In the Luo dialect it means "the sunken village", the "Simi Nyaima" is a wonderful little volcanic lake in the Karachuonyo area of western Kenya, not far from Lake Victoria in the Nyanza region.
Here, just a few kilometres away, lies Kendu Bay, already known for its ancient origins and undiscovered prehistoric sites that make it a potential tourist destination of worldwide interest.
Simi Nyaima, on the other hand, is a centre of tourism with potential for development in the spa sector.
The lake water, which is very saline and sulphurous, is believed to have important curative qualities.
Its smell can be smelled forty kilometres away and the salt extracted from the basin is sold for various uses.
Lake Simbi Nyaima is also a seasonal landing place for flamingos during their migration from other places such as Lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, Lake Natron and other Rift Valley lakes. 
Geologists date the formation of the volcano's reservoir to around the 15th century, although a major earthquake, possibly in the 1860s, resulting in a lava eruption, is thought to have altered the area. 
But for the local community the origins are much older, and have inevitably created numerous legends.
It is said that once upon a time there was a large village, Simbi, on the lakeshore, which lived on fishing and shared serenity. The land was fertile and the water fresh.
But, as is often the case, wealth brought greed and envy and rivalry arose and the community was distinguished by greed and arrogance. 
When the young villagers, in the middle of a feast of plenty, refused to care for and look after a malnourished old woman who wandered from hut to hut asking for food, a curse fell on the village in the form of a violent storm that plunged the village into the lake and drove away the other tribes, who fled to Tanzania, where they still live and pass on the legend of their birthplace.