I'm looking for the best option for crossing lake Victoria between Uganda (Entebbe) and Kenya (Kisumu) in either direction.
Before anyone suggest earthwise I have attempted calling them (number not found) and have emailed them, and as yet no reply.
My criteria for best is:
There is no international ferry operating on lake Victoria, scheduled or otherwise. There is a scheduled ferry between Mwanza and Bukoba, both in Tanzania.
It is possible, however, to travel from, specifically, Kampala to Mwanza, by boat. But, this basically requires going to the port and asking around for a berth on one of the cargo ships. I've not heard of anyone managing this between Kampala and Kisumu, but if you can find a cargo ship doing that route, you're likely able to find yourself a bed too.
In case you're wondering, I currently live in Kampala and have looked into crossing lake Victoria on several occasions myself.
I have no reliable information, but I'll post this anyway as an answer until someone finds reliable sources.
The traditional Lake Victoria ferries were discontinued in the mid-2000s after a series of accidents. The Ugandan government announced that it would bring in a replacement service but nothing came of that. Earthwise operates one ferry out of Uganda with two more to come, but they do not serve Kisumu.
It seems that there is no current ferry service between Kisumu and Entebbe.
As of 11/2016 no international ferries are crossing Lake Victoria and it is actually illegal to take a commercial boat into Tanzania from Kenya. A few sites claim they have ferries but none are actually running. I'll be circumnavigating the lake again in march 2017 and will check again.
Earthwise are not a real company as best as I can tell. They are always about to have a ferry and have investors but never have a ferry.
