Gisenyi & Lake Kivu

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I left Kigali to go check out Gisenyi or Ruhengeri. Since 2006, the Rwandese government has started a programme of renaming a lot of the provinces and towns. This can lead to quite a bit of confusion when looking for a bus to a town that is no longer known by that name anymore. I’m not sure of the reasons for the renaming of the towns, but someone told me that some of the names have either Hutu or Tutsi connotations and it is an effort to neutralise this, as everyone is ‘Rwandan’ now.



Gisenyi is on the shores of Lake Kivu and is right next to the border with the DRC. From the shores of Lake Kivu you can see into Goma. At the time of the genocide, there would have been a steady mass of people moving through this town towards the relative safety of the Congo. The reverse happened years later, when many refugees wanted to come home, despite the threats from the escaped Interhamwe.



Gisenyi has, therefore, seen quite a bit of turmoil and, being honest, I think this is still visible. The streets down by the lake are quite pleasant and well maintained, but the rest of the town is very run down and is a stark contrast to Kigali.



There is not a whole lot see or do in Gisenyi except for the lake. Lake Kivu is one of three known exploding lakes, along with Cameroonian Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun, that experience violent lake overturns. This means that it has a unique combination of methane and carbon dioxide, which means that potentially a methane explosion could occur releasing sufficient carbon dioxide to suffocate all the people surrounding it. With 2 million people in the immediate area of the basin, this would be devastating, although quite unlikely. I was too late to go for a swim the day I got there, but got one in on the day I left. My only night there, I spent chatting with an English guy working for the MSF in the DRC, 50 km or so north of Goma. He was on a few days break and told me a few stories, which confirmed that DRC was not a place for tourists right now.

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