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Lake Kivu has beautiful beaches
and is a popular tourist attraction, playing host to the popular Serena hotel on
its shores. Lake Kivu is 55.3 miles long and just under 30 miles wide, and lies
in the Albertine Rift Valley. Water from Lake Kivu flows into the Ruzizi River, which, in turn, flows
southwards into Lake Tanganyika. Lake Kivu was an unknown wonder to Europeans,
despite their presence in Africa, until 1894 when it was visited by the German
Count Adolf von Gotzen. Today, Rwanda is working to generate power from the presence of methane and
other gasses deep under the lake that could power the entire country (see video
below). Currently that production stands at just 4% of the country's
consumption.
This methane
effectively means that Lake Kivu cannot sustain wildlife although shoals
of fish live there but remain close to shore supporting the livlihoods of the 6,563 fishermen who work the Lake, although this number has declined since the Rwandan genocide as many of these fishermen and their family's were killed during that conflict. Indeed, Lake Kivu became notorius during that period as many of those slaughtered had their bodies dumped in the lake. Today, with peace restored, around two million people live in the basin of Lake Kivu. Lake Kivu has three towns on its shore Gisenyi, Rubona and
Kibuye and has a number of
islands within its waters one of which, Idjwi, is the world's
tenth largest inland island.
Boat trips are available, and a must
visit is Amahoro Island, known as the one bar island because
that's all that is there, a solitary bar! Whilst this is a commercial video (below) promoting the Serena Hotel,
it does full justice to the lake, its recreational facilities
and awesome beauty. After you've seen the video, why not explore
Lake Kivu using our interactive map above right, and although you
can't see them, there are many Rwandan army patrol boats
policing the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo to
ensure there is no unwanted migration from there.
Lake Kivu: Rwanda Country Profile
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Lake Kivu: Main Lakes of Africa
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