Tag: Gisenyi

A Great Time in Gisenyi

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Above: Roundabout in Gisenyi. Copyrght Rupi Mangat

Published: 21 September 2019

Gisenyi in western Rwanda is the other half of an urban landscape that includes Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. So like Goma, Gisenyi is perched on the edge of the gas-filled Lake Kivu that is one of the African great lakes.

Pirogues on Lake Kivu as fishermen row ot for the night to trawl for the tasty fingerling, sambaza Copyrght Rupi Mangat (800x600)
Pirogues on Lake Kivu as fishermen row ot for the night to trawl for the tasty fingerling, sambaza. Copyrght Rupi Mangat

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Goma and Gisenyi: A Tale Of Two Cities

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Above: Boy practising acrobatics by Lake Kivu in Gisenyi, Rwanda. Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: The East African Nation Media 26 June 2019

Goma and Gisenyi echo Charles Dickens’s novel, A Tale of Two Cities, based on a peaceful London and a Paris dogged by unrest before and after the French Revolution.

Goma and Gisenyi share a horrific history — the Congo wars and the Rwandan Genocide Against Tutsi.

Recently I spent a few days in the two cities separated by an international border, Goma in DR Congo and Gisenyi in Rwanda. Gisenyi is genteel while Goma is a work in progress after being dogged by years of unrest — wars and a volcano eruption. Both cities straddle Lake Kivu in the Albertine Rift. The lake is a source of methane and carbon dioxide gases that have the potential of being hazardous.

Mount Nyiragongo and Lake Kivu From Lake Kivu Serena Hotel in Gisenyi, Rwanda. Courtesy Lake Kivu Serena
Mount Nyiragongo and Lake Kivu From Lake Kivu Serena Hotel in Gisenyi, Rwanda. Courtesy Lake Kivu Serena

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