Fishing on Lake Victoria

So yesterday morning we took a taxi out to a small fishing village on the coast of lake Victoria. The lake is the largest tropical lake in the world, and the largest lake in Africa. We took a small wooden vessel named "Andrew" across the lake to a tropical island. Andrew had a few leaks but they fortunately provided a bail bucket to keep us a float. The trip took a couple of hours and was absolutely beautiful.

We stopped at a couple of rural fishing villages along the way. The people were drying millions of small fish on the rocks. They look similar to sardines and are called "Silver Fish" I think. The children throw rocks at the birds to keep them from eating all the fish drying in the sun. The fish are actually really tasty. You mix a couple of dozen fish in with beans. Mandy refuses to try them.

We stopped to fish with handmade bamboo poles. Alas we didn't catch a thing, but it was beautiful to sit in "Andrew" as the African sun set on the lake. We then landed, and took off on a hike through the jungle. The rain forest was absolutely amazing. The island was full of incredible birds, monkeys, and crocodiles (Though we didn't see any crocs that day) We hiked for quite awhile in the dark. Our guide was a friend we met at church in a neighboring city. He was taking us to his parents' home for dinner. We arrived in the dark, (the island has no electricity) and had a delicious meal of cold fish heads and rice. Ironically the fish here are by far the most delicious things to eat. The heads are the most desirable part. I was privileged to eat three.

We spent the night in a "hotel." Mandy and I paid $1.50 for the honey-moon suite. We made it through the night, woke up before the sun came up, trucked back through the jungle, and climbed back onto our sturdy vessel. We arrived home later than expected, but had a great time and made some memories we'll never forget.

Taylor Mackay