Congo-Nile Divide

This blog post is a little overdue, but back on the holiday weekend in Rwanda, July 1-3, I joined some friends and we hiked along the Congo-Nile Divide Trail in Nyungwe National Park. 

This trail covers 42.2 km across the park - and we completed it in 3 days - camping for 2 nights in the forest. This trail takes you across different habitat types within the park - up and down the hills - with some great view points from the top of each hill. In addition, this trail goes by the Source of the Nile. Though not everyone agrees - the source of the nile is located in Nyungwe.

Source of the Nile

Doesn't start as much - but eventually this turns into the longest river in the world!

Here is some of our group walking on one of the few relatively flat parts along the trail. But don't worry we stopped for breaks many times throughout the day for a snack - including my favorite 'amandazi' - Rwandan donuts (aka fried dough).

And now I leave you with a series of photos from the summit of different hills along the hike - you will see the different habitat types and the hundreds of hills in the distance!

This is a view of part of the trail 

You'll notice all the ferns along the trails - this is an area of the park that burned in a fire and the forest has not been able to regenerate.

Look at the hundreds of hills in the distance!

Wandering off into the forest :)

Steps away from DRC

On my day off, I decided to explore the town of Kamembe, located on the edge of Lake Kivu. Now if you know your geography of these region, you’ll know that Lake Kivu is the border between Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. So our first stop in town was the border to DRC. As you can see below – the border is just a bridge with people wandering back and forth. Apparently a lot of people cross everyday to sell or buy supplies in the other country. However, I don’t think they would be very happy if I decided to walk across – so I stayed safely on the Rwanda side.

Bridge over to Congo


Next objective, put my feet into Lake Kivu (much too cold for swimming but not for dangling my feet into the water!). We visited a hotel down by the water and took in the view of the massive lake, as well as of the houses along the Rwandan and Congo sides of the lake. In addition, there were many people in canoes in the lake pulling in their fishing nets – it looked like very hard work!

Putting my feet into the lake

View of Lake Kivu 

Island with Congo in the distance

Lake Kivu

Fishing boats

Fishing Boat

Kamembe is also the closest town to where I live that has a supermarket, so we are able to buy a lot of food here that we can’t get in the village by the research station. It is even possible to buy Corn Flakes, Pringles, and Cadbury chocolate bars!

Land of a Thousand Hills

It has definitely been a while - and not for lack of adventures and visits to Africa!

Currently I am working on my dissertation through the University of Florida in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, and the lab of Dr. Madan Oli. For my dissertation work, I am working in Rwanda, a small country in east central Africa, at the center of the Albertine Rift, a biodiversity hotspot.

Specifically, I am working in Nyungwe National Park, a montane rainforest located in southwestern Rwanda on the border of Burundi. I am primarily studying mammal species within the forest, and how their abundance and distribution has changed over time. In addition, I am looking at the anthropogenic threats to wildlife, and how these threats have affected their abundance and distribution.

Last summer was my first time in Rwanda and Nyungwe, but I am now back again for the next three months. Since I've only just arrived last week, I'll share some pictures from last summer, and then will continue to update as I head out to the forest this year. This summer I will be placing a series of camera traps throughout the forest, so hopefully some exciting and potentially funny pictures will be to follow as the summer goes on.

The view from the top of Mt. Bigugu (the highest peak in the park)

Out on a hike through the forest (a fun day off!)

A view of Kamiranzovu swamp

Some of the transects where we collect data on mammal species around the park are very steep!

And of course here are some primate pictures! Vervet monkey (with a baby!), Black and White Colobus (also with a baby!), and Eastern Chimpanzee.