One of Africa’s great lakes, Kivu is the sixth-largest and eighteenth-deepest lake in the world, covering a whopping surface area of roughly 2,700 square kilometres and reaching to almost 500 metres at its maximum depth. Three vibrant resort towns – Kibuye, Gisenyi and Cyangugu – located on its shores provide an array of lodging options, while the steep hills that surround it are peppered with forests and waterfalls. Water sports enthusiasts will have a field day at Lake Kivu, and bird watchers are likely to be equally thrilled by the lake’s diverse menagerie of avian species.