Toto and I have arrived in Mbita, a point in Lake Victoria where we will take a boat to Mfangano Island. Tomorrow we will meet Jacob on the island and he'll introduce us to his family and show us around. In case you are confused about who this man is, I'll give a brief history. I met Jacob by accident, on the streets of Nairobi. I have a habit of talking to total strangers, which embarrasses  my kids, but a skill that comes in handy when traveling alone in foreign countries.  Jacob was looking for Maasai market, which had moved, so he was a bit lost. I asked him why he was going there and his response was that he makes beads out of cow bones and he sells them at this small tourist market.  The art teacher in me wanted to see that operation. A couple weeks later, Jacob escorted me to Kibera, a large slum in the heat of Nairobi, and amazed me with how he formed beads in intricate shapes and designs starting with bones so big that they looked like they came from a dinosaur. To make a long story short, I have been selling his jewelry in the U.S. and sending him the profits. So...he invited me to come meet his family. Toto and I then decided to make it a Biking for Books trip.

The first time I saw Lake Victoria from Kisumu, I was disappointed. There were factories all around, very little access to the lake, and it was too polluted to swim in. However, this time around, I've seen some of the beauty it offers.  Our first glimpse of Lake Victoria was in Homa Bay. Seen from a distance, it shines in the sun, and instead of factories, it is surrounded by green. The Luo farmers' land abuts the lake, with their pastures for grazing dairy cows and sheep and fields of corn and millet. Riding to the pier in Homa Bay around sunset, we were greeted with a sea of green hyacinth. It is beautiful, but is actually a noxious weed, not indigenous to the area. It grows so thick, that no boats can pass through it, cutting off access to the lake for miles.

More later as Toto and I find out how the tribes that depend on the lake's resources are fairing.