Takawiri Island

This is one of the islands located on lake Victoria. It’s such a hidden gem in Nyanza province and if you are visiting here this place is a must go. I came here last year during the December holidays .Our journey started all the way from Nairobi and we made the whole tour a road trip. We used our own means of transport. The journey from Nairobi to Kisumu was started in the morning at around 6:00pm and we arrived after about seven hours. We made several stops along the way and we enjoyed the scenery cause after all this was a road trip. When we got to Kisumu ,we decided to spend the night there and visit one or two places before starting our journey the following morning. We visited the Acacia premier hotel and had a couple of drinks at their bar. The next morning we left for Homabay county. Takawiri is actually located in Mbita. The drive to Mbita took us about three hours. With a matatu it would cost around 400/= and take about two hours. Our journey took longer because we kept stopping around. To get to the island you need to take a boat and we had contacted the resort so they ordered a boat for us. It was an additional cost so we paid 1000/= for each ride. When we got there , I was just like the beauty! The beach was so golden and beautiful. The water was so clear and the palm trees that were all around gave the coastal feeling to the place. Their was so many activities that you could do and most of my days was spent either fishing, swimming or snorkeling. The food that was served was really good and very tasty. The rooms were pretty decent and clean the staff that handled us were very caring and whatever activity we wanted to do they gave us all the information we needed. We stayed at the resort and it was around 5600/= per night per person. There are other choice of accommodation around do if you can’t afford it worry not. The view of the sunset is especially magnificent and in the evening when you sip your cocktail it offers such a serene ambiance.

I’ve practically grown up all my life( ok half of it) in Kisumu. My zing for tourism and dining had not yet been awakened so I was not really interested in visiting the beautiful places in Nyanza. My visit to Takawiri happened when I was twenty years old and I went to celebrate a friend’s birthday. At first when I was told there was an island in lake Victoria with a beautiful beach that had clear sand my level of skepticism sky rocketed. The lake Victoria I knew by then was all just covered in hyacinth and I couldn’t believe there was a whole paradise right in Homabay. We drove all the way from Kisumu to Mbita,once we arrived at Mbita we took a boat that carried is all the way to the island. For a heavy skeptic I was pleasantly surprised .These beaches are magnificent. We were not planning to stay there for the night so before we alighted we paid 500/= per person that’s the charges for visiting the place. If you are planning to get accommodation these charges are wavered. I couldn’t get enough of the6 beach and all I did was soak my legs in the sand as I enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We took boats and went round even did a little fishing. When I saw them catch tilapia for a moment I was even a little bit stunned wondering whether we now tilapia in Mombasa. This place gave me such a coastal beach feeling I genuinely forgot I was in Lake Victoria. You can do so many activities here; swimming, fishing, walking, boat riding, dining and so on. They also have really really tasty meals at a very fair price. An absolute paradise and everyone should purpose to visit this place when in Nyanza.