Once dusty township, Mbita now home to breezy hotels

Most people may not know this. Mbita, once a dusty township at the head of Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, gave rise to the globally-acclaimed International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), a member of the Association of International Research Development Centres for Agriculture (AIRCA), in 1970, midwifed by the late Prof Thomas Odhiambo. Though today headquartered in Nairobi, ICIPE’s field station remains in Mbita.

Mbita was chosen for the research infrastructure courtesy of its humid and warm climate that favours a rich insect biodiversity of which tsetse fly, which until recently rendered the nearby Lambwe Valley uninhabitable, is an important component.

Blue Ridge Hotel, a 32 - room facility overlooking Lake Victoria. (PHOTO: JOE OMBUOR/ STANDARD)

The township, separated from Rusinga Island by a channel barely 100 metres wide (the Mbita Causeway), has experienced accelerated growth since tarmacking of the 40-kilometre Mbita-Homa Bay Road, completed eight months ago and the commissioning of reliable ferry services.

Travel time

The road, built by Put Sarajevo Construction Company at a cost of Sh3.9 billion, has shortened travel time to Homa Bay by about one-and-a-half hours. Where it took two hours on a rough road, it now takes as little as 40 minutes using probox matatus known locally as olwenda (cockroach).

Together with the ferry linking Mbita to Luanda Kotieno and Misori beaches in Siaya County, the road is a big boost to business and tourism.

Equally poised to improve the business tempo in Mbita is ongoing construction of an elevated flyover bridge to replace the dilapidated causeway that has been in place for 31 years with a disastrous impact on the lake’s ecosystem and the commercial viability of Winam Gulf that stretches 90 kilometres to Kisumu.

Scientists say the causeway effectively killed the gulf by interfering with the free flow of water and movement of fish from the main lake.

Besides, the causeway blocked an important marine route for cargo and other ships sailing between Kisumu and Tanzanian ports of Mwanza and Musoma, thus stunting Mbita’s commercial growth. The natural flushing and circulation of water on either side of the channel suffered a blow partly to blame for the chronic presence of water hyacinth in Winam Gulf.

Work on the new bridge being built by China Jianxi International Company at a cost of Sh817 million is at an advanced stage and is expected to be completed by August 2016. Engineers say demolition of the causeway will take another two months after which the natural phenomena will be restored.

Vital infrastructure on the Rusinga Island side of Mbita include the posh Rusinga Island Lodge next to the Tom Mboya ancestral home and mausoleum. The lodge’s 11 exclusive cottage rooms are built with a quixotic traditional touch, each with an ample view of Lake Victoria. A swimming pool in the shape of the island and water sports facilities add zest to a well-deserved stay crowned with a spa and sauna treatment for those interested.

Charges at the lodge are seasonal, peaking in the December festive period with slightly lower offers for Kenyans and other East Africans. Accessibility is multiple by air, road or water via direct charter flights from Nairobi or Kisumu to the local airstrip. By road, a nine-kilometre drive from Mbita Point on an all-weather earth road takes 10 to 15 minutes.

Less than a kilometre into the island from Mbita Point is the three-storey, 32-room Blue Ridge Hotel that is among the latest additions in hospitality investments gripping the township. The breeze-washed hotel sits on a sprawling compound overlooking the lake and bird islands yonder. Rooms are categorised as single or double with varying charges while meals comprise largely local cuisine.

Wooded lawns

Mbita Guest House on the mainland is a 32-room facility with verdant and well wooded lawns running up to the edge of the lake. It literally nudges ICIPE and is popular with visitors to the international research centre.

Away from hotels and lodges, the upgraded road and the soon-to-be completed bridge have attracted infrastructural developments fast changing the face of Mbita as evidenced by multi-storey buildings coming up where ramshackle structures and bush dominated the scenery only recently.

The imposing three-floor Mbita Plaza stands side-by-side with a yet-to-be named apartment building in its finishing stages. It is among the many residential quarters mushrooming in the town as the population continues to swell.

Mbita Plaza has provided a home to the Kenya Commercial Bank, whose local customers used to travel to Homa Bay, 40 kilometres away. Equity Bank was the first financial institution to open a branch in the township.

Mbita Ferry Services launched five years ago has enhanced transport between Mbita and Kisumu, 70 kilometres apart, through safe and efficient crossings of the Rusinga Channel.