Lake Bunyonyi also called Place of many little birds is located in south western Uganda between two districts of Kisoro and Kabale close to the border with Rwanda. It’s Located at 1,962 m (6,437 ft) above sea level, it is about 25 km long and 7 km wide. The depth of the lake is expected to vary between 44 m and 900 m which if true would make the lake the second deepest in Africa. It is one of the few lakes in the region that is rumored to be free of bilharzia and safe for swimming.
Its 29 islands are concentrated in the central part and have few settlements but instead they are mostly used for tourist facilities and for secondary as well as a primary school study tours.
Towns on its shores include Kyevu and Muko, while its 29 islands include Punishment Island and Bushara Island. It is a popular location for watersports and is known for the surrounding terraced hillsides. It is popular with both foreign and domestic tourists and there is a wide variety of tourist accommodation.
Many tourists and travelers who undertake a Gorilla trekking safari in Uganda or come to Uganda after their Rwanda Gorilla safari experience rest and relax at the beautiful Lake Bunyonyi as they enjoy the best scenery in the whole world, involve themselves into various cultural and community activities as well birding and canoe rides. The lake’s main Centre is Bufuka Village which is the area’s inhabited by two tribes of the Bakiga and the Batwa.
Activities at Lake Bunyonyi
Activities at Bunyonyi include canoeing, boat riding, and local tour, swimming, hiking the highlands around the lake, pygmy village tour and birding. Visitors who usually take safaris to Uganda at Lake Bunyonyi generally enjoy and experience a breathtaking nature of Lake Bunyonyi which is a bilharzia free swimming lake.
Nature walks
Walking around Lake Bunyonyi’s waters while listening to bird songs and the tearing water while consequently feeling the fresh breeze of Lake Bunyonyi and the community around. The interesting walk can be done along the lake’s shores and it involves tourists moving on different islands in Bunyonyi.
Birding
This is a key activity because Lake Bunyonyi its self means place of many little birds and therefore a majority of bird species can be noticed, there are more than 200 species of birds recorded. Using a boat ride to the neighboring Nyombi swamp one is able to see a selection of bird species over the trees and the sky. The variety of bird species which can be found here include both the Uganda species as well as the international species which usually migrate from the European continent during times of winter.
Boat cruise and canoeing
This will help you experience the quietness, calmness and the tranquility of Lake Bunyonyi. A canoe ride at night is thrilling given the loud chorus of crickets, frogs, nocturnal birds singing plus the waving lake waters which all make the ride exceedingly exciting.
Cultural encounters and community visits
There are attractive cultural and natural sights like the Bakora cave, the Batwa (pygmies) and the Abaheesi (traditional black smiths) communities that are accessible in close proximity. Also visiting islands around the lake like Habuharo, Akempene and Bucuraniko Island is a memory-catching experience. Here are several ‘Twa’ villages in the area, but Batwa Today is the most recommended, aiming to deliver a more authentic exchange. Trips head to Echuya Forest, the former home of local Twa, and while there are cultural performances, the experience is less contrived than those offered in Bwindi and Mghahinga. Rather than dwelling on the past, insights are offered from a more current context.