Places to visit around Lake Victoria : Tanzania’s Rubondo Island National Park is situated in Lake Victoria’s southwest corner. Eleven smaller islands and the well-known Rubondo Island comprise the national park. Known as the largest “island park in Africa,” Rubondo Island National Park spans 456 square kilometres of land and ocean surface area.
It’s one of the most well-liked tourist spots in Lake Victoria, especially for those who love animals. Numerous species of wildlife can be found on Rubondo Island, including as chimpanzees, elephants, giraffes, bushbucks, bush pigs, and the timid Suni antelope. Rubondo Island is home to a plethora of birdlife, with over 400 species identified to far.
The uncommon and extremely endangered Sitatunga is an amphibious antelope that conceals and blends in with the dense marshes around the lake on Rubondo Island. Both land and shallow water are suitable habitats for amphibious antelopes. The majority of Rubondo Island is covered in dense rainforests, interspersed with open woods, papyrus swamps, and immaculate sandy beaches. Adventure-seeking travellers are drawn to the island park. Activities on Rubondo Island include birdwatching safaris, paddling, fishing, trekking, and walking safaris through the island’s deep forests. Of course, there’s also beach lounging.
Rubondo Island National Park is a protected wilderness region, island rainforests have become home to a number of uncommon and endangered animal and bird species. Chimpanzees and black-and-white colobus are examples of the rare animals seen during a safari tour to Rubondo Island National Park.
Places to visit around Lake Victoria : Kakamega Forest
The distance between Kakamega Forest National Park and Lake Victoria is roughly 50 km. It is situated close to Kenya’s border with Uganda and northwest of Nairobi, the country’s capital.
Thick tropical trees, the final vestige of the ancient Guineo-Congolian rainforest that once spanned large parts of Africa, cover the national park. It is well known for its extraordinary biodiversity and spans an area of roughly 230 square kilometres. Unfortunately, this incredibly rich forest region is under threat from overgrazing, destruction, and overpopulation. There are still protected indigenous forests in less than half of the endangered tropical forest. In 1985, it was designated as a national forest.
The exceptionally rainy environment of the Kakamega Forest is what distinguishes it. Rainfall in the area reaches up to 1,700 millimetres annually. Kakamega Forest National Park is home to an amazing variety of unique trees, such as red and white stinkwood and elgon teak. Nine of the more than 60 orchid species that call the forests home are unique to those particular forests.
Kakamega Forest National Park has an abundance of birdlife. More than 365 different bird species can be found there, such as the white-and-black casqued hornbill and the endangered west African Great blue turaco. The national park is home to nine bird species that are unique to the globe.
The African clawless other, the gigantic African water shrew, the tree pangolin, the blue and red-tail monkey, and the De Brazza’s monkey are among the numerous vulnerable species that can be found in Kakamega Forest National Park. Although they were last spotted in 1991, leopards have been sighted in the Kakamega Forest.
The goliath beetle and the pink and green-flowered mantis are two unusual insects that can be discovered in the national park. The most accessible part of Kakamega Forest National Park for visitors is the southernmost region. Hiking, woodland hikes, monkey tours, bird and butterfly viewing, and village tours are among the activities available in Kakamega. Tours to see the Crying Stone and Mama Mtere Tree, the forest’s most photographed tree, are also well-liked.
Places to visit around Lake Victoria : Entebbe Zoo
Entebbe Zoo is called Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre in its full form. Entebbe International Airport is just a short 15-minute drive away from the protected wildlife sanctuary.
The institution looks after rescued and orphaned animals that are the victims of deforestation and the bush meat trade. While the centre works to release as many animals as possible back into the wild, many of them stay under its care and serve as ambassadors to inform tourists about the predicament of Uganda’s wildlife.
Places to visit around Lake Victoria : Ndere Island National Park
Ndere Island National Park is a national park located in Lake Victoria, Kenya. Known by another name, the Island of Serenity and Beauty, this national park is among Kenya’s smallest, spanning only 4 square kilometres. 41.2 kilometres from Kisumu via the Kisian-Bondo-Udenge road and 381 kilometres from Nairobi’s capital via Naivasha and Nakuru make up this Kenya tour and safari location.
The park was established in November 1986 with the goal of safeguarding the unique biological features and fauna of the island. Under the Kenya Wildlife Service, it has been a protected area ever since. Many birds call this island home and take refuge there. The largest freshwater lake in Africa and the second largest in the world, Lake Victoria, contains Ndere Island National Park.
Places to visit around Lake Victoria : Mfangano Island
Mfangano is situated in South-West Kenya, near Lake Victoria. The region is categorised as semi-humid to semi-arid, with a bimodal pattern of precipitation. While areas of forest and grassland predominate on the hilltop, the vegetation is varied but primarily composed of dense forest trees and shrubs downslope. The residents are the Abasuba people, a subtribe of the East African Bantu who have intermarried and interacted with the more prominent Luo culture, greatly influencing their own. The name Mfangano Island comes from the Suba word “okuwangana,” which means “to unite” or a place where people united. The name may have sprung from the fact that Mfangano Island served as a haven for communities that the more numerous Luo peoples had subjugated on the mainland. The island was home to the Wagimbe, Wisokolwa, Kakimba-Wiramba, Wasamo, Wagire, Wakula, Wakinga, Wakisori, Wakisasi, Waozi, Walundu, Wiyokia, Walowa, Waganda, and Wakiaya between four and eleven generations ago. The Abasuba people call Mfangano Island Ivangano, which means reconciliation. The island was given its name during a reconciliation ceremony that settled a dispute between the local inhabitants in the 17th century. The island is renowned for its holy locations and prehistoric rock art sites. Three regions on the island include the majority of the rock art sites, which are nevertheless exceptional in terms of their beauty and diversity.
Places to visit around Lake Victoria : Kwitone rock art
This location is a 40-meter-long overhang that is hidden and under the care of the Wagimbe tribe. It is located on Itone Hill, directly below a high shoulder. The artwork, which is located nearly entirely at one end of the shelter and was painted over a ledge three metres above a floor that had been cleaned, is made up of sets of alternating red and white concentric circles, some of which have concentric ovals and “spokes” between the two outer circles. Two smooth patches next to a hollow on the ledge underneath the paintings show prolonged human use, and the depression itself has the capacity to accommodate food or water offerings. Given the ledge’s slope, it seems likely that the paintings were employed as seats. The rock must have been handled frequently, either by hand, with a cloth, or with hide. Locals believe the location to be connected to paranormal forces and miraculous occurrences. For instance, rainmaking is done at the location.
Places to visit around Lake Victoria : Rock painting sites
Mfangano Island is renowned for its prehistoric rock art, which may be two millennia old and is attributed to the Twa people, early foragers and hunters. The Twa people, sometimes referred to as Batwa or pygmies, are said to be an African tribe that has been forgotten and is located near the Great Lakes. On Mfangano Island, there are tales associated with three locations, two of which are still in use. Nearly all of the artwork on the website is composed of sets of concentric circles in either red, white, or black. The paintings are representative of what is sometimes referred to as “Twa” art, which originates in northern Kenya and broadens into a southerly path before ending north of the Zambezi River and spreading throughout Africa from northern Mozambique to Angola.
Places to visit around Lake Victoria : Mawanga rock art
This location features a panel of art that is around eight square metres in size and is made up of groups of concentric circles, primarily painted in black and white with visible pictures stacked on top of each other. The “Hand of God” is a regionally recognised natural structure in the base rock that resembles fingerprints. It is located below a low overhang close to the back of the cave. Magnificent natural cupules adorn the cave’s roof and wall at the rear. The elders of the Wasamo clan think that the paintings were created by their distant ancestors to depict patterns found on their shields. When their forefathers defeated the Waozi, Wasasi, and Walundu clans of Abasuba, they used the cave and shields as a means of intimidation. The paintings still have the ability to produce rain because they depict shields and were used in battle. The “Hand of God” gives the paintings more strength; this hand is still thought to have healing abilities. It is believed that the sick will benefit in some way when they put their hand in the natural formation.
Sacred sites on Mfangano Island
On Mfangano Island, there are 36 distinct kinds of sacred sites; 19 of these may be found and are currently intact. Even if the other 17 are essentially extinct, the elders continue to tell stories about them today. The majority of the locations symbolise the connection between humanity and God and are connected to customs involving rain. The locals think that the sacred groves, for instance, alert people to approaching danger by, typically, making a loud noise or casting a cloud of fog. After then, the people would heed the warnings and make sacrifices of animals to placate the spirits. In addition to being ancestral sites, the sacred woodlands teach the Abasuba discipline and unity.
