Kirundo

Kirundo is the town of the northern lakes, a low corner of Burundi near the Rwandan border where a chain of shallow waters lies among the hills. Lake Rwihinda is protected and known as the lake of birds, worked from dugout canoes hired on the shore, and it is the best waterbird site in the country. Papyrus specialists breed here and northern migrants arrive for the northern winter, which is when the reserve is at its fullest. Cohoha and Rweru are larger and quieter, Rweru reaching across into Rwanda, and fishing villages line all of them.