Lake Kivu (first part - fishermen)
on Geri Skeen (Rwanda), 15/Mar/2011 11:05, 34 days ago
Just back from a night at Kibuye on Lake Kivu. We took a boat to an island with just one building, a restaurant, on it. We ordered lunch, knowing it was likely to take 2-3 hours to materialise (never go hungry to a Rwandan restaurant) then had a swim. Vanessa and I swam right round the island. I guess it took us about 45 minutes.   Last weekend I was on Lake Kivu too, spending two nights at a fishing village near Gisenyi, right by the DRC border, with another VSO volunteer, Michael, and a Rwandan teacher friend of his, Juliet. It was a beautiful guest house with many flowering plants which attracted colourful birds.We watched the fishermen go out at dusk and return again in the morning. They fish in sets of three boats, connected by poles, along which they manage to walk between the boats, even at sea. The middle boat has lights to attract the fish. Each boat has a boom front and back for attaching the nets. Here they are on their return, still in the distance:And closer in:Closer still:We could hear the fishermen singing as they paddled. You can just hear them on this video:SORRY - INTERNET TOO SLOW FOR ME TO UPLOAD VIDEO.  WILL TRY ANOTHER TIME.They offload the fish to their womenfolk, who do the selling. Here’s the market, which is actually just the shore-line where the boats come in:The fish are only a few centimetres long; I’m told this is because of the methane which occurs naturally in the lake. They make a delicious snack, deep-fried in batter, and you eat them head and tail included.