Bondo’s friendly, informal Pride Hotel

We were driving to Bondo, beyond Kisumu and above the north shore of Lake Victoria’s Kavirondo Gulf.

They told us the high road to Kericho through Nakuru was bad – so many diversions – so we took the lower and longer road through Narok and Sotik. It was a good choice. The tarmac was smooth; the views were expansive.

It meant taking the more scenic route down the escarpment to the Kedong Valley – the steep and winding road built in 1942 by Italian prisoners of war. The views across the Rift Valley are even better than from the higher road, but the garish puce-painted kiosks at the viewpoints are the same blots on the landscape.

After the drive across the wide valley floor; after the climb up the gentler Mau Escarpment on the other side; especially after Narok, the vistas opened out – rolling fields of wheat ripening in the sun. Then we were into the high woodlands through Bomet, which eventually gave place to the flat green tea plantations through Sotik and Kericho.

The rough ride began on the run-in to Kisumu across the Kano Plain – the many diversions, as the tarmac road is being re-laid. So the early lunch-break by the Lake on the terrace of the Sunset Hotel in Kisumu was especially welcome. And it was good to see that the old favourite Sunset has been spruced up since the last visit a few years ago.

We were making for a much newer place: the Pride Hotel in Bondo – opened six months ago, in fact. I think I can add it to the list of favourites. Not because of its design, its setting, its facilities, or its food – but because of its friendliness and its informality.

The Pride belongs to the Odinga family. I guess if Raila had won the election in March, this place would have gained instant fame and fortune. Even so, it was busy enough the whole week we were there: especially with workshop and conference groups.

There are 53 bedrooms. Quite spacious, with plenty of hanging and work space, with ensuite bathrooms and hot showers, with a choice of international and local TV channels, with generously draped mosquito nets ... they are good value at Sh4,800 full board, or Sh3,000 bed and breakfast.

After three days and after the Manager, Daniel Maga, learnt that I was the “Going Places man”, he insisted that, at no extra cost, I should sample one of the two cottages in the garden. So I did.

And for three more days I was indulged with a very large bedroom (with TV), a small lounge (also with TV), two toilets, and a well-stocked kitchen with a fridge for cooling the beers and a kettle for making an early morning cup of tea. All this is normally yours for Sh7,000 a day.

There are few other attractions in Bondo town. Not far away at Kogelo is the birthplace of Barack Obama’s father. The association is celebrated in Bondo town with a “Yes We Can” bar. Much nearer is the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Museum. This is the family home that is now open to the public. It has Jaramogi’s mausoleum – and a fascinating collection of memorabilia of both Jaramogi, the father, and Raila, the son.

Jaramogi’s tomb is a grand and stately place, guarded by two gilded lions; but the rest of the compound is attractive in its homeliness. Jaramogi’s house is just as it was. What comes across is the simplicity of the man – in the showing of his small wooden bed, his three pairs of stout leather shoes (two brown, one black), his walking sticks, and his traditional twig toothbrushes.

There are very many photographs that remind us of the roller-coaster public and political times of both men – as well as some that reveal the more private and personal lives. One shows a group of Kenyans off to study in the States, all clutching their new passports. In the group is Barack Obama’s father.

The exhibition of Raila’s books is intriguing. What leadership values and principles could have emerged from such an eclectic collection of biographies that includes Napoleon and Blair, Castro and Gandhi, Churchill and Mandela?

There is, however, one exhibition room that is out-dated, tasteless, and well out of place. It features photographs of the man-eating lions of Tsavo and other members of the “big-five”. Those are OK – though how they fit with the rest of the museum is a puzzle. But what are not-OK are the animal-head hunting trophies hanging on the walls, the elephant foot stool or door-stopper, and the pair of zebra-leg lamp-stands. If the attention is to attract and entertain tourists, then this is no way to do it.

Otherwise, the Museum is a treasure worth seeing.

John Fox is Managing Director of iDC