Gisenyi Town
Gisenyi town is a beautiful town in the northwestern province of Rwanda. It is found in the Rubavu district that is situated on the northern shore of the beautiful Lake Kivu. This is a destination for travelers looking for a beach resort or trip more to rest. Most of this town is comprised of beachy sand fronts and coral vegetation. Lake Kivu is one of Africa’s great lakes that is shared by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Lake Kivu is one of the lakes that have limnic eruptions where the carbon dioxide suddenly erupts from the surface and this is because of the lava that flowed into the lake from mount Nyiragongo on the last eruption of 2002. Lake Kivu is a wide and one of the deepest lakes in the world but accommodates several activities such as boat trips and fishing. Lake Kivu is also found in the Albertine region and empties into the Rusizi river further southwards to the Lake Tanganyika.
Gisenyi is a great final destination for travelers to relax and unwind from the tour especially those who have had many or challenging hikes. You can stretch out at the beach shores with a view of the Virunga volcanoes and if you get a good spot you will be able to see all the five of them from one point. You can take a boat trip visiting different the different islands and also have an opportunity to interact with the locals. You may also engage in the local therapeutic massages at the Kigarama hot springs. Make sure to check ask your driver guide to get you the best if you are interested. These hot springs are believed to be healing hot springs by the local community that stays around there. They usually visit these “magic waters” whenever they are not feeling well and have said to leave feeling healed thus the belief. The Kigarama hot springs are just 2 kilometers away from Brilawa Rwanda’s only brewery. This site is not only visited by the local community but also a common site now for tour activity. There are other hot springs in the region like the Gisenyi Hotspring, Kinigi Hot Springs, Bugarama Hot springs, Nyamyumba hot springs.
On your visit to the hot springs, you may also be educated about the formation of these tourist attractions and learn some history that the site may carry.
Gisenyi town has various hot spots with great accommodation facilities like Lake Kivu Serena hotel, Paradise Malahide, Palm beach resort, Asante Hotel, and Gorillas Lake Kivu Hotel. Reach out to your operator to get you the ideal accommodation in your budget range and great views of the wonderful lake. Relax, explore as you have fun can all be achieved in Gisenyi town.
There are also other tour activities you may engage in like join in on the coffee experience, camping tour, night fishing that takes about 4 hours, also on the Gisenyi boat trip you may have an Island visit to fly bats and also visit the blue monkey that stays on napoleon island.
Gisenyi has 2 borders that cross to the republic of Congo that is the Grande barrier and the Petite barrier which is currently closed. This petite barrier is nothing like its name as one might think it is the smaller one but this border is much bigger than the Grande barrier actually and had a higher number of people crossing when it was still open. Gisenyi is a much smaller town as compared to the neighboring city of Goma.
Goma city may be a tourist hot spot but is still a bit remote so always take note of your surroundings to avoid loss of property.
