Fishing in Rwanda is not as developed as other activities in the country as it is originally not a fishing state, despite its magical world of a thousand hills, and Primates including mountain gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park north of Rwanda, Fishing on Lake Kivu is among the best things to add on your gorilla Rwanda safari, Lake Kivu is the largest lake of Rwanda situated between the 2 countries and the other is the democratic republic of Congo, it is the 7th largest lake of Africa named among the Africa great lakes region, the size of the lake is approximately 2700 square kilometers along which are many islands. It is the 3rd deepest of the African Great Lakes.
Fishing on Lake Kivu is commercial, and sport fishing is done for travelers who would like to experience it, there are about 28 species of fish found on the lake most of which can only be seen in hear, it is a major fishing source for Rwanda as a country, providing lots of tons of fish annually, most of the fish species here are cichlids found in only Lake Kivu, other 4 species types like Tilapia species, sardine, and Nile perch have been introduced to the lake, surrounding the lake is a ray of bird species and small invertebrate animals and reptiles.
Fishing on Lake Kivu is quite interesting travelers are given a chance to spend a night with friendly fishermen, this is a new dynamic in Gisenyi, the whole experience is captured in photographs as they show you how to carefully go about the fishing without disturbing mother nature, the best time to experience fishing on the Lake is during the evening hours, you will notice that when the sunsets fishermen get busy, preparing for a night of fresh cut, so at around this time tourists who would like to enjoy the experience are also expected to be ready, the fishing experience takes all night long along the lake, at 6 pm the activity is sparked off, travelers on a separate boat will follow for 2-3 hours and then return.
Boats used to do fishing are canoe boats, and motorized boats, some of the items being carried on these boats include Lantens, fishing gears like nets, and hooks to ease the process of fishing, other things to do on the lake include boat trips done for 2-3 hours, birding on Lake Kivu, and the thrilling experience on the lake while engaging on the Kayaking. Outside Lake Kivu are national conservation areas of Rwanda which can be visited concurrently together with Lake Kivu, for example, mountain gorillas of the Volcanoes National Park, vast wildlife species in the Akagera National Park, and Chimpanzees of the Nyungwe Forest National Park.
In conclusion, Lake Kivu can be accessed from Kigali International Airport by road taking approximately +/-5 hours’ drive through the countryside of Rwanda passing through the most amazing views of mountain backdrops, hills, and valleys. It can also be reached by air through arranged helicopter flights to the destination.