The news out of East Africa was startling. For the first time in more than 60 years, a large new passenger ship was taking shape on Lake Victoria, one of the continent’s great lakes. The new boat had been projected for so long that it had become something of a myth. But the photos proved it was a reality: after years of chatter, the new Mwanza was a myth no more.
The question now was what would this mean for the new ship’s predecessor, the 1961-built Victoria? After six decades of service, was the writing finally on the wall for this old vessel, which had been a mainstay of public transport in East Africa for more than two generations? Just one thing seemed sure: if I wanted to pay my respects to the old Victoria, I had better get there sooner rather than later.
For the time being, (or ‘’ as she has been known since emerging from an extensive refit in 2020) sails across the Lake three times a week in each direction. Originally built for a 750-mile ‘round-the-lake’ service calling at ports in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, she plies a simple 110-mile diagonal course across Lake Victoria’s lower quarter, sailing between
