Destination Kisumu County

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What you can expect during any one of tours curated and organized by this Silverbird Travel during the COVID – 19 pandemic times.

At Silverbird travel all Ministry of Health & WHO Protocols - guidelines and requirements are fully observed and adhered to. These includes:

All Silverbird Travel staff and driver tour guides are certified Covid 19 free.

• Guides regularly wash hands and sanitize.
• All our Safari Transport are Throughly washed and Sanitized before use.
• Contactless payment for gratuities and add-ons.
• Face masks are required for travelers in public areas.
• Face masks required for guides in public areas.
• Gear / equipment sanitized between use.
• Hand sanitizer available in the Vehicle for the travelers and staff.
• Silverbird Travel will also assist our clients to get post departure Covid 19 PCR tests.

Kisumu City - Overview & History

Kisumu, which literally means a place of barter trade "sumo" and officially known as Kisumu City, is the Kenyan inland port city on Lake Victoria and the capital city of Kisumu County in Kenya. It is the third largest city in Kenya and the headquarters of the Lake Region Economic Block, which is a conglomeration of 14 counties in Western Kenya.

Kisumu is the third-largest city in Kenya (after Nairobi and Mombasa) and the second-largest city (after Kampala, Uganda) in the Lake Victoria Basin. The city is the headquarters of the Lake Region Economic Bloc, which is a conglomeration of 14 counties in Western Kenya. In 2006, the UN-Habitat designated Kisumu City as the first UN "Millennium City" in the world. It is the largest and principal city of Western Kenya, and the most important inland port in the Lake Victoria circuit. Kisumu is not far from K'Ogelo, a village known for being the hometown of Barack Obama Sr., the father to the 44th president of the United States.

It is officially known as Kisumu City (and formerly Port Florence). Kisumu port was founded in 1901 as the main inland terminal of the Uganda Railway named "Port Florence". Although trade stagnated in the 1980s and 1990s, it is again growing around oil exports.

The name Kisumu literally means a place of barter trade "sumo". The city has "Friendship" status with Cheltenham, United Kingdom and "sister city" status with Roanoke, Virginia and Boulder, Colorado, United States. Its elevation is 1,131 m (3,711 ft) above sea level. Kisumu is about 320 km (200 mi) northwest of Nairobi and its located at the shores of Lake Victoria. It lies at the northeastern edge of the Winam Gulf, a long, shallow arm that protrudes from the main body of Lake Victoria. Kisumu is set 24 km (15 mi) south of the Equator and has moderate temperatures because of its 1130 m elevation. Just four hours away by car is the massive Kenya National Game Preserve: the Maasai Mara, a world-renowned safari attraction. Since Kisumu is a few kilometers south of the Equator, daytime there always lasts about 12 hours, and local sunset always occurs between 18:40 and 19:00 local time. The metropolitan region comprises the city and its suburbs and satellite towns of Maseno, Kondele, and Ahero.

Kisumu serves as the capital city of Kisumu County, Kenya and has a population of 721,082 as per the Kenyan 2019 census. (The rural population of Kisumu County was 714,668 during the same census, indicating that the city comprises majority of the urban residents in the county, whose total population was 1,155,574.) Kisumu is the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province, the headquarters of Kisumu County an important link in the trade route between Lake Victoria and Mombasa because of its water and rail connections. It is also the chief terminus for the agricultural produce of Nyanza and Western provinces. It is the largest and most important city in the Western Kenya. Kisumu serves as a trading and transportation hub for the Great Lakes region in western Kenya. 

Kisumu International Airport has regular flights to Nairobi and other neighbouring cities such as Mombasa, Mwanza, and Kigali. It is the second-most important city after Kampala in the greater Lake Victoria Basin and, according to the United Nations, is now recognized as a key city and a "Millennium City" – the first of its kind in the world and also in East Africa.

Getting to Kisumu

You can travel from Nairobi to Kisumu by plane, car or bus. Fly540, Kenya Airways and Jambo Jet Limited fly from Nairobi to Kisumu every 3 hours. Alternatively, there are several bus companies that operate regular trips from Nairobi. Alternatively, you can get a safari package to Kisumu with a tailored itinerary designed by Silverbird Travel ltd.

Etymology

When the Europeans first settled in the area in the late 19th century, Kisumu became a trading post – attracting the Luo people from as far as Migori and Siaya County. The Kisumu region was then occupied by the Luo community. A person going to Kisumu at that time would say, "Adhi Kisuma" to mean I'm going to trade. Derived from the word "Kisuma", the word for a trading post in Luo is "Kisumo". In Nandi "Kesumett". The current name Kisumu is an English corruption of the word "Kisumo" or "Kesumett".

An opposing theory states that Kisumu acquired its name from 'Kusuma', the Maragoli word for 'trading'. Because, before the Luo arrived in the area, the Maragoli were already trading with other people in the area like the Nandi and Maasai. Some Luo words were acquired from the Maragoli.

History

Kisumu city is believed to be one of the oldest settlements in Kenya. Historical records indicate that Kisumu has been dominated by diverse communities at different times long before Europeans arrived. The people from the Nandi, Kalenjin, Kisii, Maasai, Luo and Luhya communities converged at the tip of Lake Victoria and called the place "sumo" which literally means a place of barter trade. Each community called it different names, for instance:

1. The Luo called it "Kisumo" meaning "a place to look for food" such that the Luo would say "I am going Kisuma" to mean "I am going to look for food".
2. The Abaluhya called it "Abhasuma" which means "a place to borrow food" such that the luhya would say "I am going Khusuma" to mean "I am going to borrow food".
3. The Abagusii called it "egesumu" meaning "a structure for keeping/rearing chicken". It is believed the Abagusii were in Kisumu but found Kisumu was not good for crop husbandry and agriculture.
4. The Nandi called it "Kisumett" which means a place where food was found during times of scarcity and exchange, which cannot be attacked by Nandi and Terik irrespective of any issue.

Kisumu was identified by the British explorers in early 1898 as an alternative railway terminus and port for the Uganda railway, then under construction. It was to replace Port Victoria, then an important centre on the caravan trade route, near the delta of Nzoia River. Kisumu was ideally located on the shores of Lake Victoria at the cusp of the Winam Gulf, at the end of the caravan trail from Pemba, Mombasa, Malindi and had the potential for connection to the whole of the Lake region by steamers. In July 1899, the first skeleton plan for Kisumu was prepared. This included landing places and wharves along the northern lake shore, near the present-day Airport Road. Demarcations for Government buildings and retail shops were also included in the plan.

On Friday, 20 December 1901, the railway line reached the Kisumu pier, with the centre adopting a new name, Port Florence. By February, the railway line had been opened for goods and passenger transportation. Kisumu was also privileged to host the first flight in Kenya; the current police workshop was the first hangar in Kenya. Before the jet airline era, the city was a landing point on the British flying boat passenger and mail route from Southampton to Cape Town. Kisumu also linked Port Bell to Nairobi. 

By the 1930s and 40s, the city had become a leading Kenyan centre for Commerce, Administrative and Military installations. In the 1960s the population of Asians in relation to locals was significantly higher. The town was elevated to the status of a Municipal Board in 1940 and later to a Municipal Council in 1960. In the early sixties, very little development took place in Kisumu, with an acute shortage realised in dwelling houses, shops and offices. The situation was later made worse by the influx of locals into the town following the declaration of independence in 1963.

The city's growth and prosperity slowed down temporarily in 1977, as a result of the collapse of the East African Community. However, the city spurred with the reformation of the community in 1996 and with its designation as a "city." The port has been stimulated by the transformation of international business and trade, as well as the shipments of goods destined for Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Currently, Kisumu is one of the fastest growing cities in Kenya. It is thriving with rich sugar and rice irrigation industries, whose contribution to the National economy is immense due to its natural resources and as the epicentre for business in Kenya.