Ndere Island - off the beaten aths

Ndere Island is a small island in Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria in Kenya that covers an area of 4.2 km2 located just off the northern shore of Lake Victoria and was opened in November 1986. Ndere means"meeting place" in the language of the local Luo tribe. It was gazetted as the Ndere Island National Reserve in November 1986 and has since that time been uninhabited




According to the Luo folklore, Kit Mikayi, mother of the tribe, rested up near Ndere after her long journeysouth down the Nile valley. She found the lush shorelines so pleasing that she and her people stayed. Ndere means "meeting place" in Dholuo. According to the Luo folklore, Kit Mikayi, mother of the tribe, rested up near Ndere after her long journey south down the Nile valley. She found the lush shorelines so pleasing that she and her people stayed.

For a new visitor, Ndere offers beautiful scenery with distant panoramic view of Homa hill on its South; its sister island Magere Island, the Lake Victoria and the imagination of Kampala beyond the south western horizon.The air and the lake breeze leaves one with a feeling of freshness and buoyancy. Other activities include , hiking, team building, bird watching, traditional boat rides in the local fishing boats, picnics and generally outdoor fun of being wild.Ndere’s birds are abundant and colorful; common water birds include: African Fish Eagle, Hammer Kop and Goliath Heron.

Note: It is only allowed to walk around the island if you are accompanied by a an armed park ranger. The reason for this is because it is a protected National Reserve and there are also flocks of baboons which can be quite dangerous if feeling threatened.
 

How to get there

• Roads: Ndere Island is almost 45km away from Kisumu City; take the airport road, branch left at Kisian shpping centre and take the Bondo-Usenge road then turn left at Kombewa market-about 12km away from the park
• Airstrips: Kisumu International Airport; about 5km away from the city centre and  30minutes flight from Nairobi
• Boat : The park can be accessed by boat from Kisumu through the lake Victoria-almost one hour (1 hr) drive

major attractions

• Wildlife; De brazza monkeys, Olive baboons, Sitatunga antelopes, Hippos, Impalas, Monitor lizards, variety of fish species, Dikdiks, Aardvarks, Jackals, Geckos, Vervet monkeys, crocodiles (including the lesser known Spotted Crocodile) and over 100 bird species and a variety of trees, shrubs , herbs and grass
• Good view of Homa hills as well as surrounding islands namely Mnara, Maboko, Kagera, Mageta, Rambungu, Imra, Ochola amongst others

Facilities

• Public campsites
• Well maintained walking trails
• Camping tents

The Western Safari Circuit region is Kenya's least visited in terms of tourism. This is a region of numbers. the western Kenya region consists of rich forests, swamps and some of Kenya's rarest animal species. Kakamega forest is a habitat for over 300 bird species, the endangered De-Brazza,s moneky, the black and white colobus monkey while Ruma national park is the only home to the roan antelope in Kenya and the Saiwa swamp is the only home to the endangered semi-aquatic sitatunga antelope