Kibuye is easilly accessed from Kigali (a couple of hours drive), but more commonly used as a stop over point between Nyungwe and the northern lake shores of Gisenyi. Because of this new good road link, many families from Kigali come to Kibuye for weekends on the lake shores. Former Kibuye residents who ran away through the genocide are also now coming home and businesses are building up which is providing a great feel to the streets with several pavement cafes and hotels and employment being provided again.
The town spread over a serious of hills with lagoon like bays of Lake Kivu surrounding it. The hills around are covered in farmlands and the pine and eucalyptus trees give it a feeling more like alpine Europe than Central Africa!
Sadly, during the genocide, Kibuye experienced one of the worst slaughters of Tutsis anywhere in Rwanda. Whole communities were killed. Near the sprts centre you can see one of the mass graves of more than 10,000 people. The town however, is positive and forward looking and is gaining benefit from government plans to construct a power plant to convert the lake's methane to usable gas and the next is the provision of proper paved roads to link Butare and Cyangugu with Kibuye.
There are several boats on the lake which visitors can hire for boat trips and even as transfers between Kibuye and Gisenyi (quicker than by road at present!).
Kibuye town has a relaxed feel to it and it's perfectly safe to wander around. We provide you with a local driver guide who can take you out and about. You can visit Karongi Catholic Church and Nyange Catholic Church two local genocide memorial churches that were scene of untold atrocities in the April-July period of 1994. Visit Gisovu the biggest tea plantation in Rwanda, where you can meet with local farmers and interact with them, learning about their daily life, opportunities and challenges. From Kibuye, you can also access the Source of the Nile trail in northern Nyungwe from the tea plantation.
Kibuye has a big market on Fridays and a normal street market other days of the week. There is an easy circular walk around Kibuye town. Dining out at local restaurants is a nice way of meeting and interacting with the local people.
Congo-Nile River Basins. You can take a short drive north to a little place called Kabeza (12 kms) and climb up the forested area to the top of Congonil hill which marks the divide between rivers Congo and Nile basins. On the top of this hill, in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary and facing north-west, all water systems on the right flow into the Nile basin and those on the left flow into the Congo basin; two of the largest and most important river systems in Africa.
The River Nile's basin covers about 10% of the entire surface area of Africa (3.25M km²) via its 2 great tributaries; the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The world's longest river, her basin touches a total of nine countries - Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan and Egypt. River Congo, the second longest river in Africa (4,700 km) and the deepest river in the world, flows through the Congo rainforest, the second largest in the world. It has the second largest flow and second-largest drainage basin in the world, 2nd only to the Amazon.
