A two-hour speed boat, better known as ‘andrrr” or wooden canoe ride across the Mbita channel to Mfangano Island from the mainland in Mbita Point was never for the feint hearted.
The hair-raising experience for passengers, who included men, women and children, and some livestock and chicken, was an adventure for some, but an ordeal for first comers. The passengers had to squeeze and seat on bench-like structures on rows as they faced their destination, the biggest island in Homa Bay County, in Lake Victoria. It has a population of 30,000 people.
I dared to the ‘andirr’ ride in 1995 and lived to tell the tale. The fresh water splashed into the boat as the coxswain, who sat at the back, ordered his assistant and passengers to continue scooping and splashing the precious liquid over board.
According to the locals, all passengers were in the hands of their Creator as they travelled praying and hoping against hope that the freak winds, heavy rains and thunderstorms would spare them through the journey as most passengers held their breath and spoke very little.
Fatalities on Lake Victoria, the second biggest lake in the world and the biggest in Africa were estimated at 5,000 annually by the National Lake Rescue Institute, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) blamed on wooden canoes which were prone to capsizing due to unpredictable waters of the vast inland lake.
My return trip in 1997 was more relaxed when I boarded the Kenya Railways and Harbours steamer ship, often referred to as a steamship and is a boat propelled primarily with steam power, that used to ferry passengers and goods from Mfangano Island to Kisumu city port via Mbita Point, Homa Bay and Kendu Bay all in Homa Bay County.
I still recall my enterprising maternal grandfather’s jahazi (dhow) that was used to ferry goods to and from the Kenyan islands of Remba, Ringiti and Migingo bordering with Uganda.
But thanks to technology in 2012, travelers to Takawiri, Mfangano and Ringiti islands no longer had to take the risk of boarding the speedboats, wooden canoes and yachts, which were prone to accidents, mostly blamed on bad weather.
Travelers are more confidence and have the benefit and option of choosing between a Waterbus and or a ferry that can carry 140 passengers and 16 vehicles and goods per trip.
The Waterbuses plying the Mbita-Lwanda Kotieno and Mbita-Mfangano_Ringiti routes are run by Globology Limited based in Kisumu City while the ferries are run by Mbita Ferry Services Ltd, and owned by Sammy Wakiaga, a local entrepreneur. The two marine vessels are faster, safer and more comfortable. The day and daily ferry trip take 35 minutes while a speed boat takes over 2 hours between Mbita and Mfangano.
Fast forward to 2017: It was a big sigh of relief for my dad, eldest brother to board the Waterbus and enjoy the stress-free ride to Mfangano Island with a brief stopover for passengers to embark and others to board it at Takawiri Island.
By then the WaterBus had just been launched to ferry passengers three times a day from Mbita Point to the Lake islands. The modern marine vessel is very comfortable, spacious and has a sitting capacity of over 100 adults and children plus extra space for goods and motorbikes. The MV Atego has a capacity of 132 passengers per trip and makes six trips from 7am. to 7pm. daily.
Our fear factor was swept away by the space-age design of the marine vehicle which was painted in yellow with many life-saver bags hung on the roof to be used in case of emergency.
Among the tourist attraction was the sparkling white sands on Takawiri and parts of Mfangano Islands where investors have set up top class hotels and resorts. Other attractions are the fish-farms run by local and foreign investors who include former Mathare Member of Parliament, Ochieng Mbeo, and Harry Kojwang, who are members of the Lake Victoria Region Aquaculture Group, among others.
The next stopover on the WaterBus was Sena Centre, on Mfangano Island, where most of the passengers alighted and more boarded for the last stretch to Yukia port. The other attractions on the island are the many high mountains that sustain the island that is densely populated.
However, one of the cultural shocks we witnessed was the lingua franca had changed from Dholuo to Abasuba, spoken by some of the locals, and the lack of motor vehicles. Motorbikes and bicycles dominated the transport sector.
The Abasuba are a Bantu sub-tribe whose history goes back to Uganda where their ancestors were reported to have fled to Kenya for refuge after an abortive palace coup in the Kabaka Kingdom.
Since then, they have assimilated by intermarrying, mostly Luo women, who convinced them to speak Luo and name their children Luo names.
One of the most famous Abasuba leader was University of Nairobi Professor of Linguistics, Okoth Okombo, Veteran Editor, Philip Ochieng Otani and former Cabinet Minister Peter Nyakiamo, who speaks the language and promoted Abasuba culture and nationalism to the extent of convincing President Daniel arap Moi in the 1990’s to hive a district out of Homa Bay District and name it Suba District.
At night, the attraction was the “Omena City (small fish)” where small, medium and large-scale fishermen ventured into the lake in their wooden canoes and yachts to fish in the open sea, while others were in the modern fish-farms using special personalised designated cages.
Hundreds of local fishermen were seen preparing their canoes, dhows and wares in the sunset before moving into the lake for the nightlong exercise.
After the day long trip around the island, we returned back to our hotel exhausted and satisfied with the well-deserved tour and many lessons learnt about the culture and history of the Abasuba people.
Fast forward to 2021, we went on a third trip to Mfangano Island on the WaterBus, with plans to venture into Ringiti Island, but cancelled it in the eleventh hour due to unavailable circumstances.
We boarded the marine vessel at noon and for the next three hours it was awesome enjoying the ride and taking photographs of the scenery, the fishing community in their dhows and speedboats while others were spotted along the beaches preparing their fish and drying in the sun for preservation purposes.
Among the passengers were a number of couples and youth groups who were on board taking photographs with their phones enroute to enjoy their weekend in Takawiri and Mfangano Islands.
Unlike the first and second trip to Mfangano when I took a step of faith, this third time around was very relaxed as I had no anxiety. I was there just to enjoy the ride and use the time as a breakaway from the claustrophobia in my Nairobi residence under the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and protocols.
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