Wrought iron gate for the Kisumu’s home
Kisumu’s home away from home
By Frankline Sunday
It is perhaps the best kept secret in Kisumu City yet famous with regulars from as far as Europe who make reservations three months in advance just so they can be guaranteed their favourite cottage.
The property is about five kilometres from Kisumu’s CBD in the leafy Tom Mboya estate. There are no sign posts along the 10 minutes’ drive from the city centre and no customised gateways announcing that you have arrived.
In fact, you’ll be forgiven for mistaking this place for just another plush residence for a well-to- do family with a passion for landscaping.
However, the plain wrought iron gate slides open into a serene one-acre paradise whose thick vegetation insulates the haven from the noisy traffic of the matatus, tuk tuks and boda bodas barely a stone’s throw away.
Swaying lush palm, jacaranda and Camel’s Foot trees form a cool canopy that gives the establishment a microclimate of its own, providing visitors with a welcome relief from the sweltering Kisumu heat.
Welcome to Panda’s Paradise, a small establishment of self-catering and fully-serviced cottages where visitors get to create for themselves an experience of rest and luxury away from home as they deem fit.
“We have guests who come for one day and we also have guests who have been here for more than a year,” explains Redemptor Osano, the manager of the facility.
Panda’s Paradise was once a three-bedroomed maisonette belonging to a wealthy Asian family and when the children grew up and moved out, their parents decided to expand and transform the property into guest cottages.
to be continued
