Lake Kivu is one of the Prime destinations that are always visited by travelers on safaris to Rwanda.

The lake is considered as part of the Great Lakes of Africa positioned at the boarder of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo lying with in the Albertine rift which is the western branch of the Great East African Rift valley, thus making it also easy to also be explored while on Congo Gorilla Safaris Tours.

The Kivu Lake has the outlet of River Ruzizi which flows to the south emptying into Lake Tanganyika. It can be noted that the first European to encounter the lake was a German National Count Adolf von Götzen in the year 1894 and the lake gained a notoriety position as the main dumping place for the genocide victims of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide.

The bed of Lake Kivu sits on the rift valley floor and it is continuously being pulled apart forming volcanic activity and enhancing its depth to its current maximum depth of 1,575feet about 480m which makes it the 18th world’s deepest lake making it an ideal attraction to be included on what to encounter while planning safaris to Rwanda.

Lake Kivu features Idwiji Island which stands as the tenth largest Island in the whole world. The lake also features the impressive tiny Island of Tshegera located within the Virunga National Park in the neighboring Congo.

There are series of lake shores settlements including the areas of Kabare, Bukavu, Sake, Kalehe and Goma in the Congo Democratic Republic while in Rwanda the settlements are featured at Cyangungu, Kibuye and Gisenyi.

Regarding tourism, Lake Kivu is by no means an ordinary Rwanda safari destination. It is a haven for a range of water activities that tourists can engage in while on Gorilla safaris in Rwanda.

Being a Bilharzia free lake with no Hippos and Crocodiles with favorable surface temperatures of 23 – 27 degrees Celsius, Lake Kivu is an ideal swimming point in Rwanda. No need to worry about the gases as they are trapped at 260m away from the shores.