Lake Kivu: A Traveller's Guide

Short answerLake Kivu is one of very few large African lakes you can swim in — no hippos, no crocodiles, and generally regarded as free of bilharzia. It sits along Rwanda's western border, a short drive from Volcanoes National Park, which makes it the natural decompression stop after a gorilla trek. Two nights is the sweet spot.

After a gorilla trek most people want a day that starts later than 05:30 and involves no mud. Kivu is where Rwanda puts that day: a large, deep, island-scattered lake with the mountains of DR Congo on the far shore and nothing much to do.

What Lake Kivu is

Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes, sitting in the Albertine Rift along the border between Rwanda and DR Congo. It is deep, steep-sided, and ringed by terraced hills that drop straight into the water.

The absence of hippos and crocodiles is the thing that matters to a visitor, and it is unusual — it makes Kivu one of only two lakes we routinely recommend swimming in on a regional trip, the other being Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda. The comparison is worth making: Bunyonyi is smaller, higher and colder; Kivu is bigger, warmer and more developed.

Rubavu, Karongi or Rusizi?

What to do

• Swim. The main event, and the thing you cannot do at most lakes in the region.
• Boat trips out to the islands, including Napoleon Island with its colony of fruit bats.
• Kayaking and paddleboarding along the shoreline.
• Watch the fishermen. The traditional triple-hulled boats go out at dusk singing, and come back at dawn. Genuinely one of the more memorable sights in Rwanda.
• Coffee and tea estates on the hills behind the lake, several of which run tours.
• Hot springs near Rubavu.
• Cycle a section of the Congo Nile Trail.

The Congo Nile Trail

The trail runs roughly 227 km along the lake between Rubavu and Rusizi, following the shoreline through villages, plantations and forest. Cycling the full route takes about five days; walking it takes around ten.

Very few visitors do the whole thing, and there is no need to. A single day's ride out of Rubavu or Karongi gives you the character of it — steep, unpaved, slow, and through a landscape of terraced hills and small farms where the reception from children along the road is a substantial part of the experience.

Swimming, and the methane question

This comes up because it sounds alarming. Lake Kivu holds very large volumes of dissolved methane and carbon dioxide in its deep water, held in place by the pressure and stratification of the lake.

It is a real scientific subject, it is monitored, and the methane is now being extracted commercially to generate electricity — you can see the extraction platform offshore from Rubavu. None of this affects swimming or anything else a visitor does. The gas sits far below the surface layers.

Where to stay

Accommodation is modest by comparison with the lodges near Volcanoes — see where to stay for gorilla trekking in Rwanda — and considerably cheaper, which is part of why adding two Kivu nights to a gorilla trip costs so much less than people expect.

Where Kivu fits

Almost always after the gorillas, rarely before. The logic is the same as Bunyonyi in Uganda: an early-morning briefing is not something you want to travel to from a lake, and a lake is exactly what you want afterwards.

For the whole-country picture see planning a trip to Rwanda, and for the forest at the southern end of the lake, the Nyungwe guide.

We put Kivu into most Rwanda itineraries of five days or more. Tell us how long you haveand we'll say where it belongs.

Lake Kivu: common questions

Can you swim in Lake Kivu? Yes. Kivu is one of the few large African lakes where swimming is straightforward — it has no hippos or crocodiles and is generally considered free of bilharzia. It is the standard place to unwind after gorilla trekking for exactly that reason.

Where is the best place to stay on Lake Kivu? Rubavu (Gisenyi) in the north if you are coming from Volcanoes National Park — it is the closest and has the most developed lakefront. Karongi (Kibuye) in the middle is quieter and prettier, with islands and inlets, and sits well on the route south to Nyungwe.

Is Lake Kivu dangerous because of methane? Lake Kivu holds large volumes of dissolved methane and carbon dioxide in its deep waters, which is a genuine subject of scientific monitoring and is now being commercially extracted for power generation. It poses no hazard to swimming or to visitors at the surface, and the lake is a normal, busy recreational and fishing lake.

What is the Congo Nile Trail? A route running roughly 227 km along Lake Kivu's shoreline between Rubavu and Rusizi, usable on foot or by mountain bike. Cycling it takes about five days and walking it around ten, though most visitors ride or walk a single section rather than the whole thing.

How far is Lake Kivu from Volcanoes National Park? Rubavu on the northern shore is a comparatively short drive from Musanze and Volcanoes National Park, which makes it the natural next stop after a gorilla trek rather than a separate expedition.

How many nights should you spend at Lake Kivu? Two is the sweet spot — one full day to swim, take a boat trip and do nothing in particular. One night works as a staging post on the way to Nyungwe. Three or more if you want to cycle a stretch of the Congo Nile Trail.