Siaya, Kenya — Towns & Travel Guide

What is Siaya known for?

Siaya is Luo country, and its name carries real weight in Kenyan history and politics. Two draws stand out. Got Ramogi, the wooded hill rising near the shore of Lake Victoria, is remembered as the place where the Luo first settled after their long migration south.

The village of Nyang'oma Kogelo, south-east of Siaya town, is the ancestral home of the family of United States president Barack Obama. Fishing beaches line the lake at Usenge, and Lake Kanyaboli sits behind them.

Where is Siaya?

Siaya lies in the west of Kenya, on the northeastern shore of Lake Victoria. Its southern edge is water. The county curves around the Winam Gulf, the arm of the lake that reaches inland toward Kisumu, which sits just to the southeast.

Busia County borders it to the northwest along the Uganda frontier, while Kakamega and Vihiga rise to the east. Across the gulf to the south lies Homa Bay. The land is not dramatic.

It tilts gently upward from the lakeshore, a little above a thousand metres, to low ridges in the north around Ugenya and Gem. Two rivers cross the county on their way to the lake. The Nzoia River enters from the north and the Yala River winds through the middle, and both spill into the Yala Swamp, a broad papyrus wetland at the lake's edge.

Behind the swamp sits Lake Kanyaboli, a shallow oxbow lake cut off from Lake Victoria and a refuge for native fish lost from the main lake. Ramogi Hill rises above the flats near the water in the west. Fishing beaches such as Usenge and Osieko line the shore, and Siaya town stands inland, just off the road between Kisumu and Busia.

Everything here bends toward the lake.

What is Siaya like?

Siaya is Luo through and through. Dholuo is the everyday language, heard in the markets of Siaya town and along every fishing beach. Life bends toward Lake Victoria.

Men set out before dawn for tilapia and the tiny silver omena that dries on racks along the shore, and the day's catch sets the rhythm of the lakeside towns. Away from the water, families grow maize, sorghum and sugarcane, and keep cattle that still carry a household's standing. Fish and ugali make the everyday meal, with sun-dried aliya kept for leaner months.

The lyre called the nyatiti threads through weddings and funerals alike. Music is a Luo signature, and the guitar style known as benga was born in this corner of Kenya before it spread across the country. Heritage sits heavily here.

Ramogi Hill holds shrines tied to the founding ancestor Ramogi Ajwang', and the Luo across Siaya, Kisumu and Homa Bay trace their roots to it. The county's politics loom large too. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya's first vice-president, came from Sakwa in Bondo, and his homestead there remains a place of pilgrimage for the community.

Pride in place runs strong.

What is the history of Siaya?

The Luo reached this shore centuries ago, arriving from the north down the Nile through Uganda and making Ramogi Hill their first foothold in the land. From there they spread around the gulf and south into Nyanza. Under British rule the area sat within Central Nyanza, and Siaya town grew as a colonial administrative post.

The county in its present form is young. It was carved out in 2013, when Kenya replaced its old provinces and districts with forty-seven counties. The name is old, the county new.

What is the climate of Siaya?

Siaya sits almost on the equator in the west of Kenya, so it stays warm the year round with little swing between the seasons. Rain, not temperature, marks the calendar. The long rains fall from March into May, and a shorter wet spell returns around October, fed by moisture drawn off Lake Victoria.

Between them come drier, hotter stretches in January and the middle of the year. The lakeshore is the warmest ground; the northern ridges around Gem run a touch cooler. Storms build fast over the water.

How do you get to Siaya?

Most visitors come through Kisumu, the lake city an hour's drive to the southeast. Its airport takes flights from Nairobi, and from there the tarmac of the Kisumu-Busia road runs straight into the county. Siaya town, Bondo and Ugunja all sit on or just off that highway.

Shared matatus are the common way around. Boats still work the lake between the Kisumu waterfront and the beaches at Usenge, a slower link that predates the roads. Bring patience for the last stretch.