all wasn’t there, the bath tub would blend in with the Lake. No wonder the lighthouse is the honeymooners dream hideaway.

After our guided trip around the lighthouse, and having unpacked and lounged on the bed overlooking the sea. I mean, I’m a water person so I’ am totally sold out. We join Bredo in the garden for a cold beer. The bird life is just awesome. Within a few minutes at the lighthouse, I have seen a tiny malachite kingfisher fly past in hues of blue and orange, pied kingfishers and the African kingfishers leap out of the horizon from behind the lighthouse and sweep down to grab a fish from the Lake.

The garden is filled with yellow weaver birds busy building nests on the thorn trees and my niece is busy building sand castles on the beach

We are looking forward to visiting the light house at Lake Victoria's Safari Village at Mbita point.

Spending a few days in it will be a new experience. The landscape from Kisumu to Luanda Kotieno on the shores of Asembo Bay, off the road to Bondo, is full of ancient features. Age-old Cambrian rocks fill the Hills along the tarmac road and Kit Mikaye, the gigantic borders sitting atop each other. At Ndori we turn left onto the dusty murrum road to Luanda Kotieno to catch the 11 o'clock ferry to Mbita point. It runs like clock work so if you miss it you have to wait for the next three hours for the next trip.

The Lake is calm, with water birds here and there and in a distance a strange dust devil appears. It’s a whole cloud of the harmless minute flies that breed in the water and sometimes in the swamp places.

Forty-five minutes later, we dock at Mbita point and soon we are at the gate of Lake Victoria Safari Village. The sign on the entrance promises relaxation at the beach, bird watching and excursions on the Lake.

The light house stands stark white against the blue sky and the blue waters of Lake Victoria, making a perfect picture for a post card. The Islands of Rusinga, Mfa’ngano and the smaller twin one's called Mbasa sit calmly on the Lake. The local fishermen's colorful boats sail on the roughening waves, their white sails at full mast. Finally we get to Lake Victoria Safari Village, a creation of old Bredo, an engineer of repute.

We are so excited about the white house that we waste no time climbing up the stairs and into the room with a view. Its Bredo's dream house as he tells us about the building of the light house, which could be the only light house on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria with justifiable pride.

“I build bridges,” says Bredo a Norwegian. He has worked in many countries in Africa and it was during one such project that he landed at Mbita point and met his wife Louise, and set up a new home on the shores of the Lake. That was in 1990 in between building bridges, Bredo has been busy working at Safari Village with the latest addition, the lighthouse.

The lighthouse is stunning. It reminds one of a calendar from Greece, with pictures of stark white houses surrounded by blue skies and waters.

We climb up the stairs and onto the patio eagerly waiting for Bredo to open the door to the light house. The white washed bedroom is spacious with windows opening to the Lake’s blue waters. It’s a beautiful roundavel with a four-poster bed facing the Lake, blue beaded Maasai necklaces on the walls and a small blue table and two chairs by the window. Blue is the traditional color of lighthouse decor. A platform with a collection of stones that once belonged to his mother forms an artistic showpiece of colors and shapes. There is nothing expensive in the room but it is a place you would, nevertheless, want to live in.

The platform conceals part of the staircase leading from the room to the bathroom below. If ever there was a bathtub with a view this has got to be it. If the wall wasn’t there, the bath tub would blend in with the Lake. No wonder the lighthouse is the honeymooners dream hideaway.

After our guided trip around the lighthouse, and having unpacked and lounged on the bed overlooking the sea. I mean, I’m a water person so I’ am totally sold out. We join Bredo in the garden for a cold beer. The bird life is just awesome. Within a few minutes at the lighthouse, I have seen a tiny malachite kingfisher fly past in hues of blue and orange, pied kingfishers and the African kingfishers leap out of the horizon from behind the lighthouse and sweep down to grab a fish from the Lake.

The garden is filled with yellow weaver birds busy building nests on the thorn trees and my niece is busy building sand castles on the beach.

s that breed in the water and sometimes in the swamp places.

Forty-five minutes later, we dock at Mbita point and soon we are at the gate of Lake Victoria Safari Village. The sign on the entrance promises relaxation at the beach, bird watching and excursions on the Lake.

The light house stands stark white against the blue sky and the blue waters of Lake Victoria, making a perfect picture for a post card. The Islands of Rusinga, Mfa’ngano and the smaller twin one's called Mbasa sit calmly on the Lake. The local fishermen's colorful boats sail on the roughening waves, their white sails at full mast. Finally we get to Lake Victoria Safari Village, a creation of old Bredo, an engineer of repute.

We are so excited about the white house that we waste no time climbing up the stairs and into the room with a view. Its Bredo's dream house as he tells us about the building of the light house, which could be the only light house on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria with justifiable pride.

“I build bridges,” says Bredo a Norwegian. He has worked in many countries in Africa and it was during one such project that he landed at Mbita point and met his wife Louise, and set up a new home on the shores of the Lake. That was in 1990 in between building bridges, Bredo has been busy working at Safari Village with the latest addition, the lighthouse.

The lighthouse is stunning. It reminds one of a calendar from Greece, with pictures of stark white houses surrounded by blue skies and waters.

We climb up the stairs and onto the patio eagerly waiting for Bredo to open the door to the light house. The white washed bedroom is spacious with windows opening to the Lake’s blue waters. It’s a beautiful roundavel with a four-poster bed facing the Lake, blue beaded Maasai necklaces on the walls and a small blue table and two chairs by the window. Blue is the traditional color of lighthouse decor. A platform with a collection of stones that once belonged to his mother forms an artistic showpiece of colors and shapes. There is nothing expensive in the room but it is a place you would, nevertheless, want to live in.

The platform conceals part of the staircase leading from the room to the bathroom below. If ever there was a bathtub with a view this has got to be it. If the wall wasn’t there, the bath tub would blend in with the Lake. No wonder the lighthouse is the honeymooners dream hideaway.

After our guided trip around the lighthouse, and having unpacked and lounged on the bed overlooking the sea. I mean, I’m a water person so I’ am totally sold out. We join Bredo in the garden for a cold beer. The bird life is just awesome. Within a few minutes at the lighthouse, I have seen a tiny malachite kingfisher fly past in hues of blue and orange, pied kingfishers and the African kingfishers leap out of the horizon from behind the lighthouse and sweep down to grab a fish from the Lake.

The garden is filled with yellow weaver birds busy building nests on the thorn trees and my niece is busy building sand castles on the beach

no time climbing up the stairs and into the room with a view. Its Bredo's dream house as he tells us about the building of the light house, which could be the only light house on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria with justifiable pride.

“I build bridges,” says Bredo a Norwegian. He has worked in many countries in Africa and it was during one such project that he landed at Mbita point and met his wife Louise, and set up a new home on the shores of the Lake. That was in 1990 in between building bridges, Bredo has been busy working at Safari Village with the latest addition, the lighthouse.

The lighthouse is stunning. It reminds one of a calendar from Greece, with pictures of stark white houses surrounded by blue skies and waters.

We climb up the stairs and onto the patio eagerly waiting for Bredo to open the door to the light house. The white washed bedroom is spacious with windows opening to the Lake’s blue waters. It’s a beautiful roundavel with a four-poster bed facing the Lake, blue beaded Maasai necklaces on the walls and a small blue table and two chairs by the window. Blue is the traditional color of lighthouse decor. A platform with a collection of stones that once belonged to his mother forms an artistic showpiece of colors and shapes. There is nothing expensive in the room but it is a place you would, nevertheless, want to live in.

The platform conceals part of the staircase leading from the room to the bathroom below. If ever there was a bathtub with a view this has got to be it. If the wall wasn’t there, the bath tub would blend in with the Lake. No wonder the lighthouse is the honeymooners dream hideaway.

After our guided trip around the lighthouse, and having unpacked and lounged on the bed overlooking the sea. I mean, I’m a water person so I’ am totally sold out. We join Bredo in the garden for a cold beer. The bird life is just awesome. Within a few minutes at the lighthouse, I have seen a tiny malachite kingfisher fly past in hues of blue and orange, pied kingfishers and the African kingfishers leap out of the horizon from behind the lighthouse and sweep down to grab a fish from the Lake.

The garden is filled with yellow weaver birds busy building nests on the thorn trees and my niece is busy building sand castles on the beach

tairs and onto the patio eagerly waiting for Bredo to open the door to the light house. The white washed bedroom is spacious with windows opening to the Lake’s blue waters. It’s a beautiful roundavel with a four-poster bed facing the Lake, blue beaded Maasai necklaces on the walls and a small blue table and two chairs by the window. Blue is the traditional color of lighthouse decor. A platform with a collection of stones that once belonged to his mother forms an artistic showpiece of colors and shapes. There is nothing expensive in the room but it is a place you would, nevertheless, want to live in.

The platform conceals part of the staircase leading from the room to the bathroom below. If ever there was a bathtub with a view this has got to be it. If the wall wasn’t there, the bath tub would blend in with the Lake. No wonder the lighthouse is the honeymooners dream hideaway.

After our guided trip around the lighthouse, and having unpacked and lounged on the bed overlooking the sea. I mean, I’m a water person so I’ am totally sold out. We join Bredo in the garden for a cold beer. The bird life is just awesome. Within a few minutes at the lighthouse, I have seen a tiny malachite kingfisher fly past in hues of blue and orange, pied kingfishers and the African kingfishers leap out of the horizon from behind the lighthouse and sweep down to grab a fish from the Lake.

The garden is filled with yellow weaver birds busy building nests on the thorn trees and my niece is busy building sand castles on the beach

all wasn’t there, the bath tub would blend in with the Lake. No wonder the lighthouse is the honeymooners dream hideaway.

After our guided trip around the lighthouse, and having unpacked and lounged on the bed overlooking the sea. I mean, I’m a water person so I’ am totally sold out. We join Bredo in the garden for a cold beer. The bird life is just awesome. Within a few minutes at the lighthouse, I have seen a tiny malachite kingfisher fly past in hues of blue and orange, pied kingfishers and the African kingfishers leap out of the horizon from behind the lighthouse and sweep down to grab a fish from the Lake.

The garden is filled with yellow weaver birds busy building nests on the thorn trees and my niece is busy building sand castles on the beach.

“The lighthouse is a structure for guiding ships using sharp lights,” Bredo explains,” but they are going out of fashion because of the Global Positioning System. In the olden days light houses where marked on maps. In those old days people lived in lighthouses to take care of the lights and operate the fog horn to guide the ships.”

Growing up in Norway, Bredo spent many summer holidays in a light house which his father rented. It became a boyhood dream to build his own one day.

“Now I have the time to build one,” says the jovial Scandinavian. With a team of local artisans, he built the lighthouse in a year and opened it in October 2005.

“A lighthouse needs a very solid foundation because it’s surrounded by water and sand and built on a rocky peninsula. The walls are reinforced with columns and slope inwards.”

The place is magical. It's sunset, and Bredo has a table set on the beach from where he wants to show us a perfect sunset. The sky turns gold, orange and red, with the blue getting faint as it darkens. The sun, a ball of gold, begin to slide in the dark waters... bang in the middle of the twin Islands of Mbasa. Its stunning, its surreal.

“The sun sets between Mbasa Islands from December 23. It then begins to move true west,” he explains, pointing at Mfangano Island” and you see the sun setting there on September 23. It keeps moving and sets on the pointed peak on Rusinga Island on June 23,after which it shifts back to true west by March 23 and back to the twin Island by December 23.”

Fact file It’s a beautiful lodge and very economical. Drive to Kisumu, take the road to Bondo and turn off at Ndori, drive on the murram road to Luanda Kotieno. Its three hours from Kisumu. Alternatively drive via Kisii. There are eight bandas and the lighthouse. Great for families or those who want to get off the beaten track. You can also visit Ruma National Park while there.