Rwanda Erupting Lake Kiwu

Lake Kivu is one of the most significant and notable lakes of Africa that is located on the borderline of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and is also the constituent of the Great Rift Valley’s western side. Its water flows into the River Ruzizi that drains southward in the Tanganyika lake. The name has originated from the Bantu language word ‘kivu’ meaning ‘lake’ and is very well known as it contains huge reserves of methane gas and carbon-dioxide that can produce power and electricity in abundance and for that purpose many researchers and enthusiastic tourists take cheap flights to Kigali to observe one of the most amazing and fascinating water body.

It covers an area of about 2,700 square kilometres and is elevated at a height of approximately 4,790 feet. Around 58 per cent lake’s water touches Congo border and the whole lake is perched on the Rift Valley which is slowly displacing with time and that causes sudden volcanic activities. The lake has the depth of about 1,575 feet that assigns it the rank eighteen as compared to the other lakes of the world. The most striking feature of the lake is that it is the home of the world’s tenth largest inland island known as Idjwi, along with the mini Tshegera island that has its borders with Virunga National Park; besides other settlements on the shore are Goma, Sake, Kalehe, Kabare, Bukavu in Congo while Cyangugu, Kibuye, Gisenyi in Rwanda.

The lake is very famous for containing about 55 billion cubic metres of methane gas in the depth of almost 1,000 feet. By the end of 2004, the extraction was carried out on a very small scale and was consumed for Bralirwa brewery of Gisenyi and boilers. The government is now taking important steps to make the extraction possible which will definitely help to stabilize the country’s economy. The lake also serves as the home of about 28 species of fish such as Limnothrissa miodon, Nile Tilapia., Haplochromis, Clarias and Barbus. The endemic species of cichlids were recorded to be around 2000-4000 tons per year and Lake Kivu is the only lake in which the species of Limnothrissa miodon has been introduced. Recent studies have also proved the availability of Tropocyclops confines Kiefer, Mesocyclops aequatorialisKiefer and Thermocyclops consimilis Kiefer at the lake.

Lake Kivu is encircled by three attractive resorts; Cyangugu, Kibuye  and  Gisenyi and amongst all the Gisenyi offers the maximum number of thrilling activities such as water sports, swimming, sunbathing, canoe sailing, speed boats or just a calm walk along turquoise and crystal clear water for relaxation and tranquillity. This developed and well-known resort sets along with a white sandy beach that is speckled with colonial style hotels and swaying palms. Lake Kivu is undoubtedly a gleaming and shimmering water body of Rwanda valley which is surrounded by green and steep terraced cliffs, enough to cast a spell on tourists. So this time whenever you plan your holiday trip, don’t forget to include the name of Lake Kivu in your list.