#3: [12-May-07]

#1: [04-Jul-04]

01-Oct-2006 -- Having lived in Rwanda for three years I finally made it to the country's only Confluence as the second visitor. It is situated on the banks of the Nyabarongo river, the longest tributary of Lake Victoria, and is hence part of the Nile, the longest river in the world.

I set off from my home in Kigali (1.937°S 30.0862°E or 11.8 km from the Confluence) and headed out along the main south-west road on a motorcycle taxi. I alighted where the road crosses the Nyabarongo river, about 5 km from the Confluence and walked along the dirt road from there, along the eastern bank of the river.

When my GPS indicated I was about 1 km away, I struck off the road along a narrow footpath through some sugar cane plantations. I reached the river with 200 m still remaining, and feared my hunt was unsuccessful, as the Confluence appeared to be to the west of the river and there was no way to cross. However, I then noticed a sharp bend in the river downstream, which suggested the Confluence might be on the eastern bank after all.

I tried to walk directly along the river but soon found the sugar cane too thick to pass through, so had to track back to the road and try again. My luck was in, as a wide track a little further along led me to within 5 metres of my goal, but with water in front. I placed the GPS as close as I could to the water's edge and miraculously it "adjusted" itself to show exactly 02.00000°S 030.00000°E with an altitude of 1,354 m.

There were several farmers and children in the area, cultivating sugar and tomatoes, who were interested in, but somewhat baffled by the antics of the "muzungu" with the gadgets!

I walked back to Kigali over the hills to the east (a climb up to 1,800 m), which afforded magnificent views over the whole area of the Confluence.

In the waters of Nyabarongo river, about 15 m from the southern and 30 m from the northern bank.