At the point where River Sio meets Lake Victoria is a small trading centre whose growth has not been very impressive over the years. The locals tend to ignore its retarded growth and insist on calling the shopping centre a town. But a town it should be. It has all the natural ingredients of not only being a town but a major tourist hub and a mover of the economy of the Western region and the country at large.

Just a 100 metres from the ‘town’ is what should be a world-class port. A bridge that was the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s government’s ambitious project of connecting Kenya and Uganda lies unfinished. No, its construction is about to start, at the lake’s mouth, some 40 years down the line.

Here, young men, and sometimes women, dive into the world’s second largest fresh water lake for a swim. Sometimes, it is the only bath these lads get for the day. Development has been long in coming for Sio Port. But it is coming. Residents cannot help but believe there is a very bright light at the end of the tunnel for their ‘town’.

Investors too, seem convinced that the otherwise blind tourists, both local and foreign, are about to open their eyes and see the beauty that the place exudes, the sandy beach, the flora, the birds, the meandering river, and the species of fish that can only be found at Emagogwe — ebidonge, esire, echachu, eningu and others whose English names are still not known.

It is with this optimism that someone has built a resort some 250 metres from the point where the river and the lake meet.

Memoriam Resort could be just what the doctor ordered for the urbanite who seeks to take a break from the hustles of the city and enjoy the country air.

The food is straight from the lake and the surrounding farms. People actually place orders for the fish species they want to eat and the attendants call fisherfolk at Emagogwe, who make the delivery in a matter of minutes. The resident chef then takes over.

Most of the time, the fish is just boiled — and this seems to be the favourite of many guests — with only salt added. It is served with cassava and millet flour ugali. While the food is being prepared, guests can relax and have their favourite drinks in the cottages that complement the natural landscape of the resort’s gardens.

There are a number of mango trees and people easily get tempted to sit under them and enjoy the fresh breeze from the lake. Just 30 minutes’ drive from the Bumala point of the Kisumu-Busia highway, Memoriam Resort is without doubt a place worth visiting — and the prices seem tailored for the ‘common mwananchi’ though the ambience is royal.

As David Apopo, a guest visiting from Nairobi jokingly put it, it takes a lot of effort for the bill to increase at this resort.

And with the effects of devolution beginning to trickle down, more Memoriam Resorts may just sprout and turn Sio Port into the town that the local people have always believed it is.

Source: Reelforge

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