Kisumu

Sarah had a meeting in Kenya's third-largest town on Friday, so we traveled two hours to the shores of Lake Victoria for her to attend. Sarah has nothing but good memories of Kisumu at it was the closest big town to her very remote Peace Corps site and the place where she would frequently meet other volunteers to unwind. Although the town still displays the very visible scars of the fires and rioting that followed the last election (the opposition candidate, Odinga, and his tribe, the Luo, are from here), the town felt peaceful and slower than crammed-in Kisii. It was also our first weekend off together in Kenya so we were looking to make the most of it. 

While the allure of Kenyan food isn't about to launch a thousand ships, the all-vegetarian, South Indian restaurant, Raj Sappy in Kisimu, just might.  Our best meal yet. 

On Saturday, we took a walk out of town, where the asphalt soon gave way to a dirt road, and white-washed mansions hidden behind gates with guards turned into familiar looking shacks with equal numbers of goats, chickens, and children out front. We made it to Hippo Point just before lunch and headed out on a boat to get a better look. Weaving through the the thick green petals of the water hyacinth that is slowing choking the lake to death, we passed Dunga, a small fishing village. Naked children played on large rocks; men cast lines into the water; women washed clothes; and the occasional, very precarious looking sailboat slowly passed by.

After turning a corner of the lake, not far from the fishing village, we quickly spotted hippos. First, just eyes, ears, and nostrils. Then the outline of a head. And soon the length of a body breaking the water's surface. Although hippos sleep in the daytime, a male hippo's interests were unusually piqued and soon he was mounting a female hippo on a rock just below the water's surface. All we could see was her head, but the back of his massive frame was above water and we were able to observe the scars on his back from fights with other males. We tried to respect the hippos' dignity, but struggled to balance curiosity with some measure of etiquette and self-preservation.

The rest of the day was spent lakeside, at Kiboko Bay Resort, where $2.50 USD got us onto the pool deck. We relaxed and cooled down along the shore of the lake and got in some good reading under a palm tree. One tuk-tuk ride home (the only mode of transportation that is also an onomatopoeia!) and one of the more relaxing days we've had in a while was nearly over. Dinner was easy and good at Green Garden, an affordable and surprisingly peaceful restaurant in a courtyard that looks like it shouldn't exist. The restaurant is the only business open at night amidst several blocks of completely closed, abandoned, or burned down buildings, save for a few guards trying to distract away the night's long hours.

Sunday morning we relaxed at one of the hotelis on the lakefront, which all seem to serve the exact same thing -- fresh-caught tilapia from the lake. It was another peaceful moment in a weekend full of them and we both were elated to have set the bar so high for future weekend getaways.