Lake Kivu

After a fun filled and relatively cosmopolitan time in Kigali, Claire and I decided to spend a bit of time on Lake Kivu in the far West of the country. We were after some peace and quiet. We hopped on a bus to a small town on the lake called Karongi and a few hours later we had arrived. Karongi is situated on the edge of Lake Kivu and is surrounded by towering hillsides awash with greenery. The temperature was extremely hot, yet everything was still luscious. Once off the bus, Claire and I loaded up with all of our bags and walked to Home St Jean, the hotel we’d be staying at. We managed to negotiate with the lady on reception to keep our costs down, leading to us sharing a single room and not having the included breakfast. It’s little bits and pieces like this that can be agreed upon to save a lot of money on the trip. Besides, the breakfast menu had plenty of cheap options on it, which meant there was no need for the added five dollars each, when we could order an omelette for just 1,000 Rwandan Francs.

Claire and I unpacked in our little room and then soaked up the views. It was breath taking. Sprawling beneath us – we were pretty high in the air – was Lake Kivu, surrounded on all sides by large undulating terrain, all covered in different shades of green. The lake itself was calm and still, which only added to the picturesqueness off the scene and you could see, in the far distance the misty mountains of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On our first full day in Karongi, Claire and I went for a nice big hike. It was a very hot day and we were able to see plenty of the lake as we ventured away from the town around the peninsulas that were jutting out into the water. After an hour or so, we came upon a beach with a bar on it and decided to stop for some shade and a lakeside drink. We ended up sitting on the beach for an hour or so watching the locals messing around in the water, whilst we rehydrated with a few crisp cold sodas.

As we made our way off the beaten track, the day got even hotter. Our hike took us up hillsides and down dirt tracks and as we reached the top of each new incline we were presented with yet another stunning view of the lake from a brand new angle. After rounding one corner we came across a school where the children were playing in the field. One lad was walking along the road beside us. We passed him and said hello. “Hello,” he replied. “Do you speak English?” he asked. We told him we did. He was excited at the prospect of practicing his English with us and we had a nice little chat as he walked along the trail to collect some guava fruit. He ended up asking us how much education cost in England and when we told him that secondary education was free he was amazed. So amazed that he was trying to get us to help him arrange coming to England to study. We told him that it wasn’t as easy as that, and he seemed slightly saddened by the news. Besides, he was 19-years-old which meant, sadly for him, that starting secondary school in England would not be an option. And, when we told him the cost of university education in the UK, exchanged into Rwandan Francs, he was gobsmacked.

After a couple of days chilling in Karongi where there wasn’t a huge amount to do, we decided that we’d make the short trip up the lake to Giseny. Gisenyi is around 100km north of Karongi and is right on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. We hoped to be able to grab a bus that would take around two-and-a-half hours to get us from where we were to where we needed to be. However, we were sadly very wrong about this. First of all, we were told we would need to grab a bus from Karongi to Muhanga about 100km inland and from there we would then jump on another bus to get to Gisenyi, which was about another 100km away. So, off we went. We jumped on the bus and sure enough, around two hours later we had pulled up in Muhanga. Everything was running perfectly. We were then put on the next bus, being told that it was leaving at 11.30 – the time was 11.20 so we were pretty pleased with our timings. However, when we looked at our tickets the leaving time read 12.50. Perhaps there was a mistake on the printout, the bus had a few people on it already, so surely it wasn’t going to leave in another hour and a half. But, sure enough, we sat there for a full hour and a half before the bus pulled away. And, to make matters worse, this bus stopped about one hundred times along the way to let people on and off. It took five hours. Five hours, to travel around 100km. We had woken up 100km south of our intended destination, about a 2-and-a-half hour direct drive up the coast, and after leaving Karongi bus station at 9am, we arrived in Gisenyi roughly nine hours later.

However, we were not to be perturbed as Gisenyi was lovely. Discover Rwanda, the hostel in which we would be staying, was located right near a beautiful lakeside beach. We were intending to camp, but the rain was hammering down outside and luckily they had one room left. But, to our dismay, the room was only available for one night with the rest full, meaning we would have to camp the following day.

In the morning we awoke and moved out of our room before setting up our tent beneath a tree – if it did hammer it down we were not going to get drenched. After setting up camp we decided to head off for some kayaking. Our guide Francis was a friendly guy who grew up in the neighbouring Congo, but was now living here in Gisenyi. He showed us the basics and before we knew it we were launching our kayaks off the sandy beach into the crystal clear waters of the lake. We had two hours in the boats and Francis took us all over the lake, even crossing the border into Congo for about five minutes. Though it wasn’t long enough for us to tick the country off our list. We were also supposed to get a great view of the still active volcano, Mount Nyiragongo, situated in Goma just across the border, but it was hidden behind a giant cloud. Then, once we had paddled out away from the shore we were able to go for a quick swim, with Francis showing us the technique for getting in and out of your kayak without falling in. We both managed it perfectly on our first attempt, much to Francis’ dismay. He was eager to watch us tumble into the water.

After kayaking, Claire and I spent some time on the beach, before walking through town to have a drink at another beachside bar called Tam Tam Bikini Bar and Restaurant. We spent a few hours there watching the afternoon turn into early evening, enjoying a few beers watching large groups of Rwandans playing catch in the lake.