Kisumu

Kisumu is a town located by the basin of Lake Victoria. The town spreads out from the bank of the lake, covering parts of the hills that stand next to the lake. From top of the hills, one has a very beautiful view of the whole of Lake Victoria, which is said to be one of the biggest lakes in Africa. The scenery of the lake, surrounding mountains and the dark green vegetation take one’s breath away. 

Kisumu has a very different feel to it than Nairobi. Perhaps it is the water element that is contributing to the relaxed atmosphere that characterizes Kisumu. People are laid back and cheerful; everyone has time to stop, smile and say hello. The suits and business outfits that one can see in the streets of Nairobi has been replaced by loose beach type clothing. A great number of the cars and buses have been replaced by rickshaws and bicycles. Due to this and due to there not being many high buildings, the quality of air is much better in Kisumu than in Nairobi. It feels like you have entered a holiday town.

Kisumu has one of the biggest universities in Kenya. This is reflected in the population that lives in the town. When you are walking around the town centre, you can see a lot of students and young people waling about, laughing and enjoying an afternoon break from lectures. The city centre itself is full of bazaars and small shops. There are stall selling fruits and clothes, with loud music blasting out of most of them. Apparently playing cheerful music loudly is regarded a good trick to get people to come to your stall. 

The city centre is surrounded by residential areas. They cover large areas around the lake and far beyond. There are gigantic supermarkets in the midst of them. You can also see compound areas where people live in big houses with gardens while being surrounded by concrete walls that have been build to prevent crime. I told told, however, that the crime rate is lower in Kisumu than in Nairobi. There is less poverty here and no big slum areas.To an outsider, people seem happier in Kisumu than in Nairobi. 

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more information on Kisumu, see:     

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kisumu