Twin rift valley lakes of Burera and Ruhondo

Market in Musanze with Mt. Muhabura in the background

Scenic Lake Burera

First morning in Kigali I woke up and had a quick breakfast which included delicious tropical fruits and the first task for the day was to exchange my US dollars into Rwandan Francs. All the illegal money exchangers are supposedly outlawed by the government but I didn't have to try hard to find one who gave me a really good rate.

Left: Blacksmith at a local market      Center: A local kid from Lake Burera    Right: A grinning old woman
with scale

Laying the sorghum to dry

The sourghum is used to make a local beer

After exchanging sufficient cash to last the next few days I met up with Silvia and we headed to the local bus stand from where we took the local transport to the town of Musanze (formerly called as Ruhengeri). The town situated in the north-west of Rwanda not far from Uganda sits in the shade of the impressive Virunga mountain chain and forms the base for all excursions into the Volcanoes National Park where the country's iconic mountain gorillas reside.

More stunning views of the lake from the mountainous road

Walking was the chief way of getting to
nearby for most Rwandans 

After coming from the flat lands of Liberia, the ride through Rwanda’s mountains with their gentle slopes speckled with terraced fields on the way to Musanze was a pleasant sight in every sense. As per our permits, we were to track the gorillas a couple days later and since the Rwandan Tourism Board are pretty strict about changing dates we were left with an odd day in the middle for which we had to come up with a plan.

Waving at us as we pass by

After checking into the hotel in Musanze we asked the reception if they could get us in touch with someone who could help with planning a day trip in the vicinity. I was still feeling the lack of sleep from the late arrival the night before so I decided to take a quick nap but just as I was about to snooze the reception called saying Theodore, a guide and a tour organizer from the local community was waiting in the lobby. Theodore, as was characteristic of all Rwandan  I had met, was a soft spoken unassuming guy. He helped us come up with a plan of visiting the nearby rift valley lakes of Burera and Ruhondo.

View from Rusumo waterfall

View of the Rugezi swamp

Most tourists to Rwanda just fly in to Kigali and are taken straight to Musanze and then towards the Volcanoes National Park for the gorilla trek. Since it is such a small country and has fairly good roads the ride from Kigali to the Volcanoes National Park is just about 3 hours in a private vehicle making it perfectly feasible to visit the gorillas in a day and then return back to the capital. Because of this, most tourists upon finishing the trekking return straight back to Kigali and exit the country without exploring much of the country.

Swamp fields

Beehive for collecting honey

It is a little bit of a shame but I can’t be too critical of this fly in-trek- fly out tours because most visitors are short on time and with the wealth of wildlife attractions in other East African countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda I can understand why this option is so popular.

For me it meant that the lakes of Burera and Ruhondo would be less explored. Lake Kivu, another of Rwanda’s rift valley lakes further south is popular among Rwandans as a resort destination so it gets some traffic but the twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo would be completely devoid of tourists and there in lay its attraction.

Shores of Lake Burera

Collecting reed grass as fodder for cattle

Fishing in Lake Ruhondo

The following morning Theodore picked us up from the hotel and we headed north towards the border with Uganda. Rwanda shares good relations with its neighbor to the north and their proximity as well as good connection of roads means that there is healthy trade between people on both sides of the border. Most Rwandans export agricultural goods and import a lot of consumer goods like clothing and electronics.

Virunga chain of mountains
(L to R: Muhabura, Gahinga, Karisimbi)

Kinigi Guesthouse

According to Theodore, the consumer goods are a lot cheaper on the Ugandan side but some of the best potatoes are grown on the Rwandan side. Judging by the numerous potato farms along the way I could see why Rwanda is the export hub for potatoes in the region.

Before we reached the border we veered off the main road to head to the northern section around Lake Burera.

View of distant hills from Kinigi

The views from the mountainous road around the lake were stunning especially the snaking road on the northern edge of the lake. The scenery was so enchanting that we felt like asking our driver to stop every few minutes to take a picture. Silvia even commented that this felt like one of the alpine countries in Europe and coined the term "Switzerland of Africa". I haven't been to that region so can't compare and quite possibly she might have exaggerated but the point was that it was really stunning scenery.

After rounding out the two lakes which included market visit in a small town, the pretty Rusumo waterfall and paddling in a dugout canoe in Lake Ruhondo we were dropped off at our guest house at Kinigi close to the park office.

Fetching water at twilight hour 

The mountains where the gorillas awaited us the next day

I had an appointment with the mountain gorillas the next day and didn't want to be late so a quick supper and it was time to call it a night. The bed and the room were a little damp but so was most of Kinigi since it lay at a higher altitude at the foot of the volcanic mountains.

As I switching off the light I dozed off dreaming about encountering these magnificent apes that had so far only given me a fleeting glimpse.