A Post-conflict Palette

The Colors of Gisenyi

Gisenyi is a town of flowers. Its buildings may be crumbly, but its landscaping is extravagant.

The northernmost town on Lake Kivu, Gisenyi has a climate that made the early European colonists rejoice - every breezy, sunny day is followed by a deliciously chilly evening - and an azure lake landscape that attracts Kigali tourists by the Land Cruiser load.

Blue is the primary color in Gisenyi's palette because the lake dominates the background, but the picture is also dotted with the pink, yellow, red, orange, and purple of flowers. Some blossoms quietly line the walks; some droop over barbed wire fences; and some perch high up in the trees. Irises greet you in the morning. Night-blooming jasmine sends you off to bed. Bougainvillea vines are cheerful afternoon companions.

Holding the flowerbeds in place are piles of black pebbles, fragments of the volcanic rock that lies beneath the northern region. Whenever a dirt road is worn down, jagged peaks of pumice stone peek through the taught red surface. Volcanic rock is frequently quarried, and it is the foundation of many homes and hotels.

The lakeside avenues of Gisenyi are tattered but beautiful. Nature has begun to reclaim the once wealthy parts of town. Palm trees sagging with fruit bats line the front walks of abandoned mansions. Broken windows are guarded by overgrown yucca plants. The avenue's potholes are filled with fallen blossoms from flowering trees. Apart from the bustle of a few hotels, the children swimming in the lake, and the odd soldier on patrol, the area is thick with vegetation and silence.