Yala Swamp Travel Guide: Top Sights in Kenya, Tours & Travel Advice -

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Yala Swamp- Travel Tips What to See, How to Plan & Tours: Natural Scenery; Kenya; 5 Reviews

Suggested Duration: 4 hours

Yala Swamp is a 175-km² freshwater wetland on the northeastern shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya, spanning Siaya and Busia counties. It includes the oxbow Lake Kanyaboli and smaller satellite lakes such as Sare and Namboyo. Fed by floodwaters from the Yala and Nzoia Rivers, and by backflow from Lake Victoria, Yala Swamp plays a critical hydrological role—filtering silt and agricultural runoff before waters enter the lake. The swamp is biologically rich, sheltering species that have largely disappeared from Lake Victoria itself. Among them are several haplochromine cichlid fish and the sitatunga, a swamp-adapted antelope. Yala Swamp has also been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area, with papyrus specialist birds like the papyrus gonolek, papyrus canary, swamp flycatcher, and a variety of migratory species. More than 250,000 people depend on its ecosystem services—for fishing, clean water, papyrus for crafts and shelter, flood regulation, and soil fertility in surrounding farmlands.

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Reviews of Yala Swamp

Sydney owuor

5
Reviewed: 2023-01-24

Awesome place with serene and great scenery.
STARDHAVEN

5
Reviewed: 2021-08-05

It's a cool place to visit
Collins Bigogo

4
Reviewed: 2019-05-05

It is a wetland region of over 200 square kilometers that covers both Siaya and Busia counties. The swamp is a habitat for over 100 species of birds, the endangered sitatunga antelope, endangered fish species such as Oreochromis esculentus and Oreochromis variabilis.
Felix Nambasi Ojiambo

3
Reviewed: 2019-04-14

The natural environment offers some conducive life to the community who reside their.
Tom Mwiraria

3
Reviewed: 2018-05-18

Yala Swamp in Siaya is the home to the rare and critically endangered Sitatunga antelope. Classified by the Birdlife international as one of the 60 important bird areas in Kenya ,Yala Swamp hosts uncommon bird species ,the papyrus gonolek,the blue breasted bee eater ,the swamp flycatcher ,the white winged, the great snapper and the Bailor’s crane. The swamps harbors threatened fish species oreochromis variables and oreochromis that have disappeared from the lakes in Kenya. Yala wetland is 200 square km2and covers the north-eastern shore of Lake Victoria .The swamp acts as a filter for waters that flow into Lake Victoria .