Jezioro Kiwu w Rwandzie - Redux

Canoeing in groups of three boats, Rwanda’s fishermen spend every night out on the crystalline water searching for sambaza (a fish similar to a small sardine) and tilapia in Lake Kivu, Rwanda on November 19, 2023. Though from afar it looks as if the three boats are distinctly separate, they are linked by flexible eucalyptus fishing rods. Walking on the rods as if they were tightropes, the men dash back and forth to make sure the net is completely secure. The breathtaking beauty of Lake Kivu, resting between the volcanoes and steep hills of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, is exceeded only by its mercurial temperament. A clear sunny day can turn to a tropical downpour in minutes, before the sun beats down again. The lake’s still waters also hide another face: dissolved within are billions of cubic meters of flammable methane and more still of carbon dioxide, presenting both a source of power and a danger to hundreds of thousands of people living around the lake. The lake holds haunting memories from the 1994 genocide, but also offered a lifesaving escape to some. Its glassy surface is dotted with hundreds of islands, all of which have their own particularities and histories.