Visit Kibuye, Rwanda

The most conventionally pretty of the lake ports, Kibuye sprawls across a series of hills interwoven with the lagoon like arms of the lake.

With good roads from Kigali this is popular with visitors and Rwandans alike, and at the weekends you'll find families from elsewhere in Rwanda enjoying the small beaches and swimming in the lake.

Hills planted with pines and eucalyptus give the area a pristine, almost Alpine feel — it's a green and peaceful place.

Kibuye's recent past

It is hard to believe, amid today's tranquillity, that during the genocide the area of Kibuye experienced the most comprehensive killings of Tutsis anywhere in Rwanda. Near the sports stadium a sign reads 'More than 10,000 people were inhumated here'. Now birds chirp on the surrounding wall and the laughter of children can be heard in the nearby schools. Here, as throughout Rwanda, memories of the genocide remain acute but the daily life carries on determinedly around them.