Kisumu is one of Kenya's bigger cities and it sits right on the Eastern edge of Lake Victoria. Kisumu is a major trade town. Most things come off the Ocean and travel by truck or rail to Kisumu. They are then loaded on boat for trade with Uganda and Tanzania. It is also home to boat tours, nice hotels, shopping malls, CHEESE, Barack Obama's grandma, and even a huge movie theater. We did a little of all of the above.
We spent a good deal of our time just wandering around the malls going oooh.. ahhh... And buying things we didn't know we wanted or needed. We now have soy sauce, pancake syrup, twix, fresh garlic, and art supplies for Mandy's new club. The biggest store is called Nakumat and it was easily as big as a Walmart.
In the same mall as the Nakumat was a really nice movie theatre. For about 350 shillings ($4) we saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie on the big screen in a massive theatre. It was awesome and bizzare. We felt temporarily transported back to America. I half expect to look to my right and see Ryan and Kat.
On Friday morning we went to the local port and got a tour of the shipping port. Afterwards we got a boat 3 hour boat tour on lake victoria complete with a guide and up close encounters with hippos. Afterwards we walked to the fish market and had some fresh Talapia with Chapati and Ugali. It was delicious and not touristy. Despite the locale we were still bombarded by hawkers and street children the whole time we ate. The hawkers sold DVDs, watches, trinkets, and flashlights. The street kids walked around with plastic bags looking for money and food. We did not buy from the hawkers, but our leftovers did end up in the kids' bags.
Thanks for the emails and notes of concern about my sickness. The sore throat is still hanging around with some mild exhaustion, so i think i must've picked something up when i was sick. :P
My throat is starting to feel better today (Monday), but we resume classes tommorow, so that'll be the real test.
oh... And lance... "Nacho Cheese" Doritos!! ;)
