Kenya - Places To Stay

Lake Victoria - Rusinga Island Lodge, overlooking Lake Victoria in western Kenya, offers the perfect mid safari break. The spacious grounds with manicured lawns provides a safe environment for children to release their energy while parents relax and unwind. The lodge's biggest attraction is the array of activities available in the area, from boat trips to mountain biking and beauty treatments at the lodge's own spa.

Accommodation is provided in comfortable stone cottages, each with its own en suite bathroom and verandah overlooking the lake. Fresh fruit and vegetables from the organic garden is picked on a daily basis to prepare wholesome meals. Tilapia and Nile Perch are plentiful in the area, prepared over the coles or Zanzibar-style using coconut milk and coriander.

Western Kenya, 80 miles due west of the Maasai Mara on Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria, the world's second largest freshwater lake.

By air: There are daily scheduled flights from Nairobi to Kisumu from which it is a scenic 3-hour drive to the lodge which includes a 45-minute ferry ride on Lake Victoria.
It is also possible to access Rusinga from the Maasai Mara where there are scheduled flights from both Nanyuki and Nairobi. The lodge is a further 35 minutes by private charter. From Nairobi the flying time is approx. 80 minutes. Rusinga's airstrip is adjacent to the lodge.

6 Stone and Thatch Cottages and 1 Family Cottage

£235 per person sharing in Low Season
£280 per person sharing in High Season

Full board accommodation, house wines, beers, soft drinks and bottled water; all activities except air excursions: Nile perch & tilapia fishing, waterskiing, sightseeing, bird watching, visits to archaeological sites and ancient rock art, sundowners, trips to Ruma National Park (excluding park entry fees) and laundry.

Children of all ages are welcome

Boat trips on Lake Victoria, excursions to Ruma National Park, explore nearby archeological sites, visit Lake Victoria fishing communities, bird watching on bird island, fishing , watersports, mountain biking and hiking.

Rusinga's Spa offers a range of treatments including a variety of massages, body scrubs & wraps and indulgent Spa manicure & pedicure.

Rusinga Island Lodge is involved in the following projects to improve the standard of living of people in the area whilst preserving the natural habitat.

Eddie Thackray Memorial School
Rusinga founded the Eddie Thackray Memorial School and continues to support the school through donations from guests and direct involvement of the lodge.

Kageno Trust
The Lodge purchases soft furnishings produced by the Trust - floor mats, water bottle holders, tissue box covers and waste paper baskets made from water hyacinth. All Rusinga's used plastic water bottles, tin cans, used paper & glass bottles are recycled by Kageno.
The Trust supports communities suffering from impoverishment, AIDS and limited access to healthcare and clean water. Kageno has developed an innovative Community Centre at nearby Luore which provides access to clean water, food, sanitation, healthcare, education, and income generation.

Women's Groups
Rusinga supports the Kibisom Women's Group, located close to the lodge. The group empowers local women and teaches skills they can use to generate their own incomes - recycling paper to make notebooks & albums and making beaded covers. Their crafts are sold in the Rusinga Duka and are also used by the lodge.

Reforestation
With the help of the Kageno Trust, Rusinga Island Lodge's tree nursery is helping to create forested areas on severely eroded tracts of the island. To date nearly 1,000,000 trees have been planted, and the lodge also assisted Kageno Trust to establish a briquette-manufacturing project using recycled paper and offering an alternative source of fuel to firewood.

The lodge is open year round.