Kibuye sits on the shore of Lake Kivu in western Rwanda, and the setting is the best argument for coming. The lake is long, deep and hemmed in by steep green hills, with a coast of small bays and peninsulas and islands covered in forest. On a calm morning the water is a sheet of pewter and fishermen paddle out in wooden boats lashed together in threes, their nets draped across long poles. The town, called Karongi in official use, is a quiet place with a small harbour, a few hotels and a handful of lakeside cafes.
Kivu is an unusual lake. It is one of the African Great Lakes, but it has no hippos or crocodiles and no bilharzia, so swimming is safe, and it holds enormous quantities of dissolved methane, which Rwanda now extracts to generate power. Boat trips go out to Napoleon Island, where a colony of fruit bats hangs in the trees, and to other small islands with good views. Rwandan coffee, grown on the surrounding slopes, is excellent, and a cup beside the water is a pleasure.
Kibuye also has a darker past. During the 1994 genocide, many thousands of people were killed in and around the town, including at the church on the hill, and the church is now a memorial where visitors can pay their respects. It is a sombre, quiet place, and visitors are asked to behave with care and respect.
The road along the lake, part of the Congo Nile route, is one of the great rides of East Africa. It twists through the hills in a long run of bends, climbing and dropping past tea plantations, banana groves and small villages, and the tarmac is good by regional standards. Rwanda enforces speed limits and helmets strictly, so stay within the law, and watch for pedestrians, bicycles loaded with bananas and motorbike taxis. Fill the tank at Kibuye or the larger towns. Rain is frequent, particularly from March to May, and the hills can be misty in the early morning.