A few weeks ago, a few of my friends and I traveled up to Gisenyi to visit Lake Kivu, a popular weekend spot for East African residents and visitors.
After a 3.5 hour bus ride full of winding roads, steep inclines, and near-death experiences trying to pass slow moving vehicles, we made it to Gisenyi town. Upon leaving our bus, we were immediately accosted by a herd of motos that wanted our business. Unfortunately, none of them were familiar with the place we were staying at, and so it took about 10 minutes (and a phone call) to clarify things. A few hundred meters later (yes, we could have walked), we arrived at the Presbyterian Guesthouse. This guesthouse was chosen, not for its location, but for its price. Since we were all budget travelers, the idea of paying a few dollars for a dorm-style bed was all we needed to agree on making the reservation.
Well, we found our way to Reception, and after overcoming some misunderstandings and language barriers, we deciphered the meaning of what the lady was telling us: there were separate dorm rooms for guys and girls. Well, the married couple in our group did NOT like the idea of that, and neither did I, since the idea of the dorm room sounded fun mainly because we would all be together in the same room. Note to self: Presbyterians have strict, conservative rules. Needless to say, we changed our housing situation and were all much, much happier in the end.
We then made our way to the lake, which, according to multiple people, was only be a 10 minute walk from our guesthouse. I believe it ended up taking about 30 minutes (better late than never!), but our walking was generously rewarded when we found ourselves on the property of The Serena, an up-scale, fancy hotel for people that can afford it. After making ourselves comfortable on their beachfront property, we were told by one of the staff that it would cost us 3,000 RWF ($5) to sit on their lawn chairs - but we could use their pool facilities. In light of the rumors about parasites in the lake (talk about a whole new meaning to SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK), we did not need much convincing.
After splashing around in the pool, playing Bananagrams while waiting for our lunch to arrive, and taking a much needed nap by the lake, we decided to check out the nearby hot springs. We were shockingly disappointed to find that the hot springs were really only a few puddles of boiling water. We were not impressed. Not impressed at all.
We ended the night at the restaurant at Hotel Malahide Paradis. The place had a pretty sweet view of the mountains, fishing boats and some little islands. Unfortunately, the food was a bit overpriced and the rain forced us indoors, but the staff gave us some coals in a bowl to warm our feet, so at the very least it was a nice and toasty little evening.
Overall, I'd say it was a pretty awesome weekend getaway, and all for about 50USD per person. Not bad. Not bad at all.
*I apologize for the scarcity of pictures. Rwanda internet just doesn't want to play nice.
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