Kisumu: Kenya's gateway to Lake Victoria

On the shores of the world's largest tropical lake, Kisumu remains Kenya's main port on Lake Victoria.

The center, Kenya's gateway to Lake Victoria, can be comfortably visited by taxi or boda-boda.

The Kisumu Museum displays archaeological and naturalistic specimens from western Kenya, including a small aquarium dedicated to Lake Victoria fauna.

A short walk away, the Port of Kisumu, a historic harbor for boats headed to Uganda and Tanzania, animates daily commerce in fresh fish.

Following the lakeshore, you visit the Impala Sanctuary, a small nature reserve where antelopes and water birds live along the shores of Lake Victoria.

As evening arrives, the fish markets along the shore sell the celebrated local tilapia, caught daily from the lake's waters.

Lake Victoria, the world's largest tropical lake by surface area, is shared by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and remains the primary source of livelihood for millions of fishermen in the region.

Kisumu was founded by the British as the terminus of the Uganda Railway in 1901, a role that quickly made it the primary commercial port of western Kenya, the country's third most economically important city.