Islands of Lake Victoria

In a previous post, i spoke about the Kenya Islands at the coast with 3 of them standing out;namely, Lamu, Manda and Funzi. Today being the I - (A - Z challenge) theme, i felt i should introduce you to the other Islands of Kenya found by Lake Victoria. It is a fact that many may not know, but Kenya has over 12 Islands around the Lakes and coast of Kenya! Brace your self with these amazing destinations that contribute to the great land known as Kenya!

1. Ndere Island - 4.2 km² or 1.6 sq m in the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria. It was gazetted as the Ndere Island National Reserve in November 1986 and has since that time been uninhabited.

2. Maboko Island - Just as the Ndere, Maboko lies in the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria. It is about 1.8 km long by 1 km wide. It is said to be an important Middle Miocene paleontological site with fossiliferous deposits that were discovered in the 1930s.

3. Mfangano Island - Lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria and is approximately 65 km² in area. The history of the Island is quite fascinating; The inhabitants of Mfangano are believed to be part of the Buganda kingdom in Uganda. They are emigrants of the kingdom after the controversial early nineteenth century killing of the kabaka juju. Mfangano is also known for its ancient rock art, possibly 2,000 years old and thought to have been created by early forager-hunters, the Twa people. There are also many of the Luo tribe inhabiting the east side of the island. They are mostly fishermen and subsistence farmers. The languages spoken are Suba, Luo, Swahili, and English. The Suba language is becoming far rarer due to local men marrying Luo women from the mainland, as it is traditional for children to learn "mother tongue," that is, the language of their mother.

4. Migingo Island -  Also known as Bugingo or Ugingo Island, this land became the topic of controversy between Kenya and Uganda in 2008 - 2009, with Uganda claiming that they owned Migingo which is approximately the size of the football pitch! However in July 2009, a team of Land surveying specialists were sent to determine who owned the 4000sq meter land and reported that since 1926, territorial ownership of the island had been consistently shown on maps and in language on official documents as Kenyan.

5. Rusinga Island - with an elongated shape approximately 10 miles (16km) from end to end and 3 miles (5km) at its widest point, lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf. It is linked to Mbita Point on the mainland by a causeway.

 Images courtesy of Google