Lake Kivu is the largest of all the fresh water lakes that are found in the valleys of Rwanda. The lake shore has got steep and terraced hills as well as the three resort towns. These include; Kibuye, Gisenyi as well as Cyangugu. These small towns also welcome a treat in between the active hikes to find the gorillas and the chimpanzees in the nearby volcanoes and Virunga National Parks.
The tourists here can relax, swim as well as taking a boat cruise past the small lake side villages that give a rewarding glance of the rural life. The towns are connected by a larger roller coaster road that passes through the lush plantain fields and the remainder patches of the hazy rain forest that gives the sweeping views over the sparkling lake.
It’s situated among the mountains of the Rift valley and the volcanic Virunga Mountains to the north, the unequal shores of the lake form variety inlets and the peninsulas plus the countless forest fringed waterfalls. The lake is set in the rift valley that makes it one of the deepest lakes in the world. This lake is 2650sq km dotted with fresh water that spans and the largest of all the lakes that fill the valleys of Rwanda. It also pours into Ruzizi River that flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika.
The tourists can view the local fishermen oaring through the waters in the traditional dugout canoes, as the brightly dressed women decorate the villages, playing the guitars and smoking from the wooden pipes. This lake is a perfect place in between the gorillas and chimps in the nearby parks.
You also find well organised boat trips that give the guests a good way of adventuring the area of the lake as its surrounding the rural life that lives out in the nearby villages at the edges of the lake. After this good but tiring gorilla trekking tour, chimpanzee trekking and game drives in Akagera National park, this lake also offers the best places for resting and healing. Those interested in sun bathing, swimming as well as water sports, the Rivera town of Gisenyi is also the best place to be.
If you like complete privacy for both physical and mental relaxation, we recommend Kibuye Guest House that is located in the south of the lake. In case you love the speed boats, canoe sailing, mountain walks, picnics, Kibuye will definitely offer you all the necessary facilities to your well satisfaction. There are lovely villas that are found along the tree lined shores, the white beaches and the lake being crystal clear.
You will also find an extraordinary beautiful inland sea that is surrounded by steep, green terraced hills along the border of Congo to the three towns of Gisenyi, Cyangugu and Kibuye which stand at the coastal and connected by the wild coaster road that passes through the lush plantain fields and the relic patches of the misty rain forest that offers sweeping views over the blue waters. It’s one of the most classic roads to Africa. You will get to find the charter boat service on the lake that connects the 3 towns.
Gisenyi is the most developed of these resorts and lays few hours’ drive from Volcanoes National park and is set on the sandy beach that is lined with the palms and the colonial area hotels that radiate an atmosphere of the tropical lethargy. There are some palms and colonial era hotels that give off on the atmosphere of the tropical sloth.
At Kibuye town, to the south of Rwanda, the safari activities are positioned on the modern lake shores guest house that overlooks the pine covered hills that are transplanted from the Alps. There is Cyangugu that is just near to Nyungwe Forest, whose passive tourist development is waged for by the rousing setting of the curving inlets that wind into the narrow valleys.
The Lake is the largest of the many fresh water bodies that gleam in the valleys of Rwanda. The lakes of Ruhondo and Burera are close to gorilla trekking centre in Ruhengeri and are often neglected yet have got deep blue waters and are ringed by the steep hills and tall waterfalls in the nearby Virunga Volcanoes that offers a fantastic back drop.
Far away from the main resorts, Rwanda’s lakes that give the guests a rewarding glance into the ancient African styles. Within this place, the fishermen lay the water in dugout canoes unchanged in design for the centuries as the colourful dressed ladies that smoke the traditional wooden pipes and the troubadours that plays sweetly on the stringed guitars. The bird life is so fantastic with the flotillas of pelicans that sail heavily across the open waters crowned cranes cleaning their golden crests in the near surrounding swamps.
To discover the three main vibrant resort towns, following the many water sports activities they have to offer and boating to the many islands on the lake are also some of the many activities carried out in the area include; the guests are offered to the ancient African life styles as the men go about their fishing and the women that fill the air with the played sound of the traditional guitars. The area is full of birds that surround the lake and some of these include; pelicans, crowned cranes, as well as the malachite kingfishers. The other activities include; sun bathing, water sports, canoes, speed boats, picnics and the mountain walks.
The tourists can also base themselves at one of the best accommodation facilities that are around Lake Kivu and between days at the shores of the lakes enjoying the sun and many other activities. You can also visit the nearby national parks of Volcanoes, Nyungwe as well as Akagera National Park.