Everybody who comes here gasps. The palm trees. The sandy beach. The speed boats and the sleek blue jet ski. It’s a charmed holiday destination, right by Lake Victoria and it goes against what they imagine South Nyanza, about Homa Bay, and about Mbita.
But Victoria Sands isn’t some mirage or imagination, it’s here with its green lawns, swimming pool and grass-thatched gazebos where you are most likely to find yourself nursing a drink, waiting for the sun to set over the lake.
I come here more often now that I’m growing greyer and the city is getting smaller and noisier. It’s a place you run away to, for the enigma of the lake and the silence of the hills. And sometimes I bring a friend along (someone from the highlands who's never seen a lake so vast) to show off this part of the country.
Often, we have gone to have a drink at the lodge because this is the crown jewel of Mbita but also because the true essence of a place is judged by its sundowners and sunsets. Here the sundowners are not an occasion but a spiritual communion with nature.
Take yesterday, for example. The sun hung like an artist's perfect orange orb. It resembled something drawn by an over-imaginative child. It turned the horizon into liquid gold, turning the distant islands of Mfangano, Rusinga and Mbasa into a postcard.
As dusk falls, the lake takes on a different magic, with countless fishermen's lights scattered across the water like a floating city. Indeed most visitors often ask; what town is that? This is not a town, it’s the nocturnal poetry of the lake.
Days here unfold unhurriedly. You could have a drink by the lake or lounge by the pool. Or you could venture to the bird island, Mfangano Rock art or test your mettle hiking up Gwasi Hills. I haven’t done most of these things. I’m still entranced by the sunsets and the distant purrs of fishermen’s motorboats.
