Under A Million Miles Of Sky: Sporting on Lake Victoria: Boat Racing, Tug-of War, Wrestling, and More

Children stand in a beached boat at Marenga Beach, watching a race boat pass by the shoreline while practicing for the upcoming race.

My area may have generally sacrificed much of their traditional culture in favor of a more western lifestyle, but at least one time each year, my community harkens back to the days of old, when their traditions were strong and distinct.

The Abanyala people have a strong heritage in both water and land sports. The main traditional sports for the Abanyala are three: boat racing, tug-of-war, and wrestling. The winners from this region would move onto national competition in Kisumu. From there, the top teams would move on to represent the nation against teams from the other East African nations bordering Lake Victoria: Uganda and Tanzania. The Abanyala people are very well represented in the lore of past champions.

These traditions continue through today, but whereas they used to be practiced throughout the year, they are now reserved only for the Christmas season. I had the pleasure of attending these events over the past few days.

The sporting events are held over three days: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day (December 26th).

Port Victoria, in my district, hosted the Christmas Eve events. I had to choose between boats at Marenga Beach, or land sports in town. I chose boat racing, knowing that I'd be able to see the other sports on the final day.

Christmas Day involves primarily football and rugby in Sio Port, a village in the neighboring district of Samia, but I decided to spend the holiday in my village instead.

Bumbe, a small village just outside of Bunyala District, next to the town of Sisenye, hosted the final day of events on Boxing Day. Along the beach, many various sporting events were held, including boat racing, swimming, boxing, tug-of-war, and wrestling. At a nearby field, football and rugby matches were also held.

Marenga Beach, Bunyala District - Monday, December 24th

A panoramic of Lake Victoria taken Monday morning before the day's events.

While waiting for the festivities to get underway, I spent my time chatting with children from the New Hope orphanage in Budalang'i. I had just visited the orphanage on Tuesday, December 18th, and introduced myself to the kids, assembled in a classroom at the attached primary school. I fielded many diverse questions from them about myself and my background for about an hour. The orphanage hosts over 40 kids of ages ranging from primary through secondary school. They are a great group of kids. I really enjoyed spending time with them and plan on returning often next year to teach some life-skills classes.

Another panoramic from the shores of Marenga Beach as people gather to watch the impending boat races.

Several groups of 'wamama' kicked off the day with traditional singing and dancing.

Another group of local women from Bunyala dancing during Monday's festivities.

The boats raced in groups of four, classed by the number of rowers. The groups involved 8 rowers, 10 rowers, and 12 rowers, each with an additional man as a coxon, steering the boat with his oar. The boats began the race lined up out at sea, then raced through the course, marked with floating buoys.

The boats racing through the final stretch to the finish line at the beach. The course was quite long, and the rowers were strong, organized, and well-synchronized. They clearly train hard for this event. This was in stark contrast to the boat racing I witnessed at the Festival sur le Niger in Mali, when many of the boats were sinking by the time they got halfway out into the river. The Abanyala are much more competitive, and much more used to life in the water.

The crowd enthusiastically watches as the victorious boat approaches the shore. Supporters wave their flags in excitement.

Another panoramic of the shoreline, now packed with spectators.

Overcome with fervor, fans run into the lake, celebrating as their boat takes a narrow lead as it rounds a corner out at sea. Unfortunately, they lost their elation as another boat overtook theirs on the final stretch.

Fellow Peace Corps Volunteers Amber, Taneasha, Anna, and Brittnee visited me for the two days of events. We were able to head out in the guide boat during one of the heats for a closer view.

One of the teams cutting deftly through the waters.

The surrounding coastline was absolutely packed with spectators from nearby villages. It was a huge turnout, and completely local.

Bumbe, Samia District - Tuesday, December 26th

I arrived at the beach in Bumbe early, and met a friend of mine, Tobi, who works and lives in Budalang'i, but is originally from Bumbe and was spending the holidays there with his family. I went out with him on a boat to set the course with buoys.

A panoramic of the crowd along the wide, vast beach at Bumbe as they watch the boat racing get underway.

A group of 'wamama' from Samia District showing me their dance moves.

The first land sport of the day was boxing. These young boys had quite a height, and potentially an age disparity, but the smaller, shorter boy on the right held his own in a draw.

These young men had a dynamic match, the man on the left claiming victory over his opponent.

Tug-of-war is a sport well-entrenched in the culture of the Abanyala people. This originates from their traditional use of trawling fishing methods: setting nets out in the waters of Lake Victoria, which are then pulled in by long ropes from the coast, sweeping any fish with them.

A team of men struggling to hold on as their opponents trench in.

Entertainment for the day also included this improv group, performing in the local language Olusamia, a different dialect from Olunyala, the language of my district. The only real difference is that r's change to t's.

My favorite event of the day was another major tradition in the area: wrestling. The style is described as 'catch-if-you-can wrestling.' These men begin the match low, before launching themselves at one another, trying to get the best hold possible on their opponent.