FIELD TRIP E: DESTINATION: KISUMU (WESTERN KENYA AREA)
Cost: $350 (covers flight, ground travel, accommodation, lunch and refreshments)
Time: 28.8.09 - 8 am to 29.8.09 - 8 pm [2 DAYS, 1 NIGHT]
Theme: Biodiversity and Forest Mosaics Kagamega Forest and Lake Victoria, a shared ecosystem
Champion: George Aertssen
No of People: 25
Summary
Your flight from Nairobi to Kisumu takes you over the Great Rift Valley, a key resource area for Kenya’s GDP. Tourist sites in the valley include the Masai Mara (famous for the new world wonder of the Wildebeest migration across the Mara river), Lake Nakuru National Park (Flamingoes), the Olduvai Gorge (human evolution), Hells Gate National Park and more. It produces the bulk of Kenya’s flowers and tea and is the bread basket for the country in terms of maize and wheat production. You will fly over the now severely deforested Mau Escarpment forest, one of the five water towers in the country from where many rivers start including the Mara River. Kisumu is on the shores of Lake Victoria, a shared water ecosystem shared by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Look towards the left as you near the town to see the tiny Migingo Island basically an acre or outcrop of rock near two other Islands (Ugingo and Pyramid) near the border with Uganda where about $15000 worth of fish sales are conducted daily.
Your first day takes you to Kokoto rehabilitation site. US President Obama’s grandmother lives only a few kilometers from here, in Nyangoma Kogelo, you will see how agroforestry interventions can help in the restoration of heavily degraded sites. Having served for centuries for crop production, livestock rearing and as a source for timber, firewood and local medicines, vast areas on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria have been degraded heavily in recent years. Poor land management practices results in massive soil erosion that leads to reduced soil fertility and stability, most prominent in an array of profound gullies.
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Kokoto rehabilitation site before the agroforestry interventions in 2007 (left) and after two year of interventions in 2009 (right)
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Since 2007, The World Agroforestry Centre and KARI have collaborated with partners to address land degradation resulting in displacement and loss of livelihoods. The interventions with community groups to rehabilitate land include soil and water conservation measures, indigenous tree planting and allowing the land to heal through natural regeneration. The results have led to increased vegetation cover from as low as 20% to almost 90%, reduced soil erosion and improved moisture retention capacity. Visit the inspiring rehabilitation sites in Kokoto; but also learn about the threats next to an alarming gully carved into the landscape. The day ends after lunch on the shores of Lake Victoria and the transfer at Kenya’s only mid altitude tropical rainforest in Kakamega.
Left: Baboons crossing the road by Kakamega Forest
Right: Kakamega Golf Hotel
Kakamega Forest merely covers an area of about 240 km2, a remnant of the eastern limit of the Congo Rainforest. The high plant biodiversity (160 tree and shrub species alone) is unique in Kenya and the forest contains many endemic species, mostly ferns and orchids. Although best known for its avifauna, which is a mix of lowland and highland species (367 described), insects are abundant and some are quite spectacular, such as giant Goliath beetles, pink and green African flower mantids, and numerous colorful butterflies. Kakamega is also known for its diverse snake fauna, with over 40 species, although they can be difficult to find. Enjoy an invigorating walking tour guided along the trails of the Kakamega Forest National Reserve. A component of the field trip is organize by the Kenya Forestry Research Institute, who will introduce activities with forest adjacent communities.
After lunch, the return to Kisumu will take you past a traditional site in Mukumu, where pottery has been manufactured for generations near the ‘crying stone’. Please bring sturdy shoes, sun protection, light raingear and insect repellent to enjoy this trip to the fullest.
Suggested timings
Time - Activity
Day 1 – Aug 28 2009
0500 - Pick up hotel and transfer to JKIA
~0700 - Departure from JKIA
~0830 - Arrival in Kisumu, Pick up from AP and transfer to ICRAF office for introductory briefing
0900 - 0930 - Introductory briefing (Power point) by ICRAF and KARI
0930 - 1030 - Transfer to Lower Nyando. KARI and ICRAF land rehabilitation activities.
1030 - 1200 - Brief addresses by ICRAF scientist, Kisumu field staff and Rehabilitation group chairman and Tour of the site
1200 - 1215 - Stop over at Jimo Gulley and return to Kisumu
1300 - 1430 - Lunch in Kisumu: Kiboko Bay restaurant with choice of 3 dishes: Fish, beef, vegetarian, with 1 soda
1430 - 1730 - Visit lower Yala – Aluor Women group and Kambare WKIEMP site – then brief visit to Kogelo
1730 - Check in at Kisumu Hotel
Day 2 – 29/08/09
0800 - 0900 - Travel from Kisumu to Kakamega forest
0900 - 1300 - Guided forest walk plus visit to KEFRI activities in the forest
1300 - 13:30 - Travel to Kakamega town
1330 - 1430 - Lunch at Kakamega Golf Hotel
1430 - 1700 - Travel from Kakamega to Kisumu airport with stops at Mukumu Pottery and Equator crossing at Maseno.
17:00 - Arrive at Kisumu airport and departure to Nairobi
20:00 - Arrival and pick-up at JKIA and drop at hotel