The transparent lake of Rubirizi

The community members will hardly tell you the location of Lake Kamunzuku. Situated in Kasyohakitomi Forest, this crater lake, one of the 32 lakes in Rubirizi District, is nonetheless a gem due to the crystal clear nature of its waters.
So clear that one can see the bottom of the lake and fish swimming in some of the parts.

“You can easily look through the water. Even when you throw a stone in it, you can see it slowly go down with your naked eye which is not the same with other lakes,” says Raphael Muhima, a 75-year-old fisherman. The lake, located in Nyangororo village in Bunyaruguru, like other crater lakes in the district, was formed by volcanicity.

Muhima reveals that since the lake is located in the forest, it has become a relaxing place for young people and women who collect firewood from Kasyohakitomi as well as hunters who swim in the waters.
David Birungi, the proprietor Nyanzibiri eco-tourism site, says Lake Kamunzuku is a valuable tourism feature which has been neglected because of its location in the forest yet it has very distinctive features like crystal clear waters, the hunters cave where hunters from Kasyohakitomi as well fishermen roast their catch before going back home and sometimes light up fires and spend nights.
“The lake is well positioned in the forest which enables it to harbour different bird species such as ducks, fish eagle and other wild animals like chimpanzees, baboons, calabash monkeys, velvet monkeys, red barks (enzororo in Runyaruguru language), forest pigs, monitor lizards and many others which are not in most lakes yet the government continues to keep a blind eye on the great lake of the land,” Birungi says.
According to Rubirizi District planner, Edmond Kansiime, Lake Kamunzuku is said to be a transparent lake because the rock basement on which it sits is shiny and attracts sun rays easily.
“When sun rays are reflected, they cause water to be transparent since it is not contaminated. This makes it a very unique crater lake in Uganda and the whole of Africa,’’ he says.
Rubirizi is among the 25 districts that are believed to have oil and gas and gold deposits.
“A number of exploration studies have been taken by relevant authorities to assess whether Lake Kamunzuku has oil or gold but there are no official results to ascertain this. However, what remains significant is that Lake Kamunzuku and Rubirizi district lie on the Albertine region,” Kansiime says.
Contrary to the belief by residents, Kansiime says, National Forestry Authority (NFA) took charge of the lake for its proper management and conservation.
“There is limited access to fishing since it is not near the community and it is illegal to fish in this lake. The communities are allowed to go there to have a view of the lake,’’ he says.
Rubirizi District natural resource officer, Monday Lwanga, revealed that at the moment the district does not have a tourism plan designed to cater for such resources since the district is six years old.
“The district, tourism here is not organised as we do not have a tourism plan where we can generate revenue from but currently we benefit from hotels in the area that are purely for tourism. The district charges $1 per visitor everyday (about Shs3,500). Meanwhile we are planning to develop a tourism plan for the district,’’ he says.

About Rubirizi
Rubirizi District was curved out of Bushenyi District in 2010. It enjoys favourable climate with two seasons making it the Ankole region’s food basket growing all food crops and cash crops like matooke, sweat potatoes, Irish potatoes, cassava, rice, millet, maize coffee, cotton and many others. The district receives between 500mm- 1000mm of rainfall every year that boosts agricultural production in the area since its population entirely depends on agriculture.

If you go
Visiting Lake Kamunzuku.
From Kampala to Kasese. From Kampala, head to Fort Portal and then Kasese. This will cost about Shs30,000 by bus.
From Kasese. One can get to Rubirizi using public means at a cost roughly Shs7,000.
In Rubirizi. take a boda boda at Shs1,000-Shs1,500 to Kichwamba where the crater lakes are located.

A man lights one of the fireplaces in the caves around Lake Kamunzuku where hunters roast their catch before heading home.

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