By Rainee Beaton

Rainee Beaton first visited Rubondo Island twenty years ago, and here she shares with us her impressions of her latest visit.

About twenty years ago together with my sister and brother-in-law we took a boat from Kisumu in Kenya across the lake to Uganda and I clearly remember the unpredictability of lake Victoria.  It took us three days via Rusinga island and we got caught up in electric storms, had engine problems and had only a car compass for navigation – we actually relied more on the fishermen to point us in the direction of Uganda!

This trip to Rubondo from Mwanza seemed pale in comparison, however being a little more mature and with our beloved children on board we were still quite nervous about the trip.  We had a navigational app on the iPad which showed us our route and how long it should take to get there – a little more sophisticated than the car compass!  The lake was like a millpond the whole way and three hours after departure we had arrived.

As we were early for lunch we put the rods out at ”the wall” and sipped cold beer to celebrate. Arriving in the protected bay of Rubondo lodge really felt like arriving somewhere special – the secluded, private island feel stayed with me for the full four days we were there.

We were on the boat every day after breakfast and just loved being on the water, watching the bird life and catching fish.  The forest walks were a lovely contrast to being on the boat and it was a novelty for us to see so many sitatunga.  We had a wonderful barbeque lunch on the beach, sundowners on the other side of the island, fished off the rocks near the mess every evening and just had such a great time.  It was sad to leave and the journey back to Mwanza was a little more of a challenge – we had a head wind and battled big waves so we all got wet and it took over five hours to get there, but it was exciting for everyone to experience another side to the lake’s character.  A great adventure and wonderful memories for us all.