Boat Cruise on Lake Kivu

December 7th, 2023

The South African boys had had another late night, a few of them until 4 am. The previous night, Beyers and Koster had arranged a boat cruise for 9 am for this day. Since they had made the deal on their way back from an all very late night affair, I questioned what deal they had struck and whether it would actually happen, but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Around 9, I walked into the restaurant area at Macheo only to find Beyers and no sign of anyone else. He was keen to still go on the cruise so it looked like it might just be the two of us. We waited for the “captain” to show up at the resort but then it turned out that in their drunken state, they had actually made their arrangements with Onin, one of the staff at Macheo who was responsible for tours. Beyers woke up Koster, who had stayed out later the previous night with Stefan. Amazingly Koster was game to go. An American named Paul, whom they had met partying the night before, showed up at Macheo and was going to join us on the cruise. He was an entomologist from New Jersey and was travelling solo.

Eventually, around 11 am, we got on the move with Onin leading us. We walked down to the shore where a small boat was waiting for us. Koster was lagging behind, mostly because he had chosen to go barefoot, even though both of his feet had UPIs (Unidentified Party Injuries). His big toe on one foot was bleeding and he and Beyers had bandaged it up before we left. Kosters and Beyers both have a high level of first aid training due to their jobs on offshore ships. The heel of his other foot had a deep gash which wasn’t leaking, but I’m sure painful to walk one. Needless to say, walking barefoot probably wasn’t the best option for him.

The gorgeous view just outside of Macheo Resort:

Our boat, with Onin our guide posing for me.

Onin introduced us to our captain of our little boat, whose name I couldn’t quite figure out, and we headed out of the small bay. The whole trip was to be about 3 hours and the first 35-40 minutes we motored out to our furthest destination, Napoleon Island. It obtained its name because it resembled Napoleon’s hat. I could disagree with this observation.

The small harbor:

We are headed to Napoleon Island, the one straight ahead.

Cruising towards Napoleon Island:

Enjoying the ride:

Dave's weather lesson of the day, about how the cumulus clouds are only forming over the land, and not over the water:

What a gorgeous day!

The plan was to hike up to the top of the island, which was probably a few hundred meters higher than lake level. We could see people at the summit as we approached the island and there were 3-4 other boats docked by the shore. As we disembarked, we were greeted by some cows munching on grass. A very interesting thing about these bovines is that they actually swim from island to island and back to the main shore. Sometimes its on their own prerogative, sometimes the ranchers coax them to hop in the water to greener pastures. We hoped to see some cows swimming, but unfortunately that dream never came to fruition.

Approaching the island:

One of the "swimming" cows:

The hike started fairly easily as we rounded the island with only a slight elevation gain. It sounded like there was running water and a few of us wondered if there was a waterfall on the island. Turns out it was hundreds and hundreds of noisy fruit bats who were hanging out in the trees. Compared to the two bats we had seen in the Musanze Caves a few days prior, these guys were huge, and damn noisy!

The noisy fruit bats:

There were loads of them...

Well hello there.

Paul, the American entomologist, turned out to also be a bit of a bat afficionado and educated us a bit more about the habits of these creatures. They didn’t seem to be sleeping in the trees but resting for sure. Onin clapped his hands a couple of times and that sent a number of them flying, which was cool to see, although I felt bad for disturbing them.

After we had our bat fill, we began to climb up a rocky slope on the west side of the island. Poor Koster was literally hurting with his battered bare feet. Paul, in his late 50s I would guess, and a bit overweight, was also quite slow. I figured he was just out of shape but it turns out that he had lost half of each of his lungs from an infection he got from spelunking in a cave in Thailand a few years back…yikes. Poor guy had a hard time getting enough oxygen into his blood.

Getting towards the top:

Stunning!

The views as we ascended the slope got better and better. Onin explained that the closest island in our view had been used in the past as a place to isolate single pregnant women. This is a practice that occurred not just here but in other areas like Lake Bunyonyi that was my last stop in Uganda. Supposedly men could visit the island and decide to take a woman, marry her, and raise the child as his own. It all seemed a bit crazy to me.

That's the island.

Our group eventually made it to the top. We admired the view, took some pics and then started our descent. The uneven terrain and sharp rocks took their toll on Koster. I thought he would get a reprieve once we reached the treeline as then it was mainly a dirt path with a lot fewer sharp rocks, but soon he reached his limit, even though he was only 2-300 meters from the boat.

A panoramic view of Lake Kivu:

I was the first to reach the boat and then Beyers showed up. He was only wearing his socks. “Where are your shoes?” I asked him. He had given them to Koster, who made his way to the boat. Beyers had actually backtracked to give Koster his footwear and then hobbled down from there. That’s what friends are about.

Leaving Napoleon Island.  This angle doesn't do it justice, but it does look like Bonaparte's hat.

Our captain and guide:

We set off from the island and headed back towards our next stop, Monkey Island. Supposedly a family of monkeys live on this island and humans tend to leave them alone and not go onshore. I envisioned an island overrun with monkeys. The boat approached the island and we saw no signs of life. The captain turned us one way and then backtracked and then there he was, one of the island’s residents. A beautiful specimen of a male monkey. I don’t recall the type of monkey it was but it was extraordinary for two things, a super long tail, and then the bluest balls I’ve ever seen (and it wasn’t because they haven’t been used in a while)!

Approaching Monkey Island:

We were lucky to see one of the blue-balled fellas by the shore.

Some cormorants sunbathing.

Our next stop was a small island with a nice spot to take a dip. As we approached the island we saw a boat called Kivu Queen. Onin told us that is was a $1000/night. At first, I was under the impression that the boat was just moored there but it actually runs up and down the lake. It was devoid of customers as it is low season. We pulled up to a small peninsula of the island and Koster, Beyers and I hopped into the water. The rocks had a super slippery coating of algae on them, but the water was lovely. It was a great way to cool off.

The Kivu Queen up close. Looked empty at the time.

Approaching our swimming island.

It was a nice spot for a dip.

Returning back to the mainland, Onin asked us of our plan, and we wanted to head into the town centre to find a late lunch as it was about 2:30-3:00. We disembarked at a slightly different location than we had boarded the boat and Onin called us four motorcycle taxis. Koster and Beyers needed to hit an ATM and Koster really needed to find some footwear for his hurting feet. The boda boda guys accommodated and in the end we had a meal and some beers at the Classic Restaurant.

Riding into town in convoy.

Paul and I grabbed motorcycle taxis to head back to our respective accommodations, but Beyers and Koster decided to have a few more drinks before heading back. Well, they never actually returned into the wee hours of the morning…crazy motherfuckers. But nice ones at least!