage into a very unusual landscape. A sleepy fishing island with little signs of modernity other than the leggy mobile network towers, it was formerly used as a detention camp for radical Mau Mau fighters. And remnants of the Mau Mau cells can still be traced in many parts of the island. “Grim waters full of hungry crocodiles surrounded the detainees. There was no question of escape and we despaired of ever seeing our blue hills, red soil and crumpled valleys.” – J.M. Kariuki. Or again: “the impregnable sultry volcanic rock provides unshakable foundation for an island that nature never intended to support much life. And armies of mosquitoes and tsetse flies jealously guard the land to discourage any form of human habitation” – Standard Media. On arrival, Mageta Island gives away very little of its charm, with the mussily arranged houses of mostly timber and iron sheets almost reaching the water’s edge. Past this chaotic entrance, the Island is quite beautiful and peaceful, and makes for an interesting morning or afternoon adventure of exploring the island on foot. One can drop-in at Mageta Island Resort to refresh. A call-in on the island should not omit interacting with the fishermen, consideration fishing is the only economic activity here. Mageta Island is reached by way of a one-hour’s boat ride aboard the Mageta Waterbus boarded at Usenge Beach routinely departing in two-hour intervals from 8 am.
9. Sirigombe Island
Passed on the way to Mageta Island, the bare and unsettled Sirigombe Island is more stirring for its folklore rather than the site itself. Legend has it that in the yesteryears residents of Yimbo (Asembo) commonly pastured their livestock (of mostly cattle) at Sirigombe Island over the dry season of the year. As it goes, in one of these periods of prolonged drought, a marshal of herders left their cattle unattended for six months on the Sirigombe. When they returned, they found their cows had long turned wild and could no longer withstand the human face! Myth or not, the devastated Sirigombe Island is girded in a timeless bubble that stirs up the imagination and evokes the eerie ruminations of a cast-away-island.
10. Fishing Cages at Lake Victoria
Arguably one of very few man-made offshore developments within the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria, the conspicuous strands formed by steel cages, oftentimes lined with yellow bouys, signal a disruptive innovation and a modern-shift from the traditional fishing, predominantly done on boats. ‘Farmers in Siaya County are assuredly venturing in fish caging in Lake Victoria at a very fast rate. Fish caging involves putting fingerlings in a cage, providing them with a controlled diet, then monitoring their growth and harvesting the fish after six months. It is a simple, off-centre and very productive fish farming technique’ – Siaya County.
11. Lake Victoria
Spanning 68,800 km2 and shared by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, this is the second largest lake in the world and most prominent feature of Western Kenya. Although only 6% of Lake Victoria sits in Kenya, it is the unsurpassed source of sustenance for the seafaring communities living around it. Along Kenya, Lake Victoria spans the borders of five counties – Siaya, Busia, Kisumu, Migori and Homabay – and is sometimes known as ‘Nam Lolwe’ in Luo or Victoria Nyanza in Bantu. Revered for its awe-inspiring sunsets, boating trips around the lake’s islands and, of course, its umpteen oodles of fish, it offers travellers to Western Region of Kenya the chance to marvel at Africa’s largest lake and assess how it has influenced the lives of communities living around it. Over 30 million people in five countries share and effect resources of Lake Victoria as a source of food, source of domestic and farm water, transport, recreation and waste-respository.
12. El Molo Crocodile Park
Located close to Uhanya Beach, the El Molo Crocodile Park was the first wildlife sanctuary to be established in Siaya County. It was existed primarily to exhibit the native Nile crocodiles in captivity as well as other reptiles and of the exotic avi-fauna sighted in the region, that include; the Egyptian goose, pelicans, kops and cormorants. El Molo Crocodile Park is one of the popular alternate touring sites in Siaya and especially makes a good impression for the young generation. Aside from close up views of jumbo crocodiles, callers to El Molo can also thrill in exploring the islands found close at hand and notably of Mageta or Sirigombe Islands (reached via a short boat ride), visit Uhanya Beach or take a hiking trip to Ramogi Hill. El Molo Crocodile Park is found 14 kms west of Kadimu Centre.
Abiri Kenya 