Canoeing at Lake Mutanda

We hike through the community homesteads, encountering many banana plantations, coffee plantations, and local people on Lake Mutanda to pedal wooden boats across Lake Mutanda for sunrise and sunset views. We also visit a few islands of the lake.

The backdrop has views of the Virunga volcanoes as we peddle to Punishment Island, where, historically, the communities around Lake Mutanda could abandon girls who got pregnant before marriage. They would be left, starved to death, and their bodies picked up later and taken to a cave on Kyangushu Island. Until now, the skeletons of their bodies have been visible on this island.

Among the islands, one has inhabitants with a population of roughly 200 people, growing coffee, banana plantations, potatoes, sugarcane, and maize. The canoeing excursion takes about 2 hours and is scheduled in the morning or evening. Canoeing at Lake Mutanda is a perfect community activity after gorilla trekking at Bwindi National Park.